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What to Ask
Sometimes the most difficult part of therapy is picking up the phone to make that first call. What will I say? Will I get a “real” person? What will they be like? What questions should I be asking them as I call? The following are ideas to consider as you begin your research.
1) Experience : Are they licensed? How many years have they been doing what they do? In what capacity? How long have they been in private practice?
2) Specialty and Modality : What is the counselor’s specialty? Have they worked with an issue like yours before? In what theoretical framework have they been trained? (Family systems, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, etc.) How do they work with clients? How would they work with you concerning your difficulty? How long would they expect therapy to last?
3) Education : At what school were they educated? What was the focus of the program? (E.g., marital therapy, family systems, social work, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, etc.) Where did they do their clinical internship? Is the focus of their education in alignment with the issue with which you would like help?
4) Fit : How do you feel when you sit with the counselor? Do you feel safe? Feelings of discomfort are to be expected especially when you are looking at difficult issues, but you should feel cared about and safe throughout the therapy process.
5) Personal Work : Why do they do what they do? This answer will vary dramatically among degree types as well as within degrees. What personal work has the therapist done? (E.g., therapy, 12-step work, group work, etc.) For how long?
6) Fees : How much do they charge? Do they take insurance (many insurance companies do not cover couple or family therapy)? If so, do they accept your insurance carrier? Often times, free “meet-and-greet” consultations and sliding fees can be an indication of a therapist’s short tenure in the field.
7) Belief System : How/does the counselor manage/make use of their belief system while sitting with you? How do they incorporate it into therapy?
8) Spirituality : Are you looking for a religiously spiritual counselor or one who is spiritual in the more general sense? Spirituality is loosely defined and can be as broad as to include a connected, collective conscience based on energy, not power or guilt.
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What Clients Say
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