So You Want to See a Therapist
Here are four steps to help you get started
Since starting this mental health newsletter, I’ve had several conversations with others about my experience with therapy. One thing I’ve realized from these conversations is that people find looking for a mental health professional logistically overwhelming. In fact, a lot of people don’t know where to even start.
If you’re in a place where you’d like to see a mental health professional, I’ve broken down the beginning steps so that you can get started:
Figure out the finances
Leverage your network
Don’t get overwhelmed by the licenses
Figure out their speciality
Figure Out the Finances
I’m going to be blunt. Seeing a mental health professional(MHP) can be expensive. Generally speaking, they meet once a week with their clients over a long period of time. Therapy is not something you should expect long-term benefits from within a 1-month period. A crucial part of therapy is the relationship you develop with the MHP which can take time.
The cost of a therapy session can range from $50/hr - $200/hr depending on their background, experience, and job site. Some MHP’s also use a sliding scale to determine the fee based on your salary to make sessions more affordable. With that in mind, this is how much a year of therapy could potentially cost without any medication:
$50 x 50 weeks = $2,500/year
to
$200 x 50 weeks = $10,000/year
This may sound like a lot, but it’s helpful to view therapy as an investment in yourself. Your future self and those around you will thank you later.
Leverage Your Network
If finances are an issue, I would recommend exploring the network of mental health professionals through your health insurance. Believe it or not, the Affordable Care Act has made it so that most health insurance plans cover mental health services since 2014. I highly recommend leveraging this service because it’s something you’re paying for.
If you’re a student, another option is to look into your school’s health facilities. Many times a student can receive extremely discounted, even free, therapy sessions for up to 12 times. But keep in mind that the people you’d see would most likely be a MHP-in-training.
If finances aren’t an issue, ask your friends if they know a good MHP. The best recommendations come from people who’ve seen a MHP before and found it rewarding. People who work professionally in the mental health field are also a great resource.
Finally, you can try using online resources such as the psychologist locator offered by the American Psychological Association. Other search engines like Yelp can also be useful as well.
Don’t Get Overwhelmed By The Licenses
One thing you’ll discover when you look for a mental health professional is a wide variety of credentials such as the PhD, PsyD, LMFT, LPCC, and LCSW. Here’s a very quick overview of what those letters mean.
Psychologists
PhD’s and PsyD’s are psychologists. They have doctorate-level education of 8-10 years and have the most training of all the mental health professionals. Psychologists also have the ability to diagnose illnesses and even prescribe medication in some states.
PhD’s tend to be more clinically focused with the intention of producing original research. PsyD’s are more focused on the application of existing research. Both often deal with severe cases of mental illness in their line work.
Therapists
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC), and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) are therapists and tend to be more affordable than psychologists. They have a Masters-level education, the ability to diagnose illnesses, but can’t prescribe medication.
Each credential represents a different licensing board for different states with various approaches to mental health. It gets a bit confusing, but here’s a quick synopsis:
LMFT’s tend to focus more on family dynamics and psychodynamic therapy.
LCSW’s tend to focus on therapy within the context of social work and government services.
LPCC’s also tend to focus on therapy but can also engage in areas that aren’t related to it such as career counseling.
In my humble opinion, what really makes a therapist worth their salt isn’t the license they carry. It’s their method, style, personality, experience, and time they spend continuing their education. So don’t get too overwhelmed by the letters behind their name.
That being said, special consideration should be given when deciding between a psychologist vs. a therapist due to the level of education and experience of the mental health professional.
Figure Out Their Specialty
Mental health professionals generally have an area of focus that they specialize in. This can be categorized in a variety of ways from age groups, culture, and mental illnesses such as anxiety. Knowing what a person’s speciality is can help you make a decision. If you are an Asian American and struggle with depression, then it makes sense to see someone who is culturally experienced and has thoroughly researched the field of depression.
Sidenote: If you come across a “generalist”, that means one of two things: 1) They’re new 2) A red flag.
If they’re new and have yet to discover a specialization, it could be worth a shot to visit them. Someone who is new may not necessarily be bad. What they lack in experience can be made up through great supervision and their own passion/effort.
But if they’ve been a practicing mental health professional for several years, then being a generalist is a bad sign. The world of mental health research is vast and rapidly developing. This indicates that they most likely haven’t done deep research on any single area of focus and are overselling their abilities.
Discussion Questions
Have you ever tried looking for a therapist? What did that process look like?
What other advice would you give to someone looking for a therapist?