A Guide to Choosing the Right Therapist For You

What you should expect from your therapist:

• Open and honest communication about the fee, methods of therapy and expectations of you, the client.
• Caring and understanding
• Encouragement and respect
• Reliability and consistency
• That your goals can be reached, or that improvement occurs, within a reasonable time

Your responsibilities as a client:

• Communicate your needs openly and clearly
• Be an informed consumer
• Pay for the services as agreed between you and your therapist
• Give adequate notice if you need to cancel your appointment
• Let your counselor know how you feel. If you need something you aren't getting, ask for it.

Reasons for seeking a therapist:

• Relationship problems
• Teenager in trouble
• A death in the family
• Home or work stress
• Financial problems
• Childhood issues
• Sexual difficulties
• A desire for personal growth
• Career decisions or job change
• Domestic violence
• Physical or sexual abuse
• Loneliness
• Depression or anxiety
• Anger management problems
• Trouble at school
• Grief or loss
• Other transitions

Different kinds of counselors and therapists (and what they do)

• Psychiatrist: a medical doctor who can prescribe medication and also do therapy.
• Psychologist: a PhD in clinical or child psychology who treats people with mental problems and can do evalutaions, testing or custody reports.
• Marriage and Family Therapist: trainded to work with people having relational problems. An MFT can work with one person, couples, families, or in groups.
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker: can do therapy, and help with agencies or network as a support person for the family.
• Pastoral Counselor: can help with personal and family problems withing a spiritual context.
• Mediator: helps people resolve disagreements of many kinds.
• Hypnotist: can help with specific goals such as weight loss or stopping smoking, using hypnosis.