Finding a Therapist: Caveat Emptor = Let the buyer beware!
In general, the issue of finding a therapist (psychotherapist or psychiatrist) can be frustrating & perplexing, requiring self-reflection about your needs, preferences, goals, and issues plus some trial-and-error shopping / “test drives”. A few suggestions for navigating this maze.
For me, a key issue is “goodness of fit”, where the provider has a helpful relationship with you, you feel they understand you; you’re working together as a team and have shared goals…..IF after 3 sessions, you don’t feel there is a good fit as measured by a helpful alliance as described in the previous sentence or there’s no trace of making progress, then switch. Other important therapeutic alliance factors of concern include a shared rationale for effective therapy, affordability [your insurance coverage/ reimbursement (per your insurance company’s policy ], & the 3 A’s of great providers (“Affable, Available, & Able”).
You can vet providers by their degrees/ training, by word-of-mouth reputation, or by crowd sourced reviews/ ratings online (Yelp or Google or rating sites), as well as your own experience of the provider. Personally, I prefer Ph.D. level Cognitive-Behavioral therapists and psychiatrists with more than 10 yrs. of experience who practice “Evidence-based, Best Practices Therapy or Psychiatry”. And yet, given the diversity of individuals, there’s enough reality to go around for every tribe and school of psychotherapy. I append some info on Finding a therapist via a few links below with suggestions, resources, and online reviews on this topic below. The landscape of mental health providers has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, where many therapists now offer online therapy and tele-therapy companies have boomed. The advantages of online therapy include a wider range of therapists’ availability, the convenience of therapy at home or anywhere, and greater flexibility in scheduling. While the tele-mental health companies / industry varies in their particulars, often they are profit oriented businesses. Many of these startups have prioritized both their margins over their mission and their quantity of clients (speed) over quality due to their venture capital and entrepreneurial stakeholders’ interests. Many models use lower cost Nurse Practitioners or Physician Asst.’s for prescribing medication and master’s degree therapists (LCSW, LMFT, M.A. counselors), which allows them to offer lower fees. And yet, several tele-mental health companies accept insurance and have some excellent providers. Again, CAVEAT EMPTOR! = The level of competence, quality, years of experience, and goodness of fit for your assigned provider varies considerably; only some firms allow switching providers. The intangibles of the provider-client match and skills of the provider make predictions fickle.
