Going to therapy involves commitment—a commitment to yourself to change the areas of your life that aren’t working for you, as well as a financial commitment.
As a current or potential consumer of therapy, you naturally want to get the best value you can. With psychotherapists, as with physicians, this doesn’t necessarily mean finding the person who charges the least. In fact, it is not unusual for trainees and inexperienced therapists to charge less than established therapists with a lot of experience and training.
Here are some tips for helping you navigate the waters of psychotherapy, find the right therapist, and get the best value for your money:
1. Shop Around for Therapists
This is something I recommend for anyone considering therapy. It’s helpful to talk to two or three different therapists, letting them know you are also speaking with other therapists. When you meet with a therapist you’re considering, ask questions about their background, training, and approach to therapy. If you don’t understand something, ask them to explain it to you. If a therapist is uncomfortable with this, be wary.
In the final analysis, let your heart be your guide. The most important factor in predicting a successful outcome of therapy is the quality of the relationship between the therapist and the person in therapy, known as the therapeutic relationship. Pick someone you have a rapport with and whom you feel understands you. This is a better guidepost to value than solely looking at the fee.
Therapist A may charge less than therapist B, but so what, if the former can’t get the job done?
2. Think and Talk About Your Goals for Therapy
Before meeting with a therapist, do some soul searching about what you’d like to change in your life, the steps you might need to take to get there, and how you’ll know when you’ve made these changes.
Before meeting with a therapist, do some soul searching about what you’d like to change in your life, the steps you might need to take to get there, and how you’ll know when you’ve made these changes.
For example, if you’d like to have a meaningful intimate relationship, when you have that relationship, you’ll have clearly met your goal. But there may be other steps along the way. A sub-goal might be to join an online dating site and go on two dates a week. That would serve as a signpost that you’re on the right path.
Furthermore, the thoughts and feelings that come up around the dates are important material for therapy. If you don’t take action steps toward your goals, you may never know what’s getting in your way.
Talk with therapists you’re considering about goal setting and how they view this. This is important in terms of value for service. While no therapist can honestly say how long it will take for you to reach your goal, this is a way to put some limits around the therapy, as no one wants to be in therapy forever. And it will help you and your therapist focus on what’s most important to you.
3. Make a Commitment to Yourself to Do the Work
Think of therapy in a similar way you think about taking a course. If there’s homework in the class and you don’t do the homework, you’re probably not going to learn very much.
The same holds true for therapy. Look for a therapist who gives homework assignments. Simply talking about your problems (sometimes referred to as “navel-gazing”), though helpful, may not alone produce desired outcomes.
Be willing to do the internal work suggested by the therapist, as well as to take action steps in the world. This will ultimately determine how quickly your therapy proceeds, and is therefore the greatest determinant of how much bang you get out of your therapy buck. Remember that you’re in the driver’s seat. At the end of the day, the therapist is simply a guide who holds the space for you to do the necessary work.
© Copyright 2016 GoodTherapy.org. All rights reserved. Permission to publish granted by Dhyan Summers, MA, LMFT, GoodTherapy.org Topic Expert Contributor
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