How to Find (And Keep) a Therapist
When you’re considering therapy, the task of finding a therapist can feel treacherous. You might already be feeling low motivation or high anxiety, and now you’ve got to figure out how to tap into the world of therapy, which can be more mysterious than it needs to be.
One of our values at Dallas Healing House is making therapy accessible to anyone who could benefit from therapy. We try to demystify the process as much as possible, including the beginning! I hope these steps can offer some guidance and a place to start.
Step one:
Decide to begin therapy. It can be hard to know whether or not you need therapy, especially since we live in a world that minimizes mental health problems. Turns out, everyone can benefit from therapy, and everyone experiences grief, anxiety, relationship problems, and struggles at some point in their life. I like to say that if you find yourself considering therapy (for yourself or for you and your partner or family), then it’s probably a good time for therapy. Don’t wait until things get worse, and definitely don’t wait until you feel completely miserable or hopeless. You might want help getting out of patterns that keep repeating, getting through stuck points, processing intense emotions (anger, anxiety, or sadness), or understanding yourself more deeply. Therapy can be preventative, too!
Step two:
Find your therapist. Thanks to ever-developing technology, there are lots of ways to find a therapist now! You can find the therapists of Dallas Healing House on many platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and good old-fashioned Google. Apps like Betterhelp might be easy to access, but many people will benefit more from an in-person setting. Also, as more people open up about mental health, you might get a recommendation from a friend or loved-one, but make sure that it doesn’t feel like you’re sharing a space with your loved-one. You want it to be all yours. At a group like Dallas Healing House, of course you can see different therapists in a completely separate way, even if a loved-one visits the same office.
The best place to search for a therapist is on psychologytoday.com. You can narrow your search by area, specialties (for example: grief, addiction, trauma, and/or LGBT), and insurance, among other filters. You can usually email them directly from the website or you can visit their websites for more information. You can ask them questions or reach out to schedule a session when you’re ready.
When considering the cost of therapy, be honest with yourself about what is doable. Many people choose to see a therapist in-network with their insurance, and many people choose to have more freedom in choosing their therapist. The fully licensed counselors at Dallas Healing House are able to provide documentation for out-of-network reimbursement if that’s an option for you.
Step three:
Keep your therapist. Research shows that the therapeutic relationship is even more important for outcomes than the therapist’s techniques and approaches. It’s important that your therapist is a good fit for you—and only you can decide what that means. It could mean you trust them, you feel they understand you, or you feel you can be honest with them. Some people choose to “shop” for a provider and will schedule multiple first sessions with different therapists, while others just need to get in the door to get started. If for some reason you’re not “jiving” with your therapist, first try putting it out there and telling them. You might find that a familiar dynamic is playing out that could be therapeutic to work through with them. Or, you might decide to see someone else, and that’s ok, too! You want to find a place where you can work through the tough stuff.
Your therapist may work with you to figure out scheduling frequency, but ultimately it is up to you to keep attending therapy. If you’re feeling like avoiding therapy and you need accountability to keep going, share that with your therapist! Everything is relevant and work-throughable in therapy.
I always recommend beginning with weekly sessions. Therapy is work in a relationship with another human, and weekly therapy gives you a great start to build your relationship and get to know and understand each other and the process of therapy. Biweekly is often what I recommend as a step-down or tapering off of sessions after significant time in weekly therapy. Anything less than biweekly might not feel effective, and you run the risk of “just checking in”—which probably won’t feel therapeutic simply because you don’t have time to go deeper. A lot happens in that amount of time, and it can be very difficult to narrow in on any one thing. Again, talk to your therapist about frequency and what is right for you. If you find yourself wanting or needing more than weekly sessions, your therapist can also help to figure out what will be a good fit.
Each step of beginning and continuing therapy takes heaps of courage and vulnerability. My advice to you is take it one step at a time and get the support you need along the way! We are always open to answering any questions you have about the process, and we have a FAQ page filled with answers. When you’re ready to begin therapy, reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help.
Authored by: Jessica Chavolla, MS, LPC