[Alden]

I've decided that I need to look for a new therapists. There are complications I'm having to deal with that common sense says be smart and leave.

These are the questions I have come up with to ask new therapists. What do you think? What to you have to add?

Are you taking new clients? If not, who can you refer me to.

What is your theoretical orientation?

What are your areas of expertise?

What is your specialty?

Can you tell me about your training and experience in this area?

Who is your typical client?

Do you tend to work with younger or older people?

Do you tend to work more with men or more with women.

Have you worked with people with my issues?

If we were working together on this issue what can I expect?

How do you onboard a new client?

How do you go about developing a treatment plan?

Where did you go to school?

What area of study did you focus on in school?

How many years have you been practicing psychology?

Are you now, or have you ever been, in therapy?

Do you deal in a specific diagnosis?

What is your consultation policy for prospective clients?

[CantExplain]

What support do you offer?

[Lemoncake]

Policy on out of session contact!

[Echos Myron redux]

Do you do out of session contact?
Policy on touch?
Do you have a weekly slot at the same time each week?

Those might not be important to you, I don't know.

[tomatenoir]

I think it's important to ask therapists questions that show how they think and react. IMHO, that's more important than just getting info about their degree or how many years they've been working.

I'd also recommend the video by ex-therapist Daniel Mackler on what to ask your therapist. It has a lot of good advice.

Personally, the best question I asked in my consultation session was "Do you think you're good at your job? And if so, why?"

That's a very confrontational question. But I wanted to see how my therapist would deal with it.

The fact that he didn't bristle and actually sat and thought before he gave an answer said a lot. When he did reply, he pointed to objective things - - like how his practice was virtually always full - - I'd actually had to wait two months to see him. And he spoke about how clients often told him that they found sessions helpful, but that he realised counselling wasn't right for everybody, or that his approach wasn't right for everybody, which is why he only initially contracted for six sessions.

It showed he could be reflective, that he wasn't self absorbed, that he would treat my questions seriously, that he could be objective, that he wouldn't string me along for more than a month and a half if I got nothing out of it, that he didn't think he had all the answers.

That's what I needed to know.

I had no idea about questions. I just went with it. I no idea about theapy really. It's like I'd been found living in the woods alone and someone suddenly said "go there" and I did. I remember T saying things to me about how she worked, but she could have been talking mandarin. It didn't go in. I had so much going on in my head. Questions didn't exist.
Thankfully it worked out lol.
I guess what in saying is, questions aren't always the defense they seem to be. Go with your gut.

[MoxieDoxie]

What is your theoretical orientation? Do you have an orientation you are looking for otherwise what are you trying to get from this?

What are your areas of expertise? I would at least on the phone ask what expertise you are looking for before even making the appointment because if his area is not what you need then you are wasting your time.

What is your specialty? Same thing as expertise

Who is your typical client?Are you looking for a deal breaker here? You need to think about your questions and if you actually need a specific answer

Do you tend to work with younger or older people? again why ask this? What is the percentage young to old that would be a deal breaker for you?

Do you tend to work more with men or more with women. This would depend on if more women or men come looking for treatment not that he turns down a certain sex

Have you worked with people with my issues? redundant question as the expertise and specialty question would cover this.

If we were working together on this issue what can I expect? What are you looking for here? This is so relative to each individual

How do you onboard a new client?This is so relative to each individual. Some jump right in some need more coaxing. How do you think you will be?

How do you go about developing a treatment plan? Do you want his training notes? Treatment plan again will be relative to each individual

Where did you go to school? Look on the wall for his diplomas

What area of study did you focus on in school? You can get that from your other 3 questions on area's of expertise

Are you now, or have you ever been, in therapy?To personal of a question. Not sure I could ask this.

Do you deal in a specific diagnosis? Same question as area's of expertise

[Alden]

Originally Posted by Echos Myron (again)

Do you do out of session contact?
Policy on touch?
Do you have a weekly slot at the same time each week?

Those might not be important to you, I don't know.

I didn't think of those. Thanks!

[coolibrarian]

Originally Posted by MoxieDoxie

Are you now, or have you ever been, in therapy?To personal of a question. Not sure I could ask this.[/I]

I always thought that, at least in the US, psychotherapists who have a PhD are
required to undergo therapy as part of their training. INMO, those who currently practice psychotherapy should be in therapy themselves, or, at the very least, have supervision.

I think those are good questions, Alden. I would also ask their fee (or fee range) before setting up a consultation. If I am interested in using insurance, what they take and how they deal with providing info for reimbursements. Some Ts don't discuss fee over email/phone and I would prefer not to even consider those as it seems a bit shady to me (usually it comes with a philosophy I very much disagree with) and, in my experience, can coincide with other types of lack of transparency about basic professional things.

Like others, I would definitely ask about outside of session contact and, if they are open to it, if there is a straightforward policy that they do not change or if they deal with it individually and based on the ongoing process. If they said it's a stable policy, later you can refer to that statement in case of issues.

If a T has a website, there is usually info on their credentials but I think it can still be informative how they present it in person. I had the experience that the T who refused discussing the fee in advance would not even answer questions about their education and orientation and would just throw it back at me: "why are these things important to you"? That in unacceptable in my book since it is a job interview for them. And likely would answer a lot of questions and challenges similarly later on.

[maybeblue]

I always look up their license online. Whatever state or country you are in should have that as public record. I'm specifically looking for how long they have been licensed and if they have any sanctions on record.

[Fuzzybear]

I had no idea about what questions to ask a therapist

[CantExplain]

An important question to ask, is: "What do you accept responsibility for?"

Cos when things go wrong, T always blames the patient.

[CantExplain]

And perhaps less aggressively:
"Give an example where you learned from a mistake."

