top of page

Finding the right therapist

Writer's picture: shakira cuttingshakira cutting

Updated: Nov 12, 2020

Is therapy for me? How do I find the right therapist for me? What is therapy? This blog explores the many questions about finding the right therapist for you. It discusses my experiences of how I found the right therapist for me.

Finding the right therapist

Being a psychotherapist, I often get asked the question, “what is psychotherapy?”

I usually explain that psychotherapy can be used to support emotional and mental health issues. It can be used to make sense of difficult experiences, to help individuals through a challenging part of their life, or understand themselves better. The conversation then usually opens further questions about the difference between counselling and psychotherapy, and how to find a therapist and the fees, etc.

The frequency of these questions prompted me to reflect on the topic in greater depth. I remembered when I first started my journey into therapy and not knowing too much about the process. It made me realise that we don’t actually get told much about therapy and the process around it. I thought that I would share my journey of therapy and try to address some of these therapy questions that I often get asked.

A little bit about my journey…

As you can see from my website, I am a Dance Movement Psychotherapist. To give a little bit of background to my therapy journey… to become a Registered Psychotherapist you have to undergo several years of intensive training and meet certain requirements. Some of the requirements are; gaining an upper-class Bachelor’s and Master’s degree qualification, work experience, completing clinical placements and research papers, and generally being an understanding and empathetic natured person. All psychotherapists within the UK are required to go through personal therapy before and/or during psychotherapy training.

So..personal therapy...

My personal therapy journey started just before entering into my psychotherapy training. Like many people, I was not sure of who I was going to approach for personal therapy sessions, or what a session would look like. I was completely going into the unknown. Luckily for me, the university course gave me some good tips to get started and I also did my own research… and I was on my way…

I have narrowed down the ‘finding a therapist’ process into three stages. The stages look at establishing your need for therapy, finding out more information about the therapist and their approaches, and moving forward with finding the right therapist.

1) Establish your needs

Establish why you think you need therapy or counselling. What is it specifically that you would like support with? It could be for a mental health issue such as; anxiety, a disorder, depression, addiction, etc. It could be for understanding a traumatic experience, or it could be relationship or family issues. There are many reasons that you may want to confidentially talk to someone. Journaling or writing down what your needs are can really help you see visually and make sense of any patterns.


Once you have established what support your needs are, you will be able to start narrowing down the right therapist for you...


2) Finding out more - therapy approach

So you have established that you need support and it’s time to seek help.


Some people choose to visit their GP first and seek support through them. I haven’t personally experienced this GP process myself, however, I have an understanding that the doctor may ask several questions to understand how they can best help you. The GP may refer you to local services or a counselor, this means that you do not get to choose the therapist who will support you. Due to my professional practice and therapy needs, I went down the private therapy route. I choose to look for a therapist myself.


Private Therapy


If you are new to therapy, it can be quite daunting. There are many different types of therapists/counselors and many different therapy approaches. Therapists may be trained in an integrative or psychodynamic approach, they may be an arts therapist or specialist counselor, the list is endless. So, it is important to establish which approach works for you.

It is advised that a therapist or counselor should be chosen through a registered body. Some of the trusted registered bodies are:

- United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

- The Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC),

- And for my profession, The Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy United Kingdom (ADMPUK).

(There are other trusted registered bodies but ensure that you check the organisation with the government guidelines and ethics. It is important that you do your homework and make sure that they are properly regulated and hold the right insurances).

As I trained as a Dance Movement Psychotherapist, I choose to work with a humanistic and integrative therapist that understood the principles of Dance Movement Psychotherapy. I felt that this approach matched my needs, beliefs, and values. An integrative approach enabled the therapist to use a range of theories and approaches to best support me.

Before meeting a therapist

Before you meet up with your chosen therapist, I feel that it is important to have some prepared questions to ask them. This will help you understand how the therapist works and how they may be able to support you.

Here are some questions that you could ask the therapist:

- Is the therapist regulated, by which professional body?

- How long have they been providing therapy?

- What is their experience and specialism?

- What kind of interventions do they offer?

- How much are their fees?


These questions may help you establish more of a relationship with the therapist. If you have further questions after meeting the therapist, you can always send an email or arrange another introductory session.


3) Reflection time, finding the right therapist

Again, due to the nature of my training, I approached the ADMPUK and BACP website, and filtered down all local counselors and therapists who I felt could support my needs.

I narrowed my therapist search down to three therapists and met each of them for an introductory session. It was great to meet with each therapist and get a real feel for who I felt most comfortable with. It is really important that you feel comfortable with your therapist. The aim is to build trust and share vulnerability with the therapist, so it is important to find out if you can connect.

After the introductory sessions, I spent time reflecting and asked myself these questions:


1) Did I feel comfortable in the room with the therapist?

2) Would I be open to sharing information with the therapist?

3) How was I in the room, was I relaxed and breathing or tense?

4) Would I feel comfortable contacting the therapist after the session?

5) Did the therapist listen and were they understanding?


Again, it is important to feel comfortable with the therapist. A good therapist will listen to you, shows empathy, values what you say, doesn’t over talk you, or make the session about them. These questions really helped me to narrow down the right therapist for me!

Setting therapy sessions up

Hurrah! You found a therapist…

Therapy sessions will usually take place on a weekly basis, once a week, and usually on the same day and time. Fortunately, my therapist was quite flexible, in terms of days and times due to my super busy schedule. It is important to establish an agreement or a therapeutic contract with the therapist. An agreement can support with timings, boundaries, and fees, etc. Some therapists may have a cancellation fee or want plenty of cancellation notice.


Therapy sessions can last weeks or years, depending on your individual needs, so it is important that you do your research and ask many questions when setting up sessions.

In conclusion


It can be quite a daunting and lengthy process in finding the right therapist and entering into therapy. It may take several months or years to build a relationship with the therapist and you may experience a whole range of emotions during the sessions. Some sessions may feel awkward and difficult, but therapy requires you to be as honest and committed. As long as you feel ready to invest in therapy sessions and feel that the therapist is supportive and respects your values and experiences, then you are on the right path.

Just remember, that there is no such thing as the ‘PERFECT’ therapist, however, if you feel that after trying out a few sessions, it is simply not working for you… then it is OK to take a step back, have a re-think, and approach a new therapist or approach.

Thanks for reading!


Shakira

Registered Dance Movement Psychotherapist


 

Copyright 2020 Shakira Cutting - movingmindandbody.co.uk

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Black Facebook Icon

© 2024 by Shakira Cutting

bottom of page