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Choosing A Psychotherapist

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How To Choose A Psychotherapist 

Shopping Around
Most therapists expect that people will shop around and will not be offended if after talking on the phone or having an introductory session you want to compare and contrast with other therapists. It's best to start out calling on the phone and use your intuition and your common sense about who you feel more comfortable with and who has the training and expertise to respond best to your historical issues, symptoms, and your current goals.

Finding A Well-Trained Therapist
Choosing a psychotherapist is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. Counseling is a method that can overlap with psychotherapy but it tends to be less in-depth and has a more exclusively supportive nature rather than uncovering or exploratory, and structure changing. Although counseling has its place of legitimate importance it may not be the best fit for you. It is important to note that to make lasting changes and enhance psychic structure in areas where there are deficits or traumas that hold us back significantly in work and love and play, psychotherapy with a well trained psychotherapist is often essential. Not all licensed professionals have in-depth post-graduate training in psychotherapy. Be sure to ask about this if you are looking for thorough work.

Counseling vs. Psychotherapy
In general, if you are doing psychotherapy it is best to have a frequency of at least 1x per week. Counseling or short-term, more psycho-educational, coaching, or skill building approaches can be effective at less than 1x per week but defenses usually come back up and the less than 1x per week tends to be more shallow. You may get more value for the money you spend with more intensive approaches. So its important to find someone who you can afford to go to weekly. Some therapists may give discounts if you are coming to psychotherapy more frequently.

Insurance vs. Private Pay or the Compromise
Choosing someone you can afford is important and not all therapists who will be able to fit with you have the hours you need, or accept insurance. In many cases the therapists on an insurance company panel may not have quite the right training for you. Be open to negotiating a rate you can afford with a private pay therapist or a therapist whose insurance slots are full. You may get better care this way. And you may also have a more confidential treatment with a private pay therapist who doesn't have to submit paperwork etc to your insurance company  or EAP. The compromise refers to therapists of a patient who has a PPO and allows the patient to submit the therapists statement showing what they paid the therapist and then the patient is reimbursed by the insurance company for a percentage of the private pay fee they paid for a certain number of sessions. (HMOs will not reimburse the patient, only the therapist, and usually at a very low rate.) Ask if the therapist and insurance company will do this kind of compromise if you wish to use your PPO insurance.

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