How Do I Find a Therapist?


When you make the decision to seek counseling, finding the right fit is important. 

The goal is to find someone who is a good fit and competent to help you navigate your concerns.

In the Appendix of Resolve to Rise: Become Greater than Your Circumstances and on the website www.resolvetorise.com you will find a table that outlines many of the evidence based approaches to trauma. As you review it consider what you are looking for and what approaches sound best to you.  

I find the Psychology Today platform the most helpful in getting a quick view of who is in the area, available to take new clients, and focused on and trained in the areas I'm seeking assistance. Psychology Today is a platform used in many countries; however, my instructions are based on the United States site at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us. 

At the site, you will do the following:

  1. Click on "Find a Therapist" and enter your zip code or city
  2. For Issues, select "Trauma and PTSD"  
  3. Start clicking on therapist pictures or names to pull up their profile
  4. When you're in their profile you are looking for a few things:
    • Expertise*/certification using the approaches that interest you (look under "Types of Therapy" to find the approach you like, e.g., EMDR, mindfulness, etc.)
    • Counselor Fit: look for someone for whom you like what they say and the way they say it. The information "About" the therapist will let you know a little about what they prioritize and give you a flavor of their personality. 


Expertise​
A clinician can say they are an expert in treating trauma or that they like to work with individuals who have suffered abuse, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have the skills to help you heal what burdens you. There are many approaches and evidence based practices that have proven to successfully address the symptoms of trauma. It is important to know that no approach is guaranteed, in fact, if a therapist guarantees you success, you should run the other direction! 

Because the research shows and I believe trauma resides in your mind and body, I like to seek out approaches that use both. Whether it is EMDR, Mindfulness, Internal Family Systems, or the like, you will engage the body and mind in the work. If you prefer; however, there are other helpful approaches you can pursue that engage the mind more, like attachment, cognitive behavioral therapies, narrative therapy, and such. 

My main concern with talk therapy is it can leave you feeling more broken than whole. Because trauma impacts the brain, you may notice you've been "talking" about it for years and seen little if any impact in your life. This is why I would encourage someone looking for help and healing with trauma to seek out a clinician who is trained in an evidence based approach like those listed in my book, Resolve to Rise.

After your first session or two, read my article "Is my therapist right for me?" for thoughts on determining if you've found the best therapist for you. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Complex PTSD: How Do You Know if You're Dissociating?

Image
There are various types of dissociation and within each type there are various symptoms that would point to dissociation. Dissociation is only considered clinically significant if it is interfering with an aspect of your life, for instance, work or family.  When is Dissociation Normal?  Some degree of dissociation is normal and every person can typically relate to one or another of the symptoms; e.g., getting lost in thought as your driving home and not being able to remember the drive. In and of itself having a symptom isn't reason for concern, but when it becomes the way you navigate life it can have some significant impacts on your work, relationships, and life in general. If that is the case, it may be time for you to seek professional help.  13 Signs You are Dissociating  You drive somewhere or you had a conversation that you don’t remember You do something that you don’t remember You don’t remember how you got to where you are or you don’t remember putting on the clothes that
Read more

How Does Someone with Complex PTSD Behave?

Image
What is Complex PTSD? To understand how a person will behave, it helps to first understand more about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). Individuals who have PTSD or C-PTSD share many symptoms. To meet the criteria for PTSD the individual has to have been indirectly or directly exposed to a traumatic event resulting in a death or leaving a person feeling like their life or someone else's life was in immediate danger.  They also must meet the following criteria for a minimum of 30 days, not because of a medication/substance and/or illness, and it is negatively impacting aspects of their life; specifically, they...  Re-experiences the event in one or more ways (e.g., memories, nightmares, flashbacks, etc.) Avoids reminders of the traumatic event Experiences negative thoughts or feelings that began or became worse after the traumatic event (e.g., difficulty remembering aspects of the event) Has an increase in arousal or reactivity after the traumatic even
Read more

How Do You Comfort the Grieving?

Image
After something difficult occurs, there are various ways people try to support.  Some responses are helpful and others are not.  "It can be like driving down a road in the dark." I was in a counseling program when my husband unexpectedly died in bed next to me. One of my colleagues (a future counselor and chaplain) later told me he avoided engaging with me, because he did not know what to say.   If a chaplain and future counselor doesn’t know what to say, what does that mean for everyone else?   It can be scary knowing how to show up when someone you know has suffered something significant. What do you say? How do you act? What if you say the wrong thing? Will you make it worse?  It can be like driving down the road in the dark. At some points, the only thing you may be able to see clearly are the lines on the road. And, that is when you focus your eyes on that to guide you home. When you don't focus on what you can see, you may be inclined to avoid driving in the dark at
Read more