I'm on Psychology Today looking for a therapist, now what?

I really value this website, PsychologyToday.com. There are others that help you find a therapist, but this one is popular and robust. Most therapists I know are either on here or not on any site. This means that you can get a large collection of therapists to search through.

Before you start clicking on preferences or sorting through therapists, it's important to be clear about what you are looking for in therapy and in a therapist. Here are a few articles to help you with that:

• First questions to answer as you consider therapy

• How can therapy be helpful? What can it do?

• Four Components of a Good Therapist

• Do I have to talk about my family? Or my past?

• Questions to ask a perspective therapist

There are several key criteria you can sort by:

• Location – city and state, as well as neighborhood or area (which is particularly helpful for larger cities, like DC!)

• Insurance companies they work with (or if they don't take insurance)

• Issues – this is the title Psychology Today (PT) gives it, but I would use the term Areas of Expertise

• Sexuality –as in, do they have experience in LGBTQ+

• Gender of the therapist

• Age range they see

• Languages they offer therapy in

• Faith affiliation

• Types of therapy – such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), etc.

Once you filter all your criteria, they list the ones that match first. Below them, they note other options without some of your criteria (perhaps in areas further away than you specified).

Each Psychology Today profile provides the option for a therapist to share:

• Professional License (only those with a state license are listed)

• Website – a personal one they operate

• Phone number – this is the assigned Psychology Today phone number, not their work number. You will definitely be able to reach a therapist via their listed number on PT, it’s just a way for the therapist and PT to know that someone used PT to find this therapist.

• Address and map of nearby area

• Additional office locations (if applicable)

• 3 top specialties

• Other Areas of Expertise (listed as Issues)

• Years in Practice

• State(s) of Licensure

• Cost per Session

• If Sliding Scale is available

• All accepted Insurance Plans

• Modalities – individuals, couples, families, groups, video/teletherapy

I typically look at all the details on PT and then also look at the therapist’s individual website in order to decide about next steps (if I’m recommending this therapist).

Once you've chosen a few that you'd are interested in, you'll reach out to them directly by either using the email or phone number listed on the PyschologyToday.com profile, or visiting their website and using the email, phone number, or online submission form they have provided. Here's more info on the Process of Making a Therapy Appointment.

In my opinion, if a therapist doesn’t have their own website, I find that I trust them less. This may not be an accurate assessment, since someone can be a good therapist, but not good website developer! I’ll let you decide for yourself.

You can view my profile to get a sense of what I described above.