Are you looking for mental health advice but don’t know where to start? It can seem intimidating and overwhelming. Here’s a step-by-step guide to finding the care that’s right for you.

Online or in-person sessions

First, think about a few things. Do you want to get insurance or are you willing to pay for it yourself? Also consider whether you plan to do in-person sessions or online therapy. Some clinicians provide both in-person and online counseling, while others only provide online counseling, and still others only provide in-person therapy. By the way, with teletherapy you have more therapists to choose from because you are no longer limited to those near you. You can now choose any therapist in your state, as long as they are licensed to practice in that state. For example, my practical is based in San Antonio, Texas, but through teletherapy, I can see any client throughout the state of Texas. The therapy format and your preferred payment method will inform your search, so it’s helpful to have an idea up front.

If you want to go the insurance route, go to your insurance website and search for an in-network provider. Look for it ““behavioral health” section of an insurance website and search a directory of providers. This is probably the easiest way to find a provider that accepts your insurance. The disadvantage of this search method is that the directory is simply a list of names, identifying information, and addresses. The directory doesn’t provide any information that gives you an idea of ​​what each person is like as a clinician – which is often important to many before they want to pick up the phone. From this list, you need to do your own Google search to find out more about them.

Check online therapist directories

Alternatively, you can access online therapist directories like Good Therapy or Psychology Today and search for clinicians. The benefit of this type of search is that you can immediately get an idea of ​​what each clinician looks like by how they appear in their profile, and you can also put a face to the name because most include their photos . Most also include information about whether and what insurance they accept. With this route, you will need to set your own filters to find a clinician who will accept your desired payment method (insurance or self-pay).

By now in the process, you might be confused with all the different qualifications: MD, PhD, LMFT, LPC, LMSW… which one do I want? Here’s a quick breakdown. In this case, doctors are Psychiatristswho are doctors who specialize in mental or behavioral illnesses. They can prescribe medications, offer psychiatric tests and some offer psychotherapy. Doctors are psychologists who focus on an area of ​​psychology, including educational, childhood, clinical, or counseling. They offer mental health and psychological testing, and most offer psychotherapy. Master’s level clinicians, who understand Marriage permitted and family therapists (LMFT), licensed professional counselors (LPC) and Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW)are clinicians who focus on psychotherapy. Unless you are specifically looking for someone who can prescribe medications, in which case you need a psychiatrist, you don’t need to get too bogged down in the clinician’s type of degree, but rather make sure that you feel comfortable with the clinician. approach and style. For example, some clinicians have an interactive and engaging style, while others have a more reserved style. You’ll probably only be able to know if your therapist’s style matches what you’re looking for once you’ve talked to them a bit – and that brings us to the next step.

Then, once you’ve narrowed your search to a few clinicians, it’s time to contact them. You will need to contact to find out if they are even accepting new clients. If so, most offer a brief phone consultation before the meeting to connect and get to know each other a little. These telephone consultations are generally offered free of charge. They’ll want to know a little bit about what you want to work on, and this is your opportunity to see if you feel comfortable talking to them.

Prepare for your first session

Finally, once you have found the clinician who meets your criteria and is available, prepare for your first session. Think about what you want to get out of the session and go in with an open mind. Some people know immediately if a therapist is right for them, while others need a few sessions to feel them. Either way, it’s your therapy, your life – do what feels right for you.

And there you have it. I hope you find it good therapist for you. With the right clinician, therapy can be a deeply rewarding journey with long-term benefits.

The preceding article was written solely by the author mentioned above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns regarding the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.