Finding the Right Therapist

There are several different types of mental health professionals with varying degrees of training, such as counselors, licensed social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Choosing the right therapist to assist you with your mental health issues can sometimes prove to be quite a challenge.

Before you seek the assistance of a mental health professional, have your medical doctor make sure your symptoms are not related to a treatable underlying medical condition that can mimic psychological illness. Once this is done, you can begin the process of choosing an appropriate therapist. When making this choice, you need to take into consideration many factors. To begin, decide whether you are more comfortable talking with a male or a female and if a particular race or religious background would affect your overall comfort level with someone. You need to be able to build a good rapport with this person without overstepping boundaries and becoming dependent or viewing them as a friend. It’s also important to make sure appointments are available during the times you need and are not stressing you financially. The therapist needs to portray a sense of empathy and be able to actively and compassionately listen to your issues. Keep in mind that a therapist can refer you to other therapists if it is out of their realm of treatment, such as in the case of needing medication. Psychiatrists are medical doctors that can prescribe medications, whereas other mental health professionals cannot.

Therapy is not always going to be a comfortable situation, as the therapist goes deeper and deeper into potentially painful issues that may be contributing to your feelings. Be assured that an appropriately chosen therapist can go to these depths and further assist you to effectively work through them.