[guilloche]

Oh wow! There are some great ideas here... tomatenoir - that's a brilliant question!

One that I've asked was, "Have you ever terminated a client/patient that didn't want to leave?" Then I follow up and ask under what circumstances they think they'd need to do that (i.e. "what other circumstances" if they say yes, if they say no I'd ask, "what circumstances do you think you'd do that?")

I've asked 2 Ts this, and like tomatenoir mentioned, I'm really more interested in how they react and whether or not they're actually thoughtful about the question.

Last T was very thoughtful, paused to reflect, and admitted he had - that the client wanted to come once every 6-8 weeks or so, and he didn't feel like he could help in that circumstance (and the client was still active in their addiction). We talked about circumstances that he thought it would be appropriate to terminate, and it was reassuring (because none of it was likely to apply to me). But mostly, it was clear that he took some time to reflect and formulate an answer.

Another T that I interviewed didn't seem to think about it at all. I mean, she paused briefly and then said, "Nope. I've never terminated anyone who didn't want to leave." (She's been in practice more than 20 years, so this sounded unbelievable to me!)

That's fine, but when I followed up and asked under what circumstances she would terminate someone... she literally couldn't think of anything. I don't believe that at all...

Although, it's interesting to note that NEITHER T actually mentioned that if someone had issues that were outside of their scope of practice, they'd refer them on. Hmmm...

Anyway good luck with your interview! It might help to prioritize your questions, so that if you don't have time to fit them all in, you can make sure you get the most important information.

Edit to add: If you have an idea of your diagnosis, it can also be helpful to ask specifically about that. At one point, I had been handed a "DD-NOS" (dissociative disorder, not otherwise specified) diagnosis, so in interviews, I'd ask if they had any training working with dissociative disorders, but then I'd also ask if they'd successfully treated anyone with this order to completion. Meaning... not just "oh, I've seen a lot of people with this problem", but they'd actually stuck it out and got to a successful ending with at least one person.... so that I'd know they had some successful experience with my issue.

[Myrto]

Those are great questions. I think it's good to gauge how comfortable they are when you ask questions such as "have you ever been in therapy?" (a perfectly legitimate question) because it shows whether they are defensive or not. Having said that, I would be seriously AMAZED if any therapist answered even half of them on the phone (or in person, for that matter). Maybe it's different in the US. In my experience, the dozen of therapists I called on the phone would maybe answer two basic questions (training, speciality) and then say "let's make an appointment, we can talk about this in session". As if I'm going to spend 50 euros for a session when I can find out in two minutes whether this person is terrible or not. When I asked more pointed questions, they were super uncomfortable and some even asked me if I was a therapist myself. Most would not even tell me their age! Like wtf. Seriously good luck.

[CantExplain]

There is also the mundane but vital question: what is your cancellation policy.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Originally Posted by coolibrarian

I always thought that, at least in the US, psychotherapists who have a PhD are
required to undergo therapy as part of their training. INMO, those who currently practice psychotherapy should be in therapy themselves, or, at the very least, have supervision.

Irk about private practice but the community health clinic I work in we have supervision with our unit manager regularly. All my co workers are therapists lol

[Alden]

I am finding it exceeding difficult to get clinics to allow me to interview a therapist. they want me to spend big $$$ and a go thorough an intake and then they will assign you ONE person who you will pay a full session fee to meet.

I try to explain to them what I want and I usually have to go at least two level up the food chain before anyone can even fathom anyone doing that. It seem completely bizarre to them that someone would dare to ask.

So far I have reached out to 12 individuals and clinics. 7 have said no. One, with a Hotmail account for her email address and an office where her name is not listed on the website, has been willing to answer my questions. There were so many red flags with her she could be the poster child for therapists to avoid.

I just want to talk with someone for 10 minutes prior to seeing them. They either see my history and refuse me or refuse to speak to me unless I show up with $$$ to throw at their feet. Unbelievable profession!

[starfishing]

I haven't had much luck with direct questioning--my experience has been that too many therapists know how to give the "right" answers to my questions about experience and general approach in the abstract, but can't put those principles into practice.

BUT, I have noticed that how a new therapist reacts to my descriptions of bad past experiences in therapy is extremely useful.

[Alden]

I'm not sure how important the questions are anymore. I've contacted 12 therapists or clinics and 7 have said, in varying forms for forthrightness, no, they would not see me.

One said she would see me and was more than willing to answer my questions. I met with her tonight and I'm going to see her next week as well.

One is confused and is going to call me tomorrow and might answer my questions.

It is amazing to me how these large clinics can't get their head around wanting to talk to a therapist before you commit to them.

They want you to talk to a scheduling person, who has no background (or little) in the treatment of mental health issues, who looks at who has an open schedule and treats whatever ailment you claim to have.

Then they want you to come in and pay 1.5 times the going rate for an intake appointment where they do all the talking and ask all the questions.

Then you go and continue to see whatever therapist they assigned to you no questions asked.

When I dared to propose something different, the poor scheduling people could not even wrap their head around the concept, let alone figure out how they could even facilitate, a therapist calling me first to answer some questions.

This has been a very enlightening experience. Therapy appears to be a huge money making scam that is designed for efficiency and income; let the patient be damned!

Oh, and don't ever present with an actual illness. They don't want to treat people like that. "You need greater services than I can provide." "I don't think we would be a good fit." "I'm not taking on new clients" (yet their website and the insurance provider says they are taking on new clients.)

They all seem to want the easy money. I even contacted specialists, and worst of all, those are the ones who haven't even called back!

[starfishing]

That sounds incredibly frustrating. How did it go with the one who did answer your questions?

I totally agree with you that you should be able to at least talk to someone on the phone before paying for an appointment. No clinic or practice should have things set up so as to make that difficult, let alone impossible.