Therapy can be a game-changer to help you sort through issues and improve your mental well-being. Whether you’re struggling with addiction, relationship issues, trauma, grief, anxiety, mood disorders, life transitions, or other challenges, therapy can give you tools and help you develop skills and confidence to heal that you can carry with you for the rest of your life.
Finding the right therapist is key to getting the most out of therapy. Below I’ll outline some tips to help you identify what you’re looking for and find a mental health professional that’s right for you.
Understanding Therapy
When we talk about “therapy” we often think of conventional talk therapy, where a client sits with a practitioner, like a psychotherapist or psychologist, in an office (or virtually through a confidential platform) and talks through issues, challenges, and concerns. But therapy can be a lot of things and can involve a variety of approaches. Some practitioners themselves can employ a range of techniques and approaches depending on their client’s needs and their own specific expertise or training, including talk therapy, somatic (body-based) therapy, and art therapy just to name a few.
For much of this article, I’ll make reference to conventional talk therapy, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include other options outside of this path. Conventional therapy may not be for everyone. Depending on where you’re at, you might want to start with more self-service or low-touch options; your relationship with your therapist is certainly an intimate one, and it may take you time and some exploration of other avenues before you’re ready to dive into conventional therapy. Access can also present a barrier; if you don’t have benefits, seeing a professional counsellor can be cost prohibitive (although many certified counsellors are willing to accommodate budgetary constraints for clients). Counsellors with specific types of training or expertise may also be in short supply depending on where you are if you’re looking for in-person counselling, presenting another barrier to access. In such cases, it’s worth reaching out to professional associations, governing bodies, networks, and local community groups to look at available options so that you can access support.
There’s substantial value too in looking at your mental health from a comprehensive or holistic perspective. Just like you’d take a multidisciplinary view to treat chronic back pain, for example, perhaps seeing a physiotherapist, chiropractor, GP, and maybe an acupuncturist or osteopath as part of your course of treatment, look at your mental health in the same way. For example, you might consider focusing on making changes to your diet, exercise, and sleep habits while also practicing meditation, mindfulness or yoga, and seeing a therapist. Taking a multidisciplinary view of your mental health can help give you a sense of control and possibility while you explore different avenues to determine which ones are most effective for you. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to mental health treatment, so it’s important to take an attitude of open-minded exploration when you’re starting out on your journey.
Technology can also make mental health treatment more accessible – not only are most practitioners open to virtual appointments nowadays through the use of confidential meeting platforms, but there are also a wide range of apps and virtual tools on the market to explore. These tools can provide affordable and real-time options to help you reframe and adopt new habits to support your mental health. Apps like Headspace, Calm, and Healthy Minds provide users with guided meditations and sleep stories, as well as daily reminders to help you integrate and adopt new habits. The long and the short of it is that there are lots of digital options available to support you, many of which are free or low-cost subscription-based, so explore them and see which ones work best for your situation.
Types of Therapy Professionals
First Session has a great summary of mental health professionals and the differences between them, which we’ve summarized in the table below. Note that the following designations apply in Ontario, Canada. Some designations may differ in other geographies.
