By Ernest S. Schmidt, LCSW

Click here to contact Ernest and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Choosing the right therapist really depends on your needs and the counseling style that will work best for you. There are several steps that you should take if you want to find a counselor that will truly make an impact on your life. These steps include:

Step 1 to Choosing the Right Therapist: Go with your gut. Many people pick a therapist who makes them feel at ease, so pay attention to the way you feel when you’re talking to a potential therapist. Keep in mind, though, that this is only the first step in choosing the right counselor for you. Because while you do need to have a good amount of comfort and trust with your counselor, you also need to be certain that you’ll get results or you could find yourself wasting years of your life with no significant improvement. Since therapy is personal, you do need to feel your therapist is the right fit in terms of comfort, but this shouldn’t be the only criteria.

Step 2 to Choosing the Right Therapist: Look for credibility and knowledge. Not all therapy is the same, and many types of therapy have little to no evidence showing that they significantly help people. With that in mind, finding out the type of therapy the counselor uses is very important if you want to solve the problem that brought you to counseling in the first place. Do a little research so you are an informed consumer.

Step 3 to Choosing the Right Therapist: Evaluate their therapy style. Some therapists say they practice evidenced-based therapy, which is a great start, but you may want to ask a little more about their training or visit their website to see if this gives you a better indication of their counseling style. Do they have a website? If so, is it informational or just an advertisement for their services? These details also give you a sense of what you can expect from them in terms of how serious they take their work. A therapist who gives a good amount of helpful information on their website will typically have your best interests in mind and will be dedicated to helping you get the best results.

Step 4 to Choosing the Right Therapist: Are they easy to understand? Another factor that is important when it comes to choosing a counselor or therapist is taking a look at how they speak to you. Some counselors have brilliant ideas, but they can’t get their message across in simple, layperson language that is easily understood. After all, you won’t get far if you don’t understand what your counselor is talking about. You’ll be able to tell how easy potential counselors are to understand by the way they write for their website, or by the way they talk if you speak to them over the phone. They should also be patient with your questions and not act in a condescending way.

Step 5 to Choosing the Right Therapist: Consider a specialist. Choosing a counselor who specializes in every problem known to man may also be a sign that this person knows a little bit about many topics, but they might not be well versed in working with your particular problems. A better choice would be to find someone who focuses on your particular struggle or to choose a group practice that can help you find the person who is best suited to help with your particular problem.

Try to find someone who has a good combination of the above characteristics. If you can find a therapist who helps you feel comfortable, provides evidence-based therapy, is serious about helping you work through your struggles, is easy to understand, and has experience with your particular problem areas, you will have a much better chance at getting significant results from your therapy.

**You can also see GoodTherapy.org’s article “How to Find the Right Therapist”**

©Copyright 2009 by Ernest S. Schmidt, LCSW. All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish granted to GoodTherapy.org. The following article was solely written and edited by the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the following article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry. Click here to contact Ernest and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile