FINDING THE RIGHT FIT—MENTAL HEALTH THERAPISTS

Courtesy of Mishpacha Magazine

With many years of experience helping individuals find professionals who are a good fit, Relief’s Rabbi Babad is well positioned to describe what a would-be client should look for in a therapist: As when hiring any professional, don’t hesitate to ask questions in advance. Most therapists don’t have secretaries, so you’ll be speaking to them directly when you make the initial call for an appointment. Prepare ahead of time a few things you feel are important to ask, but save longer discussions about your situation for the actual therapy session. Therapists only commodity is their time, so they may not be willing or enthusiastic to get into long discussions before you have even become a client.

Some questions to ask are:

• Are you licensed, what type of degree do you have (e.g. LCSW, LMHC, LMFT, LPC, PhD, PsyD) and how many years have you been practicing?
• What and how much experience do you have helping people with the problems I’m having?
• What are your areas of expertise? Do you have any specialized training for treating my issue?
• What kinds of treatments do you use, and have they been proven effective for dealing with my type of problem?
• If it’s a child or adolescent, what is your communication policy with parents?
• What are your fees? Do you have a sliding scale fee policy?
• Do you accept any insurance? Will you accept direct billing to, or paymet from, my insurance company? Are you affiliated with any managed care organizations? Do you accept Medicare or Medicaid insurance?
• What is your policy of communication between sessions?
• Do you conduct regular evaluations of progress in therapy, including discussion of treatment plans?