[so_punk_rock]

I really really need therapy. I started looking online but that isnt alot of help. I want to find the right therapist because i cant just sit down and talk with anyone. I feel like if i call my insurance they will just hand me anyones number. Wtf? How the hell am i supposed to find a therapist??!!

[ECHOES]

http://www.apsa.org/Find_an_Analyst.aspx

I hope this helps.

I contacted the nearest psychoanalytic institute and asked for a referral to one of their candidates - a student who is already a therapist (mine had been a therapist for over 20 years) and who is screened before acceptance into the institute. It worked well for me.

Good luck!

[cherrygash321]

It is hard looking for a new therapist!! I recently went through that myself. I got referrals from my psychiatrist and I also looked at nami.org. If you have reps in your area I'm sure they could assist you. They're usually pretty helpful.

It can be a daunting task, so hang in there!

I ended up narrowing down therapists I'd seen online or in the phonebook by location(how far Id have to drive to get to them), and specialty(like depression/trauma,ptsd,ocd)
Then I further narrowed it down by checking out their websites or calling them personally to figure out other questions I had. Like...fees, payment options, availibility, and client capacity. You dont want anyone who takes on too many clients and is hard to make appointments with. Plus, you'll get a good idea over the phone about their personality. So ask any questions about their special credentials, types of therapies they use most often, and types(specific disorders) of clients they usually serve.

Good luck!

[sunrise]

I think getting a recommendation from someone you know can be helpful, rather than just looking at a list of names from your insurance company. Ask your other health care providers, such as your family doctor, for names. And put out feelers with trusted friends. I found my current therapist because my sister knew someone who recommended him. He has been great. I found my my daughter's therapist from a referral from my therapist. Good luck.

[kikki27]

Originally Posted by so_punk_rock

I really really need therapy. I started looking online but that isnt alot of help. I want to find the right therapist because i cant just sit down and talk with anyone. I feel like if i call my insurance they will just hand me anyones number. Wtf? How the hell am i supposed to find a therapist??!!

Iam in the same boat at my local mental health center the therapist dont stay long none of them they always have to get somebody but I dont know if the pay is good or not cause they dont stay long and Iam sick of getting to know a therapist and letting them know my issues and they be really good therapists they know there meds and disorders but they dont stay at the mental health center and that make me mad that I gotta go with this crap cause If I did not suffer from adhd or panic attacks or social anxiety or ocd I would not waste my time by going there

[so_punk_rock]

I had one therapist that i really liked but she moved to another facility. I have to be honest, to this day im still kind of pissed about that.

[The Poet]

I'm in the same boat. I think there are SO many therapists and alot of poorly trained ones; thus finding a good one is like looking for a needle in the haystack.

...unfortunately.

[rainbow8]

I found my T who I think is the greatest, through psychologytoday online website. They list a lot of information about each T. I called a number of them after I weeded them out, and then chose a few to see. It turned that my T wasn't one of the ones I chose, but was recommended by another on my list because the other didn't accept my insurance.

[ECHOES]

Originally Posted by The Poet

I'm in the same boat. I think there are SO many therapists and alot of poorly trained ones; thus finding a good one is like looking for a needle in the haystack.

...unfortunately.

I don't think that a good T is a needle in a haystack, I think it is the opposite.
I think most T's are good and I don't really know how we would know anything about their training anyway
The T can be a great T but not a good fit, not what I'm looking for.
Just like any other profession - a dentist can be a good dentist with excellent training, but isn't what I'm looking for in a dentist. Hooray for choices!

I did have a preference in the type of therapy I wanted, so that lead me to the psychoanalytic institute for a referral.

[Sannah]

Originally Posted by so_punk_rock

I had one therapist that i really liked but she moved to another facility. I have to be honest, to this day im still kind of pissed about that.

Maybe this is what is really bothering you then?

[WePow]

Make a list of what you need in a therapist. That list is like a job posting in a way.
For example - from my own list a year ago- "PTSD and Trauma experience. CSA experience."

At the bottom of the list, make a list of what you would LIKE to have in a therapist. Mine: "Willing to accept emails outside therapy as an extension of the therapy to a limited amount." Yours might be "Able to take emergancy phone calls after hours."

Then make a list of therapists in your area and start by calling them.
Naturally you will mark off those not accepting new clients and those who don't call you back.

For the Ts who do call back, ask them the questions on the list of your needs. "Do you have experience working with people who have PTSD?" Mark off those who do not have what you need from a T. Those who do have what you need, ask them if you can set up an interview with them just to get a feel for how they are as a therapist - to see if they will be a good match or not. Remember - you are the one hiring them!

Your list should be short by this time. Go to the interviews and take your list of wants. Be honest with your wants and just see how they respond to your questions. Allow yourself to go through your list of potential Ts BEFORE you pick one. Just thank the T for their time and let them know you will get back with them on what you decide. Be sure to follow up with Ts you don't pick and let them know you are going with someone else, but ask them if they would mind if you kept their number on hand incase the other T didn't work out. The way the T responds in this situation will tell you a lot about how they will act with you as a client!

Hope this helps!

