Honest answer: His profile picture. He was listed on the first page that I searched for after I filtered for gender. I find it easier to talk to men than to women. He seemed like someone nice. He also didn't start his introduction with "I am a cbt or XYZ trained therapist with 10 years experience" like everyone else did, but it was rather that it wasn't easy starting therapy for the first time. The focus wasn't about him, but on the client and helping them feel comfortable. He'd listed that he replied to emails within 2 days so my benchmark was the way he replied back. Other than that I just wanted someone who was also registered with the British council.

The 2nd therapist before him was selected mainly just by distance, but I knew it really wouldn't work with her after our first meeting.