Ep 02: Questions to Ask When You’re Looking For a New Therapist
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Are you a Maryland resident looking for therapy services?
Resources
8 Questions to Ask a New Therapist — Worksheet
Making the Most of Therapy Journal — Paperback
Transcript:
Welcome to the Starting Therapy Podcast Series. I’m your host, Melissa Wesner, Founder and Owner of LifeSpring Counseling Services in Maryland where our mission is to provide hope, healing, and empowerment through the collaborative process of counseling. This podcast is for anyone who is thinking about signing up for therapy! Let’s dive in!
Hello again! I hope you’ve taken some time to take action after our last episode. If you did, you may have found some therapists of interest, and you may have already reached out to them. Today we’ll be talking about some questions you might want to consider asking as you reach out to different practices and therapists. We’ll also be talking about some things that you want to pay attention to as you reach out.
When you reach out to a counseling practice and speak with the intake coordinator, administrative assistant, or the therapist themselves, come prepared with a list of questions you want to ask:
Practically speaking, you’ll want to know about their fees, their schedule, the frequency of meetings. You might have some questions that are really important to you personally that you want to ask. I recommend that you ask them about their experience helping people working on the issue that you are wanting to work on. What kind of individual do they work with the best?
In the show notes, we have a link to a worksheet that outlines some of the questions you might want to ask. You can use this as a cheat sheet!
Now is the time to pay attention to your first encounters with the practice or therapist.
Does someone answer the phones promptly. Do they answer emails promptly OR at all? Do you get returned phone calls? Unfortunately, we hear it all the time that people have reached out to multiple practices without ever getting anyone on the phone, no returned calls, and no returned emails. Often, therapists who work in solo private practice do not have administrative assistants which can make it difficult to reach them. And…sometimes, therapists, unfortunately, don’t always return calls or emails if they’re not accepting new clients. This is not recommended, of course.
As a best practice, though, it’s helpful when therapists have voice messages or autoresponses on their email that let people know right away if they are not accepting new clients and how long it will take them to return your call. At LifeSpring, we hear people say all the time, “Oh my goodness, thank you so much for answering the phone. Or…thank you so much for returning my call! “‘ And, of course we answer calls, because we want to make signing up for therapy as easy as possible.
Also, when you do connect with a therapist or therapy practice, pay attention to how that interaction goes. Are the email responses professional? Do the conversations via phone or email feel good? Listen to your instincts on this one. You need counseling services, YES, AND it’s OK to be selective.
Are you ready to reach out to some therapy practices yet? At this point, you’ve got everything you need to take that step. Don’t forget to take a look at our show notes, so you can get our cheat sheet with questions to ask when you’re looking for a new therapist. When you take those steps, let us know how it goes!
Thanks for listening to the Starting Therapy Podcast Series. If you’re a Maryland resident looking for online counseling services, or if you’re someone who is looking for Brainspotting, check out our website at lifespringcounseling.net or give us a call at 410-497-8451. We have great resources for you in the show notes too! We’re here to support you as you make the decision to start therapy!
