How to find a therapist
You hear people say “Well just go to therapy” as if it’s as easy as going to the grocery store. If you’ve ever tried to find a therapist and navigate the world of mental health services, you know it’s not that easy at all. As someone who is both a provider and a consumer of mental health services, I’ve seen firsthand how difficult the system can be to navigate. Here are some tips I’ve found to finding a great fitting therapist for yourself.
· If you have insurance, start there (if you don’t, hang on we’ll talk about that too). Call the number on the back of your insurance card and let them know you are seeking a “behavioral health provider for therapy who has current openings”. If you don’t specify it’s for therapy, they may try and get you to a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are great, but most are not doing therapy these days. They are medication prescribers and managers and book appointments (usually) in 15 minute increments. It’s also important to specify “has current openings”. If not, they will likely just send you a list of therapists in network with your insurance and leave you to calling 97 people who are not taking new patients. Most insurance companies now have behavioral health case managers who are usually licensed mental health professionals or nurse case managers that can help you navigate this process. If you have a specific need or issue that you want to try and make sure you therapist is trained in, this would also be a good time to specify it. “I need a therapist trained in treating Bipolar disorder” or “I need a therapist trained in treating ADHD in adults”. Your insurance company likely has a website with all the providers who are network with them listed, but again, you probably aren’t going to know whether or not they have openings unless you do the leg work yourself and call.
· A great way to find a therapist is to ask friends. You likely have a friend who either has a good therapist or knows another friend or family member who is seeing a therapist they like.
· If you think you may only need a few sessions (less than six or so), you may have an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) at work. Check with your employer to see if this is an option. If you need more than six sessions, your EAP therapist can help you find the next therapist.
· If you don’t have insurance, depending on where you live in Arkansas, you may have options for one of the Community Mental Health Centers. that have federal grant money to see uninsured residents of their county. They may also be able to provide telehealth services through your phone or computer if you don’t have transportation. Best thing to do is call and see about getting an appointment. If you don’t have insurance be sure to check and see if you qualify for Medicaid in Arkansas. Since doing the Medicaid expansion in AR, the income requirements went up. You may qualify and not know it. Also, apply at healthcare.gov and see if you can get insurance through the exchange.
· Another option if you don’t have insurance is to check on psychology today and see if any therapists list that they have “sliding scales” or offer a “pro bono” (free based on income) session.
· An additional option is going through one of the local counseling clinics where students are learning to become therapists. Right now, in Arkansas, this is only being offered to my knowledge through John Brown University. Sessions are $15 and the students work under the direction of a supervisor. They do offer telehealth options if you don’t live close to one of their sites.
· If you still aren’t sure about therapy, but would like some kind of support and may be dealing with any unhealthy patterns around alcohol, drugs, food, relationships, or sex, consider checking into some of the online support/recovery groups. Whether it’s alcoholics or narcotics anonymous or al-anon, co-dependents anonymous, sex and love addicts anonymous, overeaters anonymous or celebrate recovery, since COVID, lots of support groups went online.
There are also the online platforms for therapy like Better help or Talk space. I would say if that’s your only option for help, then definitely do it. If you can see a therapist local to your area, I would recommend that before recommending an online platform.
At your first therapy appointment, these are usually called “intake” appointments. This is where you will meet with your therapist and tell them what’s going on, sort of your reason for your visit. This will usually take at least an hour, sometimes more. This will help your therapist develop a treatment plan for you so you both can identify what you want to work on. The treatment plan will help you both be able to measure how you will know if you are seeing benefits from therapy. You’ll then schedule your next session based on how often you both agree you need to come and what each of your availability is.
This is the sucky part: You and your therapist might not be a great fit. Some therapists offer a free 15 minute phone consultation so they can talk with you and you both can kind of see where the other is coming from and get a fee for if it might be a good fit. Sometimes it takes a session or two to see if you are going to be able to open up and connect with a person. If you aren’t feeling it, it’s ok. The therapist won’t be mad or upset with you. We know we are not good fits for every person. Just message them and let them know you won’t be continuing treatment with them. The hard part also is that it might take a few people before you find the right person for you. This sucks because opening up to someone about depression, anxiety, trauma or any other mental health issue is not easy we know. So having to do that to more than one new person can seem daunting. We understand this and will try to be as gentle with as possible. When you find the right therapist for you, it is MAGIC and worth the search. I promise.
If you have other tips about how to access therapy services, I would love to hear them. Please leave them in the comments!
