How To Find the Right Therapist (Part 1 of 2)
Today, we’re going to talk about knowing if you need therapy, and what to look out for when you’re looking for one. Part 1 will talk about the common barriers and stigmas to therapy, and Part 2 talks about how to start looking and what to expect in therapy.
How does one know if they need therapy?
Sometimes, it’s not even about waiting for your symptoms to be really severe before deciding to seek professional support. In fact, the earlier the intervention - the better. So, if you are experiencing any depressive and/or anxiety symptoms that interfere with your quality of life and ability to work or love, then I’d implore you to do a quick basics check:
Are you still able to maintain a good diet?
Have you been able to fall asleep & stay asleep easily?
Do the things that bring you joy still do bring you joy?
Are you able to maintain a good relationship with your loved ones?
If it’s been 2 weeks and your symptoms don’t alleviate or pass, then it’s definitely worth getting a professional opinion. Especially if you can’t identify a clear trigger or “precipitating” event, then it’s also worth mentioning this to your GP for a mental health assessment, and see if you meet the criteria for an MHP to be sent to Medicare where you’ll be referred to a psychologist.
What are the common barriers to taking the first step to seek help?
There are so, so many.
Sometimes, the idea of sharing your thoughts, beliefs and symptoms to someone else is scary - especially if it’s to a stranger. → But I think that patients will quickly get used to the idea and that it is a very safe and non-judgmental space, where it’s about you and working on you. No one else. It can be liberating when you don’t need to self-monitor and just share what it is you’re going through.
I think sometimes we overthink what therapy is and how it reflects on us as a person. → But essentially, you’ll be engaging the services of a highly trained health professional, who will listen to you and recommend an intervention that is likely to improve your symptoms. It’s up to you to evaluate and execute upon it.
What are the common stigmas surrounding therapy?
Common Stigma #1: “Going to therapy means I’m weak” and that is absolutely not true. You don’t go to therapy because you’re weak - you go because you acknowledge that it is an efficient way to work on a problem that you’re having. It’s like, if you broke your arm in the middle of the woods = yes, you can try and fix it yourself - or you can also see a professional doctor to make sure it heals properly. It’s the same thing, but for your mental health.
Common Stigma #2:” Therapists will judge me and talk about me to other people.” No, your therapist is likely to be the least judgmental because they are trained to, and also they aren’t in your circle - and are bound by the law to not disclose patient information.
Common Stigma #3: “I’ll forever be dependent on a therapist.” Not necessarily true. Technically, you can leave the therapist’s room and never come back. No one is stopping you. What’s more likely to happen is that, as your condition improves, you’ll see therapists less frequently - but that may change if you “relapse” to old habits, which happens by the way and it’s normal - where you might want to make you come back for more help. No therapist in their right mind would want to keep any of their patients; if they’re in this line of work, they’re more likely to want to help people tackle whatever it is they are experiencing instead of exacerbate it.
There are many therapists out there, so you might think - what kind of therapist would be most suitable for me?
You’d think that it’s something you can really be clear and know about prior. But it is totally unclear to the everyday person, even unclear to me as a psychologist sometimes. Let’s break that question down.
Firstly, the word “therapist” is generally a counsellor, a psychologist, a psychiatrist - they’re all therapists. If you have a mental health disorder as confirmed by a mental health professional or medical practitioner, then I would recommend seeing a mental health professional.
This means:
A psychologist
A psychiatrist
A counsellor (with mental health training)
A social worker (with mental health training)
Or a nurse (with mental health training)
Psychologists spend years of training almost exclusively in psychology, whereas other professions have a larger part of their training be in other areas. So first, it’s about knowing where to start looking - and that would be for the former rather than latter of the list.
What kind of psychologists are out there?
To answer that question, I think it’s best seen as the broad variety of styles a psychologist could have:
There’s the pragmatic type which prefers to use cognitive and behavioral tools, and see there to be clear phases of goal setting, assessments, reviews and interventions.
The explorative type prefers to allow the patient to explore and direct where the conversation is going.
The approach-driven types are committed to a specific treatment approach and follow it as much as possible. This could be…
EMDR which enables patients to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences,
Mindfulness which teaches patients to consciously pay attention to their thoughts and feelings without placing any judgments upon them,
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages people to embrace their thoughts and feelings rather than fighting or feeling guilty for them,
…and the like.
Some psychologists are the niche-specific type: meaning, they prefer to work in a given area such as addictions, eating disorders, adolescent mental health, etc.
The attachment or childhood-centric type are really big into understanding the patient’s attachment styles and how they’ve been formed from a very young age.
And lastly, the eclectic type - which don’t really fall into any type of category, and they just mix-and-match approaches as they see fit.
What’s important to know is that there isn’t really the “best style.” It is important that you find the therapist that is the “best fit” for you. In fact, the quality of the therapeutic alliance is the biggest factor in terms of getting positive outcomes.