| Registered Psychotherapists & Registered Social Workers | Psychologists | Psychiatrists | General Practitioners & Registered Nurses | |
| Overview | Registered Psychotherapists (RPs) and Registered Social Workers (RSWs) both provide counselling. However, they are not able to diagnose mental illnesses or prescribe medication. | Psychologists have advanced training in psychotherapy and the science of behavioural change. They can diagnose illnesses, sometimes by conducting tests—such as IQ and personality tests. They are not able to prescribe medication. | A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in treating psychological disorders. Psychiatrists can diagnose illnesses, as well as prescribe medication. In order to see a psychiatrist, you need a referral from your general practitioner (GP) or family doctor.Psychiatrists don’t typically offer regular, recurring therapy sessions. Their job is diagnosis and prescription. You may have a regular therapist who you see often, and a psychiatrist in charge of managing your prescriptions. | Family doctors, GPs, and registered nurses (RNs) may be trained to provide rudimentary counselling. A doctor can diagnose illness and prescribe medication. Both doctors or RNs can refer you to a registered therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist. |
| Certification | Registered Psychotherapists must be members of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). To qualify, they must complete at least 1000 hours of direct contact with clients, and 150 hours of clinical supervision. Registered Social Workers must be registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW). In order to qualify, they must complete a Bachelor of Social Work at an accredited institution. | In order to practice, a psychologist must be registered with The College of Psychologists of Ontario. In order to do that, they need either a Master’s or a Doctorate in Psychology from an accredited institution. | In Ontario, psychiatrists are required to earn a medical degree, and qualify for membership in the Ontario Psychiatrist Association (OPA). | An RN who has the judgement, skill, and knowledge to practice therapy is allowed to do so. They can use the title “psychotherapist,” but are not required to register with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). However, RNs who practice therapy are not the same as Registered Psychotherapists (RPs) and cannot use the title of Registered Psychotherapist without proper credentials. |
| Cost | Range from $50 – $200 per session. | Range from $200 – $350 per session. | Covered by OHIP. | While GPs are covered under OHIP, RNs can range from $100-$250 per session. |
| Coverage | RPs and RSWs are typically covered by private health insurance plans. However, since the designation RP is fairly recent (2015), they may not yet be covered by your healthcare plan. | Perhaps the most widely covered mental health practitioner, psychologists are covered by most private healthcare plans. | While psychiatrists are covered by OHIP, wait times to see one are typically longer than they are to see a privately practicing mental health professional. | It is very challenging to find a GP in Ontario who will offer multiple therapy sessions. RNs are only covered if they are working through a publicly funded clinic. |
The Process of Finding a Therapist
What follows in the section below is a rough process that might help to guide you as you work to find a therapist that works for you.
Step 1: Figure Out What Resources You Have at Your Disposal
Consider what your benefit coverage includes (if you have coverage under your employer’s plan or a personal one). Factor in any necessary caps and practitioner stipulations in your coverage to determine what’s in your budget. Note that many employer benefit plans also offer access to an Employee Assistance Program or EAP (sometimes known as an Employee and Family Assistance Program or EFAP). These programs are typically free to the employee, confidential, and can offer basic counselling services for you and your dependents. They’re generally a great (and no-cost) option to get you started, but they are limited – typically you only have access to a few sessions under an EAP’s counselling services. However, by contacting your EAP, you may be able to get some information from them on counselling services in your area that you might consider for a longer-term engagement.
If you’re a student, you may also have access to free or low-cost mental health services free through your academic institution, so be sure to check with your college or university to see what options might be available to you.
It’s important to understand your personal budget as well. What financial resources can you make available to apply to therapy? And how much runway would that give you to continue therapy? For example, consider roughly how many sessions you might be able to afford before you hit your allocated budget. This can be useful information to have both for your own reference and as you engage a potential therapist, since many therapists are prepared to help you work within your budget.
To supplement your budget, you can also consider free or low-cost resources. I mentioned some low-cost options above, like app-based technologies, but you can also typically get access to counselling services through many community or medical centres and perhaps through your GP as well. In-person and online support groups are another great option – often places of worship like churches, mosques, and synagogues or community centres can be great sources of information on applicable practitioners and support groups that might be available. You can also explore different communities of interest online based on your needs through google and Facebook to find some suitable options. If you’re dealing with drug or alcohol addiction, support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Al-Anon Family Groups are an excellent place to start, and can connect you with resources and support networks to assist you.
Step 2: Talk to Your Family Doctor
Your family doctor should be in the loop about what you’re dealing with in order to provide guidance and direction on what treatment options they’d recommend, and to refer you to available treatment providers or make recommendations on avenues to consider pursuing. Depending on your personal situation, your family doctor might recommend a combination of approaches, like cognitive-behavioural therapy, medication, or lifestyle changes, for example. It’s helpful to have your family doctor follow your progress as well, to ensure that you have their support on your journey and to allow them to recommend adjustments or changes to your treatment plan along the way as needed.
Talking to your family doctors might also help you to get a better sense of your therapy goals, since you’ll get some sense from your doctor about what to expect and how to measure your progress based on their recommendations and your personal situation.
If you don’t have a family doctor, local community services organizations or 211 (Ontario’s helpline that connects people to social services, programs, and community supports) can be good places to start to find resources or get referrals.
