How to Find a Great Therapist - Nick Wignall

There’s no easy way to find a therapist who will be a good match for you. Like dating, it’s largely a numbers game. You need reps experiencing different people and styles to find what works for you. So don’t be afraid to talk with someone a handful of times and move on if it’s not a good fit.

Also, if possible, try test driving multiple therapists at the same time. Eventually, you’ll probably want to settle on one. But it can be very helpful to “interview” multiple people initially.

There is one majore common factor seen over and over again in particularly good therapists: They’re able (and willing) to provide both comfort and challenge. When you’re with them you feel supported, understood, and genuinely cared about. And at the same time, they’re not afraid to be direct, honest, and to push you even when it’s difficult or uncomfortable. They care deeply about the relationship, but they’re willing to risk it to help you succeed.

You are responsible for doing most of the work in therapy. A great therapist helps you do the work—but they can’t do it for you. Many people make bad decisions choosing therapists because, deep down, they’re looking for a magician who will offer some secret insight or hand them a special tool that will solve their problems. This is a very dangerous mindset to get into therapy with. You’re looking for a trainer—someone who will guide and support you in doing the very hard work that only you can do.

It’s common to come across therapists who describe themselves as eclectic, meaning they use a variety of tools and approaches from different schools of thought and modalities. This isn’t bad necessarily. And having a therapist who’s open-minded and not dogmatically tied to a particular theoretical position is a good thing. But “eclectic” is often code for someone who is basically throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. Not good. You want a therapist who’s flexible; but you also want someone with conviction and a point of view.

An initial consultation is a chance for them to learn about you and your goals and make sure it’s a good fit for them. But this is also your opportunity to interview your therapist and figure out if they’re a good fit for you. So be bold and ask lots of questions: How would you describe your approach to therapy? How directive or structured are you in therapy? How frequently do you work with people like me? How long do you think therapy will last? 

Get insights from the answers your therapist provides and then proceed further.

Keep in mind that how they answer your interview questions is at least as important as what they say. Keep a close eye out for defensiveness… If you ask your therapist a question about themselves and they get defensive, that’s a huge red flag—and sadly, more common than you would think.

Many people avoid starting therapy or test driving lots of therapists because they’re understandably hesitant to dredge up all the painful details of their past over and over again to complete strangers. But you don’t have to get into all of that right away. Some context about your background is helpful for the therapist initially. But it’s totally normal for a person’s history to unfold over weeks or even months of therapy. Therapists need to earn trust just like anyone else.

Like it or not, therapy is a marketplace. This means if a therapist is in demand enough to avoid all the hassles of working with insurance companies, they probably will. And while demand for a therapist isn’t a guarantee of talent or quality, it’s actually a pretty good signal.

Of course, even an extremely talented therapist isn’t necessarily going to be a good fit for you. But all other things being equal, it certainly helps.

This is especially true of the initial “pre-work” of researching, interviewing, and test-driving different therapists. Remember, there’s nothing magical about therapy. People who benefit from therapy long-term are usually the ones who are willing to stick with it. Not necessarily with one therapist for years and years, but stick with the process.

If one therapist isn’t working, they’re willing to move on and try someone else. And they’re willing to be honest about their own motivations, expectations, and frustrations, and how they might be impacting their progress.

Many people get more benefits out of a good self-help book at the right time than years of psychotherapy. For some, medication seems to work more effectively than therapy.

Others just need a real friend, not a therapist. Frequently, there are major environmental or structural factors in your life that therapy isn’t in a position to do much about. Therapy can even be a form of avoidance or too easily lead to codependency in certain people.