[Omers]

I agree with WePow. Figure out what you want and need or therapy and come up with a list. You defintely want someone that says they work with what ever you want to work on (depression, PTSD...). And one of the first things they will ask you once you are comfortable is what are your goals... so this will give you a jump start on question one .
There are therapists who work from every theoretical framework and will work with what you want to work on. Make sure that their theoretical framework fits with what you need and believe would benefit you. I wasted a lot of time and money going to people who worked in ways that didn't work for me. The therapist should be able to tell you about the theory they work from so listen to see if it makes sense to you. You can also look up any of the theories online and find more information or ask here to see if anyone sees that kind of therapist and what it is like for them. No therapist will give you a hard fast timeline but you can also ask about how long they work with a client on average. A psychoanylist will typically work with a client much longer than a Cognative Behaviorist.

You also want to know if you want a more "warm fuzzy" T which given your post I would assume or a "directive" T. I have found both to be helpful at different times and some T's can do both.

I worked with:
a psychoanylist but their style of work was a lot of me talking and some feedback from them. I found it too slow for me and frustrating.
an Object relations therapist and frankly they just pissed me off and we fought.
a family systems therapist who I found helpful in understanding how relationships work or in my case why they didn't work.
a Cognitive Behavioralist therapist who really helped me build skills to overcome flashbacks and body memories and build a "tool box" of skills to use. This is also called CBT and a lot of people here work with this kind of therapist and it is one of the "in" therapeutic styles right now. Insurance providers work best with this kind of therapist as well.
an eclectic therapist. She knew about a lot of different styles and tried to match what the client needed. It didn't work for me but I may not have really been ready to work yet either.

They all work or there would't be T's using them. It just depends on where you want to go and how you want to get there. And some T's do use more than one style.

There are a bunch of other syles too but those are the most popular. You can also ask a T which major/well known therapist they see themselves the most like in their work and then look up that person and their style.

Or.. I am a little OCD about theories (as if you hadn't figured that out) so you can feel free to ask me. With the exception of Object Relations I can give you a pretty unbiased idea on what to expect if the T is true to the style. I have read the foundational works of most major therapies because I wasn't finding what I was looking for. Come to find out I kept going to T's who used the same kind of therapy that wasn't working. Wasted at least 10 years of weekly appointments and thousands of dollars. I also know where to find accurate web pages (usually their supervising body) for most styles as well.

My guess given what I have read from your post is that you want a warm (but perhaps not warm to the point of fuzzy) therapist who practices CBT.

Trust your gut/heart!

[Symbiosis]

Originally Posted by so_punk_rock

I really really need therapy. I started looking online but that isnt alot of help. I want to find the right therapist because i cant just sit down and talk with anyone. I feel like if i call my insurance they will just hand me anyones number. Wtf? How the hell am i supposed to find a therapist??!!

I feel your pain. It literally took me a year and a half to pick a therapist I was that tentative about it. First I had to eliminate obvious conflicts: where my therapist best friend works and where she used to work. And if you read any of my other posts, you'll see I ran right into conflict anyway!

Next, it was pure conjecture.

All you ever get is bios, it seems. Particularly in my small town where there aren't any yelp.com type of ratings (there's something to check out). What does a bio tell you? That the T is credentialed, but that's just not enough for me.

So I picked a fairly convenient place that you could tell was legit. From there, I just free associated!!! Something along the lines of:

He's lived in NY and CA and I have connections to both places. He spent a year abroad in Italy and I adore Italy. His smile is nice. He left (a certain employer)...that must mean he's cool! Oh, and he's been practicing forever so he might be able to handle me.

Because when it comes right down to it, you have to click and it is really hard to know that from what you read online. Of course, I think if you can find reviews of Ts in your areas somewhere they seem to speak volumes.

[Omers]

online reviews are not always accurate either. It is usually the really pissed off people or the really happy... no "just normal people" that post reveiews. My pdoc has aweful reviews, had I read them there is no way I would have seen her. Turns out she is awesome for me just not a good fit for those people.

[jexa]

It is SOOOOOOOOOO hard!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY! One option FYI is to see if there's a university in your area with a clinical psychology program. Oftentimes, universities will be really good at giving referrals to qualified providers. That's what I did last year when I was looking for a T. They gave me a list of names and then they said my T's name and said, "Oh and this one might be kind of far for you to drive, but she's really good." So I called her and made an appointment and immediately LOVED her. Now, this T ended up having to move away last month but I'm really glad I got to work with her over the past year.

My current T, I found through my insurance. I looked her up online and she had a website. Through her website, I found out that she specializes in my exact problems. So I emailed her. I knew she was the T for me when she took time to speak to me on the phone at length about my problems before I was even her client. AND, before I was even her client, she asked to speak to my old T to get a sense of things from her as well. This is all before she saw even a little bit of money from me. So this all told me that she cares about her job.

I agree with WePow's advice. Interview them on the phone. See if they have experience in your specific problem. Think of some things you would want in a T. Like, what did you like about that one T who ended up working at a different facility? Then see if you can come up with a few questions that will tell you if the T you talk to is right for you. If they're not willing to answer a couple questions on the phone, I personally do not want them as a T, but that's just me.

[Symbiosis]

Oh, I totally believe that Omers! But it is really annoying to have nothing. In our town there were basically two Ts that had reviews: one who had 19 out of 20 fabulous reviews and the other who got in trouble for misrepresenting his credentials and had horrific stories from clients. It would be nice to have *something* to look at from clients, taken with a grain of salt of course!