Making the decision to pursue counseling is not an easy thing. By the time someone reaches out to us, this decision has usually been on their mind for a long time. I have no data to reference for this, but I would imagine that it would be very rare for a person to simply think, “Well this isn’t working for me. I’m going to call a counselor.” I’m mostly basing this assumption on the countless clients who have described dealing with difficult things long before they ever scheduled an appointment with me. As hard as it is to make up one’s mind that it would be helpful to find a counselor, it’s also hard to find one that will be a good fit, and this is a very important factor when it comes to your progress.
There are lots of fantastic counselors out there, and I’m going to go ahead and say that none of them are a great fit for everyone. My colleagues at RSC are all phenomenal counselors, and I also know that every single one of us has both strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I’d actually rather that a counselor has a few areas of highly specialized expertise as opposed to being someone who claims to know a little about everything. As the saying goes, a jack of all trades is the master of none.
The first set of considerations are financial. In a perfect world, the best fit counselor takes your insurance or has a self-pay fee that is completely affordable to you. This isn’t always the case. Some of us (RSC included) are not Medicare or Medicaid providers. Some private practices simply do not take insurance at all. Insurance can be a hassle to deal with, so some counselors choose not to take it and are strictly self-pay. Usually large agencies do take Medicaid and Medicare, but this isn’t necessarily always the case. If you prefer to use your insurance, it is often best to reach out to the customer service department of your insurance company (or utilize any information available if they have apps) to determine which in-network providers are close to you. While you’re at it, determine if mental health coverage goes toward your deductible, and figure out your copays to determine how much you will actually be spending.
Counseling works best when sessions are weekly, (in some cases this can be even more frequent) but some people require appointments that are every other week due to cost or scheduling difficulty. I don’t recommend starting any less frequently than every other week because forming a rapport with your counselor is such a crucial part of progress. The more infrequent the initial sessions, the harder this is.
The next step for many is doing an online search. Psychology Today has a list of providers who pay to have a profile on their website. This can give you quick information about who is available as well as information about providers. Doing a Google search is also helpful because most of us have websites that can tell you all kinds of information about who we are and the clients with whom we do our best work. Psychology Today and websites can give you information about different counselors and what they specialize in. Your job then is a little harder to define because you want to figure out who seems like they would “get” you. This certainly isn’t easy to do with a webpage, especially since most of us who went into counseling didn’t get training on graphic design, marketing, or building webpages.
When you narrow down your choices it is a good idea to reach out through phone or email to do a consultation with the counselors that you’re trying to decide between. They can let you know right away if your concerns are something that they are competent in working with, and you should feel free to ask about their training and expertise. You should also consider whether sessions are available in-person or virtual, and what works best for you.
It does happen that people sometimes start counseling and realize that there isn’t a good fit between them and their counselor. If this is the case, don’t let it discourage you, and I would also urge you to be open with the counselor about this if it’s the case. There might be something that can be adjusted in the interaction, or they might even be able to help you find the fit you’re seeking. Taking the steps to seek out counseling is brave, and you need to make sure that the person you pick to help you is actually the right person.