Therapy recommendations?

[the_andy]

So, I'm finally going to try to start seeing someone about my anxiety. Anyone have good advice to share on how to go about finding a therapist? The usual recommendation is to talk to friends and family for their recommendations, but most of my local friends are only sort of local and their recommendations would likely fall outside my comfortable travel radius (I'm not renting a car for every session, at least not during the initial feeling out period). I'll still check with the couple people I know in the city, but I'm probably going to have to go into this cold. The good news at least is that my preliminary search shows that there are a lot of therapists in my general area, so at least I'll have plenty of options even with my limited travel ability.

So, I'm interested in things like: what do I look for, what questions should I be asking, what are warning signs I should run away from, etc. Or any other advice, since this is all new to me. I mean, my usual method to finding a doctor in general is to just ask who has the first opening in their schedule, but this, I think, probably should involve more careful thought.

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

♥ ♥ I think I have some links somewhere on finding a therapist -- I don't have time to look for them b/f work, but if I don't get back to you later today feel free to poke me again. Good luck. & I agree, it's definitely better to try to avoid picking someone randomly. ^^;;

(Ahahaha when I did short-term therapy through work's Employee Assistance Program a couple years ago when I was moving into this flat & falling apart even more than usual, I got a counselor who was reasonably near work & had an open slot after work -- the only criteria they could really pay heed to -- & at one point she gave me a booklet about anxiety to read. The next week: "So did you read it?" "No, b/c reading it made me more anxious." "Well, then, what are we going to do?!" NOT HELPFUL.)

ETA: A couple of posts to start: on finding a counselor (UK-focused but general principles possibly useful) & how to talk about your symptoms when you do find someone. More if/when I find them! ♥

Also: DocReady is an easy way to compile a list of things to talk (to your GP but presumably also a mental health care provider) about wrt mental health, in case that helps in noting things down more easily?

[j00j]

Here via littlebutfierce.
This Captain Awkward post has some green flags for a good therapist: http://captainawkward.com/2012/12/30/414-what-are-the-green-flags-for-a-good-therapist/

I think knowing what you absolutely want in a therapist is important-- the person responding to that letter wanted a feminist. I wanted and needed someone who understood polyamory.

http://www.goodtherapy.org/ has some tools for finding a therapist and figuring out what might work for you. It also lists some red flags.
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/warning-signs-of-bad-therapy/
I don't know a *lot* about this site, but its goals seem good and my therapist is listed on it, which is how I know about it.

My therapist did a free initial consulting session which gave me the opportunity to see if I thought she was a good fit-- I thought that was very helpful, but I have no idea if it's common. At the time, she was fairly new and starting to build a practice.

Best of luck! I hope you find someone who is helpful.

[firecat]

Last time I found a therapist via a list of queer-friendly therapists and I emailed her to ask if she was OK with working with someone who has [my list of identity stuff].