Since the pandemic, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of taking care of our mental health. Thankfully, there is also far less stigma associated with having a therapist. If you have come to the realization that you could use some extra support in your life but feel confused and overwhelmed about how to find a therapist, here are some strategies to help you.
1) An excellent starting place in searching for a therapist is psychologytoday.com. You enter your city into the "find a therapist" search bar and then you will be presented with hundreds of profiles of therapists in your area. You can then click the "filters" button and narrow your search. Another useful site can be ratemds.com and search by psychologist or psychiatrist, depending on what you need. This site will provide you with client ratings of the various therapists so you can get a sense for their effectiveness.
2) One of the challenging elements of choosing a therapist is deciding what type of therapy you want to do. For example, there are various theoretical orientations, such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), emotion focused therapy (EFT), EMDR, ACT, psychodynamic etc. Each of these approaches will change the therapeutic focus of the therapist and the general vibe of the sessions. The easiest way to navigate this would be to find several therapist profiles you feel good about, and then reaching out to each of them to have a short phone call. In the call, you can ask the therapist to explain their therapeutic approach and whether it would be a good match for your particular therapy needs. With all of that said, there is a lot of research to support the use of cognitive behaviour therapy, so that is generally a good choice.
3) What qualities should you look for when trying to settle on a therapist? I believe the most important quality in a therapist is there level of empathy and compassion. It is important to feel that the therapist cares about you and your struggles and that you feel heard. Ideally, the therapist is also very comfortable sitting with emotions and creating a safe space for you to open up and be vulnerable. Practical questions such as cost, their availability and location are also relevant. Also, are they part of an order or a governing body that regulates them? This last question will be relevant because insurance companies generally will reimburse receipts from therapists who are regulated (e.g. psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, counsellors).
4) When you speak to the therapist on the phone, what should you ask? First, pay attention to how you feel while talking to them. Do you feel rushed? Do you feel like they are interested and empathetic? Ask them what experience they have with your particular issues and how they would go about treating them. If you are from a diverse community, ask them what kind of experience they have with helping members of that group.
Ultimately, it is vital that you feel comfortable with your therapist. Trust your instincts. If you have a first session with someone and don't feel like it's a good fit, you could try talking to them about it or continue your search. The effort will be worth it, because once you find a therapist you feel safe with, it can make life so much more manageable and satisfying.