Finding a therapist. Finding a counselor.
Who can psychotherapy help?
Psychotherapy is generally for people who want relief from:
- feeling continually sad
- feeling uncomfortably nervous
- feeling worried a lot
- feeling overly fearful
- relationship difficulties (family, romantic, work, friendship relationships)
- medically-related stress
- any other stresses
- the discomfort of being able to take the action they want to take.
How do people find a psychotherapist?
Some ways are:
- asking someone who has been satisfied with his/her therapy
- asking a respected community leader such as your physician or clergyperson
- calling 1 – 800 – THERAPIST, a free therapist referral service
- calling therapists whose name you’ve heard of or who have advertised and seeing if they sound on the phone like someone you’d like to try out
- after any of the above keeping a scheduled appointment and seeing if the person “feels right”
Am I a dummy or are others confused too about all those terms I’ve been hearing?
YOU’RE NOT A DUMMY! The words used in this field are not clear. Here are some explanations:
- The term THERAPIST is used interchangeably with PSYCHOTHERAPIST though THERAPIST covers other types of professionals such as physical therapist, massage therapist, etc.
- For most purposes THERAPIST and COUNSELOR can be used interchangeably.
- Thus, THERAPY AND COUNSELING can generally be used interchangeably.
- MENTAL HEALTH does not refer to the absence of talking to voices only. It refers to feeling good emotionally most of the time.
