I have been wanting to write about the subject of choosing a therapist for some time; I’m passionate about sharing with others, what I feel are some important lessons I’ve learned about this subject, through the therapeutic process itself. I’m very grateful to welldoing.org , an independent counselling and psychotherapy directory, and information resource, for being interested in my ideas and for publishing my article ‘What you want isn’t always what you need in therapy‘, which can be found here:
http://welldoing.org/article/what-you-want-what-you-need-therapy
I hope this is helpful to you if are thinking of starting therapy, if you are wondering whether to continue, or if you are simply looking at where you are in your current therapeutic journey, and are thinking about how you arrived at that point!
August 25, 2016 at 12:46 am
Good lessons. One of the difficulties of choosing a therapist is that usually the patient-to-be hasn’t any guidance. Moreover, if it is the first time, he is without the experience of knowing what works for him and what doesn’t. If he is also in a crisis, he isn’t about to do homework or even think clearly. No wonder so many people end up with bad treatment experiences. Here is something I wrote about it in early 2015: https://drgeraldstein.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/how-finding-a-therapist-is-like-visiting-a-dating-site-only-worse/
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 2, 2016 at 3:42 pm
Thank you! And thank you too for the reminder of this excellent post! I had a really poor experience with a CBT therapist once, and feel so fortunate to be with my current therapist (and Jane, who I saw before her).
LikeLike
August 25, 2016 at 3:44 am
It can be such a trial and error experience. I’m glad you wrote this – I probably could have used it when I started back in the day. But I’ve grown, and I have my own checklist I use now. I will add “listen to your subconscious” to my list.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 2, 2016 at 3:41 pm
Wish I’d known it back then too! 🙂 I’m glad you liked this, thank you for commenting! Your checklist sounds really interesting – have you written about it? Would love to read more about it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 2, 2016 at 3:56 pm
I haven’t! I should – I wish I had it when I first started out. Thanks for the idea!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 2, 2016 at 4:07 pm
No problem – let me know when you do, would love to read it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 26, 2016 at 8:27 pm
Excellent post!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 2, 2016 at 3:40 pm
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person