Hi, we're here to talk today about how to determine whether or not
therapist that you referred to is a good match for you, and let's talk about the
top things that you should really strongly consider when finding a
therapist. Those things would be location, fee, area of expertise, demographics, and
feel in the room or over the phone. So first let's start with location. You want
to know yourself are you someone that has such a tight schedule that it would
be really critical for you to find a therapist close to campus? Well we have
many so I would choose that someone who is close to campus if that's your
preference. If you don't mind taking public transportation there are also
plenty of good therapists that are further away. Let's talk about fee. If you
have SHIP insurance, the fee is typically fifteen dollars as a copay due either at
the beginning or end of a session. Don't forget to negotiate though
particularly if you're on a tight budget. Particularly undergraduates might
struggle somewhat financially and therapists are well aware of that and
may be willing to be flexible. Let's now talk about area of expertise. Be sure
when you're talking with a therapist over the phone or during a first session
to let them know exactly what you've been struggling with, whether it's
depression, anxiety, maybe your relationship issue, drugs and alcohol. Be
sure to be very specific about that and ask them about their training and their
experience in those areas. You want to leave there feeling comfortable and
confident that sound planning is in place for you to get your needs and goals met.
Let's talk about personality style. Personality style for a therapist is
often rooted in their theoretical orientation, and so if someone is more
psychodynamic or psychoanalytic, they're likely to take a more passive role in
the therapy and let you do most of the talking particularly in the first few
sessions. Certainly they might ask questions, but there might not be a high
level of engagement. If you work with a cognitive behavioral therapist or
another type of therapist there is likely to be more engagement some
homework to do in terms of keeping track of things like harmful thoughts or
negative thoughts and so know what style might work for you not only based on
theoretical orientation, but just someone's way about them their mannerism.
Are they more a bit more emotionally detached or is there a lot of warm
energy in the room? Know what it is that you think you might work well with. And
lastly, I would say demographics are really key for many students, and so for
instance, if you want to work with someone of the same gender
with the same or similar sexual orientation certainly someone with the
same cultural or similar cultural background those are all things that
could potentially enhance the quality of the experience because of the shorthand
that often times people from the same cultures and subcultures are aware of
and the sort of similar expectations- needs phenomenon that can occur within
certain cultures. So hopefully you found that helpful and I wish you best of luck
on your referral journey. Please if you struggle at all with finding a good
match for yourself, don't hesitate to contact the counselor who referred you
to a community therapist and they can help lead the way to securing a
therapist that's right for you.
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