I have had multiple people come to me asking for advice on finding a therapist. I'm no expert, but I am happy to share the little bit I know.
First of, there is the research aspect. Find out if your health insurance offers any kind of coverage for therapy. If you're not on a tight budget, great. If you are like me, cost is a pretty significant factor in your search. Once you have an idea of where you are at with that, start Googling what is available in your community. Most counties in Indiana have a Mental Health America affiliate, including Tippecanoe. I've only checked out one other state so far, and that didn't have nearly as many. To find out what is available near you, check out this link. From there, you can contact the closest affiliate and ask for their assistance. The Tippecanoe affiliate has a tool available that asks a few questions to help guide you to a therapist that may suit you. I used it to find Simone. If you don't have a MHA nearby or if you don't get far with that, use Google to find out what is in your community.
Here are a few things to consider. Therapists are people. They all have different personalities and therefore you may clash with one. Don't take this to mean they are all the same, especially if this is your first experience! Along those same lines, there are multiple different philosophies regarding how the therapy is done. What works for one person, may not work for another. My experience with my current therapist is completely different from my first two. If you don't feel like you're getting the help you need, don't be afraid the end the relationship and seek out a different therapist. Your therapist's feelings won't be hurt.
When you are behind closed doors sitting face to face with a mental health professional, you need to feel like you are in a safe place and can share your thoughts and feelings without judgement. Your therapist's religion, sexuality, race, etc. should not matter. If you feel like it does, you may want to discuss this with him/her. If you don't feel like it is resolved, it's ok to look elsewhere for help. You need to be comfortable and free of judgement.
If you don't read anything else in this post, read this:
- Above all, follow your intuition.
- If it doesn't feel right, discuss it with your therapist. If it still doesn't feel right, feel free to move on, but...
- ...don't give up!
Here's a great article from WebMD about finding a therapist. It's a bit more thorough.
I think that about covers what I know. Does anyone else have some advice?
Rachel
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