How do you find the right therapist?
when there are so many different types and they may have different trainings, experiences, and personalities?

Here’s a guide to help you figure out:

1. What to look for

( types of therapists, what they do, education & experience, & credentials)

2. What you need to know

(therapist restrictions, check their license number, types of places for therapy, specialties, insurance, & rates)

3. How to find them

What to look for

This section includes information on the: types of therapists, what they do, education & experience, & credentials

Types of Therapists

Therapists can be:

counselors
psychologists
psychiatrists
social workers
marriage and family therapists

What they do

All of the professions below can provide therapy services - here is where they can differ. Each profession can also specialize in a certain area and may not provide more general services, so it is important ask your potential provider about what services they provide.
**counselors** - can be easier to get an appointment as typically their primary role is to provide therapy
**psychologists** - are sought out for their education and training in providing assessments. This can be important for more complicated concerns such as with personality, neurocognitive (such as ADHD), and substance use as well as assessments for functioning, capacity, and disabilities
**psychiatrists** - can provide medications to target and help alleviate/reduce mental health related symptoms and can have more experience with more complicated and severe mental health concerns
**social workers** - generally gravitate towards outreach and assisting more vulnerable populations and communities
**marriage and family therapists** - typically sought out for their education and training in therapy for families and couples

Education & Experience

To be a fully licensed, independent therapist, it take close to and sometimes over a decade of education and supervised experience. Therapists can also be licensed in more than one state.

counselors - have an undergraduate, bachelors degree in a related field, a master’s degree in counseling such as in clinical mental health counseling or school counseling, years of supervised practice, pass the state licensing exams, and receive continuing education that is monitored by their state’s licensing board
psychologists - have an undergraduate, bachelors degree in a related field, a doctorate degree in psychology, years of supervised practice, pass licensing exams, and receive continuing education that is monitored by their state’s licensing board
psychiatrists - complete a bachelor’s degree, graduate from medical school, pass licensure exams, and complete an internship and residency program in psychiatry
social workers - have to attain a bachelors and master’s or doctorate in social work as well as complete an internship and extensive supervision hours
marriage and family therapists - have an undergraduate and graduate degree, years of supervised practice, pass the state licensing exams, and receive continuing education that is monitored by their state’s licensing board

Credentials

2. What you Need to know

This section includes information on: therapist restrictions, check their license number, types of places for therapy, specialties, insurance, & rates

Therapist Restrictions & Check their license number

Restrictions: You already learned about the general different credentials, education, and experience. What they all have in common is that they can only see clients in the state they have their license, so if a therapist is licensed in the state of Minnesota, they can only see clients who live in Minnesota. Some therapists also have licenses in more than one state.

How to find their license number: Every therapist has a license number, and you can verify that online, usually by searching something like “look up (insert therapist name) therapist license number (insert state).” An example: the website to verify Minnesota license numbers for counselors is called the Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health with the website domain of https://mn.gov/boards/behavioral-health/.

Types of Places for therapy

Some providers only see clients in-person and others have an online/telehealth option. If you are interested in Telehealth, it can be important to ask what HIPPA compliant measures they have in place such as how they store your information and what platform they use for scheduling and conducting the video meeting. The information below may vary depending on your location and the services these companies provide - this is a general explanation.

Private practice - some therapists have 10-20 minute free consultations (usually just private practices do this- they can have more control over their hours vs community mental health centers or health care facilities that have a client scheduled every hour of their workday).
Health care facility - can hire counselors, psychologists, etc. to provide therapy, assessments, and medications to patients
Community mental health center - can provide counseling as well as other services such as programs that help teach children and adults skills, address behavioral concerns, and provide information on community resources
College campus - usually provide free therapy sessions for their college students and can have group workshops
Crisis center - can provide information about resources in the community, provide phone support, and help you navigate a crisis situation
Substance abuse center - have specific training and resources to help people who are struggling with addiction
Hospital- can provide support, assessments, and stabilization
Inpatient facility - for those qualified for monitored support, stabilization, and treatment
School - can have therapists that have more training in working in a school setting; they can conduct group workshops and work one-on-one with children

Specialties

Some therapists operate as “general practitioners” and provide services for everyone, whereas some therapists specialize in a certain area. For example, you start seeing a therapist and realize you need more support in managing trauma symptoms, and you are referred or ask for a referral for a therapist that has more specialized training and expertise in that area. You can look for their “bios” or “about me” pages to find out more information on their specialities, training, and expertise.

Insurance (in-network vs Out-Of-Network)

Next, it can depend if you want to be able to use insurance.

If you want an in-network provider, (i.e. you do not pay for services at the time of the appointment, unless you have a copay, but you may get a bill later if your insurance doesn’t cover the full cost) you can call or use your insurance company’s website to find their approved providers.
If you want to use an out of network (OON) provider, you can use a platform like Mentaya to check your OON benefits. You would have to pay for the cost of therapy at the time of the appointment, and then, depending on your benefits, you can get reimbursed later.

Some CONS of using insurance

Insurance companies can read your notes, Diagnostic Assessments, and treatment plans
They also require a disorder to be diagnosed to pay for services - this can effect things like rates of life insurance
You may get a bill in the mail weeks to months later with the cost the insurance company did not pay for
They can determine how many sessions you have with your provider until they will not pay for your therapy services. For example, some companies will pay for three therapy sessions per year.

Rates

The average cost of therapy is $100-200 per session which may depend on your state and location - some therapists may charge well over $200 per session.

Why does therapy cost that much?

As you read earlier, it takes close to a decade or more of education and experience in order to become licensed as a therapist
Therapists have to meet continued education requirements to stay licensed, and those continued trainings can be costly
Yearly licensure and insurance fees are expensive
There are a lot of expenses for therapists who pay for HIPPA compliant systems to keep your information and communications secure
Client sessions are a fraction of therapist duties. There are paperwork requirements such as Diagnostic Assessments, treatment plans, and coordination of care as well as time spent in consultation meetings and with billing, scheduling, emails, phone calls, etc.

Beware of monthly subscriptions for therapy

Those companies typically don’t treat or pay therapists well and that may impact your care and experience with therapy
There have also been incidents with some companies where private health information was shared without permission.

3. How to find them

There are many different directories and ways to discover therapists in your area. Some of the most helpful/popular are:

Psychology Today
Google search & Maps
Your insurance company’s provider listing (website of in-network providers)

You can also sometimes get a glimpse of the therapist’s personality from their bios/ information about them section. There may be some jargon like person-centered, CBT, DBT, EMDR, and you can do a quick google search to get a feeling for what that type of therapy is before meeting with that therapist and can get more information after meeting with them initially. It’s okay to feel nervous when meeting a therapist; you’re meeting someone new for the first time and don’t know what to expect. It may take a couple sessions to feel comfortable, and that’s okay. It’s also okay if you feel that the therapist is not a good fit; the beauty of therapy is that no one therapist is completely alike - each have different variations in training, experience, and personality. It may take a couple of tries before you find the right fit.

Until next time,

Elizabeth Niewojna, MEd, LPCC

Contact Me

How to find a therapist

How do you find the right therapist?