Some ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ to check before you sign up.

✅ personality – does the therapist make you feel comfortable? You need someone who ‘gels’ with you.

✅ outcome – find out what change you can expect from the process. Does the therapist have a ‘goal’ for their process?

✅ price – the cheapest isn’t necessarily the most cost effective! You might end up spending your money, be no further forward, and then have to spend yet more with a new therapist.

✅ time – related to cost and outcome. Therapists who aren’t outcome driven, can keep you in therapy for years. You want to know you are getting targeted help to turn your life around as fast as possible. The goal should be to get back to enjoying life, not be in therapy forever.

✅ qualifications – what’s their training? Is this training relevant to your problem? No therapist is expert in everything, look for a specialist for your issue.

✅ experience – how long have they been doing therapy and with how many different client groups? You want to know they have a broad experience over a long period of time, before they specialized.

❌ don’t choose therapy ‘fads’. They are usually re-packaged, cut-down parts of more comprehensive systems. Often they come with an abbreviation to sound more ‘sciency’.

❌ stay away from therapy that claims you need years of work. You may need to have longer-term therapy, but there has to be a therapeutic point to the timeline, not just because it’s the ‘model’ the therapist uses.

❌ don’t stick with a therapist if it isn’t working for you: don’t waste your time and money. Therapy is at its core based on relationships – find the right ‘mix’ for you.