Attractive therapist?

I'm still weighing my options when it comes to a new therapist (not sure if I'll continue with the one I'm currently seeing) so I'm spending quite so time online.
Most therapists have a picture of themselves on their website and I've realized that I'm (un)consciously more drawn to the Ts who are attractive than to the ones who are not.
Shallow I know. And unfair. But it's hard to completely leave aside attractiveness when it comes to picking a therapist. I'm not talking about gorgeous models (although there was one therapist who was crazy beautiful, too young though), just people who look good or alright.
I would not choose a T who's super ugly for instance. I know this is biased and I feel stupid because I may pass a great therapist who's not a looker.

Did anybody have that problem? Are you more drawn to a T who you find attractive? Do you want someone attractive?

I admit I have the same problem when shopping for Ts. I'm not drawn to the most attractive ones per se. I tend to skip the young looking ones and the much older ones. I skip ones that have a bad picture or don't look happy enough. If I find them really unpleasant to look at, then I'll skip them too.

And it's sad because one of my best Ts I've ever had is not attractive by most people's standards. Even my past payee who I wound up being friends with...she is definitely on the unattractive side. But when I was with them, it didn't matter. I found their personality, their heart attractive and therefore they were attractive to me.

I'm not surprised at this. There's a natural human bias towards attractive people, not just in therapy but every area of life. Even when they're not attractive personality-wise.

Neither of my therapists are what I would call attractive, although neither are ugly either. I didn't find either of their pictures that attractive - one looked too edgy and the other looked too stylish (the kind of person I feel like an overgrown clumsy giant around), if that makes sense - so I just trusted the people who referred me to them.

As you say, it doesn't make sense. It makes sense to decide based on a therapist's gender, or age, there are therapeutic reasons for that. But attractiveness? Not so much, though like I said I think it's natural.

I select people who I don't find attractive because its less intimidating for me. My pdoc is not attractive at all and I feel more comfortable. My T is beautiful so I feel intimidated sometimes.

I was scared of older male therapists with beards. Who is my current therapist? An older man with a beard.

And seriously, the best therapist.

My current T is objectively attractive enough but I chose her in part because I am not at all attracted to her. (Of course she is also skilled, smart, empathic and gentle--all of which I wanted in a T.) I felt somehow safer thinking I was unlikely to become romantically interested in her. She didn't have a picture on her website so I didn't know what she looked like beforehand.

I did a very similar thing when I was looking for an interim therapist these last few months. I intentionally avoided the T's who were my romantic type (I didn't want ET), but sought out those Ts who were in their 30s-50s, looked physically healthy (ie not obviously very overweight or underweight), were smiling in their pictures, and seemed like "mom" types. I was not going for beauty by any means, but I was going for "looks healthy, professional, and nice." I mean, why would I want a T who looks unfriendly or angry? And, if I want a T who can help me, I'm going to have more confidence in someone who looks more or less put together. Of course, not all these things can be accurately judged from a picture-- but that is how I tend to go about searching for a new T-- and I don't think it makes me judgmental or a bad person.

I will say, though, that I probably would not have chosen my T out of a line-up if I had seen her picture before I met her. My T is not conventionally attractive, is quite thin, and has a visual disability that is sometimes noticeable when you look at her eyes. Without knowing that, if I just looked at her pic, I might misinterpret that as "she doesn't seem happy or engaged because she isn't looking directly at the camera." My T is also not very feminine and I think I usuallu associate a more feminine appearance with warmth or maternal caring. So, by my own prejudices, I don't think I would have picked my AMAZING T based on her pic. So I suppose I should realize that pics don't tell the whole story and my method of searching is flawed!

I feel the same way about my T. I really do feel safer around her because I am not attracted to her and she is not attracted to me.

My new one is the youngest I've ever had (40ish), fashionable, and very very pretty. I was assigned to her and NEVER would havevpicked her because I would have found her too intimidating. I would have thought she was too pretty to "get" my struggles. But she is so empathetic, I'm so glad I was placed with her.

My current T and Pdoc are both attractive. I didn't pick them, there wasn't a photo of them on the website of the practise. If there has been a photo, I probably wouldn't have picked either of them. The first time I met my T, I though ''****! She's young and beautiful''. I really thought it wouldn't work. I was afraid she would judge me on my appearance, because she's so much more beautiful than me. But she turned out to be the best T I've ever had.

If I would look for a new T, potential T's having a photo on their website could make it more difficult for me to choose one. While I would be more attracted to choose a T who looks beautiful or hot, I would feel intimidated by them and so I wouldn't choose a good-looking T. But then it would still be difficult. You can't really see how a person is by one photo. By looking at a photo of a T I might think they look strict, they look pervy, they don't look nice, they look to much like a mother... I don't think I would be ably to make a choice.

I trust a T more who takes care to present an orderly, groomed appearance (which is 80% of attractiveness). If they don't neglect their own needs they are less likely to neglect mine I guess

I don't care much about attractiveness in a sense of physical beauty in a therapist, but have the same mindset as magicalprince about wanting to work with someone who is able to take care of him/herself. If for nothing else, this is to have an example and inspiration for me to do the same. At the same time, I don't think I would want to have a T who is unpleasant for me to look at (even if well-groomed), that would defy the purpose of my going there to get better.

What mattered to me the most when I investigated different T's was their therapeutic approach (I would not have chosen someone I had no information about) and then my first impression on how I liked them in person (in consultation) and my instincts that we had a possibility to form a good team. In a way, we can call this attraction, but in the more complex interpersonal sense, not in a purely physical sense.

I love having a super gorgeous T. I'm sorry I'm not going burn thru my painful trauma and sit across from some sloppy unattractive individual in outdated attire. no sale.

LOL! Good to know what you need to make this bearable!

LOL That's a very honest answer.

Thanks, this made me laugh.