5 Tips For Finding A Good Therapist

Congratulations! You’re taking your first step toward better caring for yourself.

You decided that it’s a good time for you to begin therapy.

So… What now?

Finding the right therapist can be a little bit of a maze to navigate. Just like finding the right primary care provider, veterinarian, or place of worship, the options are numerous. But looking for a therapist can be a tad overwhelming when one doesn’t know how to start or what to look for. 

So how do you find the right therapist or counselor?

And how can you know when you’ve found “the one”? 

Here’s a handy list of tips on how to find a good therapist as you embark on your mental health journey.

Finding a Good Therapist - Tip #1: What Do You Need?

Finding the right therapist or counselor requires having a general knowledge of  what you may need help with. This might mean taking time to think about what issues and topics are most important to you. What areas of your life create more than the regular, expected day-to-day stress? What would you like to discuss over the course of your therapy?

Maybe you suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, want to address your relationship with alcohol, or feel hamstrung by burdensome procrastination habits that cause setbacks in your personal life and professional career. Perhaps there’s traumatic experiences you’d like to resolve in therapy, or you simply want to talk through how to better navigate conflict when you and your spouse argue over who’s doing dishes after dinner.

Additionally, you may not be able to identify any specific issue, but you feel that counseling could be helpful. You might simply need a space away from your partner(s) or kids to freely speak your mind without judgment.

While you may not need to have a complete understanding of all your counseling needs, it helps to have a general idea of what you’d like to accomplish or experience during therapy

Finding a Good Therapist - Tip #2: Let The Search Commence!

So you’ve figured out your therapy needs. Great. But how might you begin the actual search process for a therapist? There are benefits and drawbacks to consider in choosing insurance or self paying for counseling.

An oft overlooked benefit of having insurance with mental health coverage is their catalog of in-network therapists. Checking your provider’s website for their list of counselors is a great starting point. Occasionally insurance websites might not have the most updated list, so confirming that your potential mental health provider is in-network is recommended.

Additionally, to find a therapist the internet search engines come in quite handy. Google maps will provide you the name of nearby counseling practices.

One may also find a potential therapist on websites like Psychology Today or Good Therapy. There you’ll find an extensive set of therapist profiles, and search options that match you with potential counselors based upon your mental health needs.

And don’t forget that word of mouth is also a great way to find a potential good provider. Do any of your friends go to counseling? Maybe someone has mentioned their therapist. If so, they might be willing to share about their experience.

Finding a Good Therapist - Tip #3: Acronyms, Acronyms, Acronyms…

While on your search for the right provider you’ll likely come across a plethora of acronyms you may not recognize amid the therapist profiles you’ve seen. 

You’ll see CBT, DBT, EMDR, CSAC and more among the treatment modalities. You may also see mental health providers with titles like Psy.D, LPC, LCSW, LMFT, or “Resident in Counseling.” 

What’s with all the acronyms? First off, don’t be intimidated. Many of these acronyms are titles that indicate a focus of practice or a type of therapy speciality.

Ideally, a mental health counselor has fewer acronyms in their profile and more information about how they actually help and what they offer each client.

While you don’t need to know the meaning of every single acronym listed on a therapist’s page, it may be helpful to research unfamiliar terms that help you better understand how a specific therapist approaches the process.

Here’s a list of acronyms you might come across, and what they mean:

Common treatment modalities:

• EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a type of therapy typically used in healing mental health trauma.

• CBT - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, an approach that focuses on how different ways of thinking affect our mental health.

• DBT - Dialectical Behavior Therapy, similar to CBT but with a stronger emphasis on emotion-regulation through healthy coping skills.

Common credentials held by mental health therapists:

• LPC - Licensed Professional Counselor

• LCSW - Licensed Clinical Social Worker

• LMFT - Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

• LCP - Licensed Clinical Psychologist

• MT-BC - Music Therapist, Board Certified

• RPT - Registered Play Therapist

• CSAC - Certified Substance Abuse Counselor

  *As a general rule, which type of license or certificacion you see above isn’t as important in your decision. These acronyms just let you know the counselor received proper training and answers to a regulated board.

Finding a Good Therapist - Tip #4: Swipe Left, Swipe Right

But it’s not just about titles and specialities!  While acronyms might give you some insight into what treatment a counselor may use, it’s just as important to consider your potential therapist’s experience and knowledge base. 

Similarly, for ethnic or sexual minorities it may be important to match with a therapist of a similar background due to potential shared life experiences. It may be important for members of the LGTBQ community to work with an LGBTQ therapist or someone with experience in working with LGBTQ persons and non monogamous persons might benefit from connecting with a therapist with familiarity in non-traditional relationships.

However, your therapist doesn’t have to have had your same experiences to be able to support you. It is part of every therapist’s training to be fluent in working with people of many cultures and backgrounds.

Whatever your background, however you identify, it’s important to remember that you bring your full self into each therapy session, and that all of you deserves to be celebrated and welcomed.  

Finding a Good Therapist - Tip #5: Shop Til You Drop

So you found a potential therapist and have had your first session.

Everything’s good, right? Not entirely.

This is a perfect time to assess your first session. Evaluate whether you felt heard, welcomed, and supported in the way you best need. 

Did your match help you identify what you wanted to accomplish? Did they give you feedback in a clear and thoughtful way?  Did they give you an opportunity to ask questions or clarify anything that was confusing for you?

Looking for the right therapist can be an ongoing process. If you didn’t feel comfortable, you can schedule appointments with another therapist who might also be good fit.  

Finding a therapist doesn’t have to be arduous and needn’t be a worry filled process. It’s important to have a general understanding of what one might hope to accomplish in therapy, even if it’s not specific. Several online tools can help one find a potential match. And, finding the right counselor is a progression that may include meeting with more than one provider. Knowing the background of a potential therapist as well as their specialties can also help you make the right choice. Lastly, don’t ignore your gut feeling. it’s important that you feel comfortable with your therapist. Keeping these simple tips in mind can help you find the best match for you.

At LaunchPad Counseling, we help children and adults overcome barriers that keep them stuck, so that everyone can experience fulfilling relationships and a more positive outlook on life. We offer In-Person therapy in Richmond VA, and Online Counseling across Virginia. If we can be of help to you, please reach out!