I'm a research junkie, so I did lots of research on potential therapists. Had to be a female; my father was very abusive. There also had to be some type of "chemistry" to make me feel comfortable, and no new-be right out of school. Basically a trial and error until I found the right one. I'm pleased with the one I have now and she has a therapy dog, which reduces my stress. She's close to my age, so we kind of "get" each other. My criteria was developed after several mismatches.