By Tom McDonagh, Psy.D.
CA License #: PSY25741
WA License #: PY61408367
A common question we hear, here at Good Therapy SF, is how do I find a therapist near me?
A really common way most people here in San Francisco, they try to Google search and they use the Internet. So very often it’s good to just search for that: How do I find a therapist? Very often therapists that are looking to reach out for new clients are going to make themselves available. They’re going to advertise. Another common way to find therapists outside of internet searches is to go to a website called psychologytoday.com.
Most therapists will list their availability on that site. It’s a directory. You can search for a type of therapist that is within your area, insurance, what type of specialty they focus on. So that’s another great resource as well. But it’s really useful to also maybe reach out to your community or your friends or your social network in some way.
It’s pretty common, at least here in California, particularly in San Francisco, for people to be open about talking about their therapy experiences. So I’m sure you can ask for recommendations from other people in your social network. as well. So those are some really easy, low risk ways to try to find a therapist in your area.
Something that someone might be looking for in a therapist is their degree that they’ve earned or the type of therapy that they provide. For example, we are specialists here in cognitive behavioral therapy, which is focusing on your thoughts and your behaviors to treat most symptoms that people present with, such as anxiety or depression.
It’s also useful to ask someone what their experience is working with the particular type of issue that you’re presenting with. For example, with us, we have specialists in relationship issues. And we have specialists that focus on anxiety. So we try to hear the referral request, what people are presenting with and try to refer them to the appropriate provider based on their experience and what they like to work with.
So if I were a client and I were trying to evaluate a therapist, some questions I would ask myself, first and foremost, is what type of feeling do I get when I talk to this person? Because the quality of the relationship you have with your therapist is going to be the most important factor independent of training, right?
If you don’t have a strong sense of support, or if you feel off in some way, then they’re likely not the best person for you. So making sure you kind of get that warm, supportive feeling from them is number one. And then second, I would also ask them for their experience or what their training is around the particular issue that you’re coming in with.
You want to make sure you’re working with someone that is a specialist or someone that at least has some experience working with your issue. Because that’s the way you’re going to get help the most effective way.
And if you’re interested in us here at Good Therapy SF, please feel free to reach out.
