The Summer Slow Down....Time to find a therapist!

It happens every year (except the pandemic summer of 2020). Clinicians will tell you that in the summer, generally speaking, people tend to feel happier given the warm weather and vacation time taken. I often agree, but there are always moments of exception at the times of the year when people tend to reach out. While many take a break in the summer, a lot of people also take the time and space to reach out and start given having a more relaxed outlook for the mid-year months and feel like they have more time for therapy. It can ebb and flow with when is the best time to reach out or start therapy, of course, IMO, anytime is the right time. I have had this conversation numerous times with prospective or short-term clients in the past, and I felt it would be helpful to talk about an all-encompassing approach to finding a therapist that many may not initially pursue.

There are two resources I always say to start with in terms of a frame of reference. First, if you live in Massachusetts where health insurance is mandated, you can use your insurance website and listings to find a list of names, (LMHC, LICSW’S, Psychologists) using typically a zip code search and profession listing tool. This is a good resource in that, it will give you more names than you can manage, but unfortunately it often only lists a clinician’s name, address, and contact information and not much else. Nevertheless, it’s still a good resource to have. The second, and better resource to have is the website PsychologyToday.com. This is IMO the absolute best resource you can use to find a therapist. It’s basically a Google search to find a therapist. The main page literally states “Find a Therapist” with a blank space so it’s really user-friendly. That space can be used in two ways, first, you can always cross-reference some of those names on the long list you generated from your insurance website to see if they have a profile page. Second, and more commonly, you can put in zip codes or multiple zip codes (if open to virtual therapy) and a whole results page will come up for you. There are filters at the top, I would suggest highlighting your insurance and if you have a gender preference but not much else as to not narrow it down too much unless you are looking for very specialized support.

As the results update from those filters, you will have pages of small pictures with a few sentences listing therapists. Click on the picture or the few sentences and it will bring you to the therapist’s profile page. This is great because it has their picture, office pictures (if applicable or needed), a bio typically written by the therapist, their insurance accepted and costs, if they are taking new clients, forms of therapy, etc., and more. Read a lot of profiles, and when I say a lot, I mean it, a lot. More than you probably want to, but even as a therapist I know how important it is to find someone that you like and feel comfortable with, so consider the amount of time you take researching people that it will be reflective in that you will more likely find someone that matches your needs and preferences if you take that time. After that, you will start contacting people, and on their pages, you can either email or call the therapist first, I always highly suggest messaging first as we are therapists and in session and we often won’t answer calls that aren’t planned.

The first message is a screening message and you will send it to 15-20 people. Yes, you read those numbers correctly. I promise there is a reason and I will explain at the end. This first message is brief, you can copy and paste it, and all you will ask initially is “Are you accepting new clients and do you take my —— insurance”? That’s it, send that out into the therapist-verse and you will likely hear back from 7-8 saying yes to both. From there, you will send a second round message, also very brief, also copy and paste, and ask “Could we set up a brief phone call to speak more about your therapy style and approach” before setting up a potential intake. Is this phone call required? No, but as a standard, I always set one up, and for you, as a client, why not have an extra screening method to make sure the therapist sounds like you may like to start meeting with them. So, you will ask for this phone call from the 7-8 clinicians and maybe 2-3 will oblige. Talk to all three of them, and see how they sound while of course their background and experience are important, how they sound when they talk to you is paramount in your making the decision to meet with them. Then, set up the intake with the one that sounds like you may like the most.

Therapy should always be an evaluative process, after the first few sessions, a few months, and so on. Certainly starting with someone new, you can always stop if for some reason you aren’t feeling good about it. But this is why I recommend this process of taking more time and reaching out to many so it will help narrow down and increase your chances of finding someone you like and achieving success in the therapy space.

So take advantage of the summer slow down and find yourself a therapist, maybe that’s me, or if not, use the process above and I have no doubt you will find someone that you connect with. I wish you the best of luck in the search process!