Hi everyone, my name is Andrew and I am one of the clinicians with the Summit County SMART team. I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy during these troubling times. This post is inspired by recent conversations I have had with my clients regarding their therapists. In the past week I have been asked, “How do I find a good therapist?” and “What do I do if I don’t like my therapist?” These are great questions that I know many people have, but might be too afraid to ask. I’d like to start by saying this post is going to be geared more towards individuals living in Summit County however, it still has universal information on addressing a “bad” therapeutic relationship.
Finding a therapist can be a daunting task. Clients have told me they struggle picking a therapist for a multitude of reasons, from being nervous about opening up to a stranger, to a fear of being judged and not understood. In Summit County, there is an organization called Building Hope and they have a great tool to help find a therapist. This link will take you to Building Hope’s therapy resources page, where you can search for a therapist by insurance, town, the population they serve, areas of specialty as well as languages spoken. This tool is useful for finding a therapist and can help filter out therapists that do not take your insurance and much more. After you have narrowed down the search to viable therapists, you then can click on each of their profile to learn more about the individual and their experience. I strongly encourage you to read as much about a future provider as possible in order to see if this individual has a therapeutic approach that can meet your needs. If you have questions about the treatment they provide, you can always reach out to them to answer any questions prior to setting an appointment. For the most part the therapist would appreciate this as well; they can discuss whether they can help you, and if not they will most likely suggest other providers who can help you meet your needs.
After seeing a therapist, you might notice that you don’t have chemistry, or you feel that they aren’t helping you. If this occurs, I would recommend the first step being to talk to your provider. Although therapists can be well trained and good-natured, we are not psychics and cannot read your mind, so if you are feeling that you are not getting your needs met please bring this up with your provider. For the most part, therapists appreciate when a client will bring this up so that they can tailor their approach to best help. I recommend this step first because it usually can fix the problem. However, sometimes we will bring these issues to the attention of our therapist and our needs still are not being met. If that is the case, I encourage you to explain that to your provider and ask them if they have any suggestions on someone who can better meet your needs. When therapy isn’t working, we sometimes have a tendency to stop seeing our therapist and “ghosting” them; this is something that I discourage. Therapists want to help, and if they can’t meet your needs they may know someone who can. You won’t hurt their feelings and they’d rather allow closure for both you and themself.
If the first therapist you see doesn’t work, don’t give up! Finding a provider that is a good fit and can meet your needs is worth the journey and will allow you to have more successful treatment. Good luck on your journey of finding a therapist and remember: open communication with your provider is key to getting you needs met.
-Andrew