What do you look for in a therapist who is right for you?
Finding the right therapist is the first important step if you are looking for a good experience in therapy for yourself. It is a good practice to check and verify your potential therapist’s credentials before you signup with them.
Inner Dawn Counsellor Kala Balasubramanian’s views featured in Deccan Herald Metrolife
12-Oct-22.
I would suggest that you have a brief talk with the therapist, either on phone or a video call. Have a free flowing conversation, and ask your questions and get clarity. Is the person open, willing to offer professional information about themselves, willing clarify all your questions, do you feel comfortable in the conversation?
Some questions that you should ask when you are looking for a therapist.
- What are their professional qualifications, from which university or certifying authority? How long was the qualifying course?
- Number of years of professional experience. What kind of clients do they work with? Do they work with individuals, couples, children, groups etc?
- What kind of approach do they follow in their practice?
- What organizations are they members of? What ethical practices do they follow?
- What are their charges? What will be the frequency of the sessions? How long will the process take?
- If you found the therapist on social media, look for consistency in the information provided across different types of media.
- Do you feel judged in any way or did you find the person strongly opinionated?
- Do they offer medications? If there is a need what process do they follow?
These are only a few questions to give you a sense. Use your intuition and feel free to ask as many questions and get clarity.
If you see any incoherency or inconsistency in this conversation, do not ignore it. You need to be able to trust this person to be able to open up and work with them. Do you feel mutual respect in this conversation?
Even after a few sessions if you don’t feel the connect and comfort with the therapist, you can always close it and choose to see another therapist.
Inner Dawn Counsellor Kala Balasubramanian’s views featured in Deccan Herald Metro life 12-Oct-22.