Finding a therapist

[Reflections]

I'm seeing a new therapist this week for our first meeting and consultation. She's my top pick locally. I've been reluctant to look at out of town therapist but I pushed myself because I want to get the right fit this time. Today I found a therapist who is 2 hours away who I really, really like just from her online information. She seems to have greater amount of experience with my issues moreover how she talks and describes herself sounds exactly the type of person I'd feel comfortable with. I think I would like this therapist more than the local one. She might even be cheaper.

I want to meet the local T and really need support asap, but I want to meet the out of town T too. I want to see how they compare to make sure I'm getting what's best for me. I don't have an appointment with the out of town T nor am I sure how booked up she is (I'm waiting to hear back). Should I tell the local T that still looking at therapists? Would it be inappropriate to get another appointments with the local T to get support now if I plan on meeting with another T in the future?

 

[AnD]

Follow your needs

 

[EveHarrington]

Alls fair when looking for therapists...

You don’t owe anyone an explanation. You don’t owe them full disclosure that you’re looking around. It’s quite common for someone to only see a therapist once or twice before moving on.

 

[Missycat]

Do what you need to do for yourself and your needs. See both Ts and choose which one suits you best. You dont have to explain what you are doing at all. Most Ts have a first session so both the T and the client get a feel for whether they can work together so please dont worry about it.
I hope you manage to sort something .

 

[Suzetig]

Yep, shop around a fair bit, don’t let either T the you in to x number of sessions and work out which you fit with best. It’s important you find the right person and that can mean trial and error.

 

[jmad]

I second what others have said: feel free to shop for T's. I felt reluctant to schedule two therapy sessions, too, but once i went through both and felt so much more comfortable with one over the other, I didn't regret it. They also are very understanding.

 

[Reflections]

Thank you for the replies, this helps me so much!!

The first time I saw a counselor, I ended up seeing a 2nd one due to the 1st one being unavailable for weeks and I was in crisis. I casually disclosed to both of them about it (I saw no issue) but the 1st counselor got upset and told me there needed to be full disclosure and both counselors needed to be okay with it. I had only seen the 1st counselor twice. I didn't return due to other remarks she made. I wasn't sure if what she said was true or not.

...don’t let either T the you in to x number of sessions...

Could you clarity what you meant? I think there was a typo.

 

[EveHarrington]

I think the full disclosure thing only comes into play if you are going to see two counselors on an ongoing basis.

You definitely don’t need permission to shop around and find the best counselor for you!

Also, if you’re in crisis and your regular therapist cannot be there for you, then you can definitely seek out additional help. You don’t need your therapists permission to get help elsewhere while in crisis.

I think you did the right thing in disclosing——saying hey, I was in crisis and got help elsewhere. There’s no shame in that! And actually, it was good that you were proactive in finding help while in crisis!

 

[Suzetig]

What I meant was not to agree to do, say, 6 sessions or agree to doing a set number of ending sessions or to give 4 sessions notice to quit - all measures that I’ve heard suggested by therapists in the past.