Step 3: Understand Your Goals
It’s important to get a handle on what you’re trying to achieve with therapy. You may not always be 100% clear going into therapy about what will come out of it, but it’s a good idea to put some thought into what you’d like to get out of the experience going in. For example, are you looking for support to process and deal with trauma? Are you wanting tools and strategies to help you deal with stress, anxiety, burnout, or overwhelm? Are you needing guidance to navigate an addiction, or to integrate healthy habits or frameworks into your life? Are you hoping to get insights that will help you navigate and improve important relationships in your life? Understanding your goals will help you articulate what you’re looking for from your therapist so that you can establish and understand mutual expectations early on in the relationship.
Defining your goals will also help you target the right practitioner in your search – often databases and networks of professionals list the types of expertise they have and the issues they’re well-versed in supporting. You can find a couple of examples of such listings where we are through the Ottawa Academy of Psychology (https://ottawa-psychologists.org/) and Capital Choice Counselling (https://capitalchoicecounselling.com/).
Step 4: Talk to Friends and Family Members
Just like you would look for recommendations from friends and family members for other professionals, consider asking for recommendations for a therapist. Often the people you know will have good insight into what you’re looking for, and they may have seen someone – or have heard from other friends or family members about someone – that might be a good fit for you. While you might not want to see the same therapist that a friend or family member is actively seeing themselves, often someone they recommend might be able to refer you to other practitioners with similar approaches or credentials.
Talking to your friends and family members about your therapy goals can also give them insight into what you’re dealing with and an understanding of how they might support you through it.
Step 5: Look at Credentials and Cultural Competence
If specific credentials are important to you from your prospective therapist, factor those into your search. In addition, if you’re looking for someone with a specific frame of reference or cultural context (for example, someone that comes from or has experience supporting clients from LGBTQIA+ or specific racial, cultural, or religious communities) it’s important to factor that into your search as well.
Step 6: Book an Introductory Session
Most practitioners will invite you to have a brief introductory session to answer questions, determine fit, and establish alignment on your goals before you start the therapy process in earnest. Take advantage of that introductory session to ask questions and understand their core approaches. You may hear terms like CBT (Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy), ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), and psychoanalytic therapy – it’s important to understand the therapeutic approach your therapist recommends based on your individual situation so you can determine if that approach is right for you. Many therapists are well-versed in a range of types of therapy and can adapt their approach to your needs and preferences (although be wary of someone who claims they can do it all, since they may not have the depth of expertise in one particular approach, modality, or technique that you need).
Step 7: Have Patience with the Process, but Be Persistent
When I first started therapy, I winged it a bit with the therapist I picked (I did a search of an online database and selected one based on some very basic parameters). I gave it about 5 or 6 sessions before I concluded I needed to find someone else – her approach and my needs just weren’t a great fit, and rather than continuing on and feeling like I wasn’t getting much out of our sessions, I decided to find someone else. I asked around to a few trusted friends and through that networking, I was introduced to someone fantastic. My point is that if you don’t initially find success and enrichment with therapy, don’t be discouraged. There are plenty of incredible therapy professionals out there, and it’s important you feel comfortable with the therapist you choose – as with any relationship, you might not mesh with the first one you meet. Just make sure that you’ve clearly communicated your goals and expectations to your therapist, and that you’ve been appropriately patient with the process – there is, understandably, a bit of an investment that needs to be made in the therapy process. Insights and growth don’t always happen overnight, so be prepared to put a bit of time in to allow your therapist to get a good handle on what you’re dealing with and what you need before giving up on the process. And if you were referred to your therapist by a trusted friend or family member who recommended them, don’t feel discouraged if you end up finding that they’re not a good fit – what worked for someone else may not work for you, since everyone’s individual circumstances and expectations of therapy are unique.
Step 8: Take a Comprehensive Approach
As I noted above, taking a comprehensive or holistic approach to your mental health is important. Therapy can work really well when you support it with positive changes that you make to your diet, exercise, and sleep habits, and by undertaking other complementary activities like journaling, meditation, mindfulness, or self-reflection. Keeping your family doctor apprised of your progress is another critical piece to ensure that you’re well-supported, and that any adjustments or changes that need to be made to improve outcomes for you can be made in consultation with them. Draw support from friends, family, and support groups too – often when we’re struggling, we have a tendency to pull away from relationships and isolate ourselves, but people can really help to keep us tethered, grounded, and supported as we try to work through hard stuff.
The bottom line is that therapy can be an incredible experience, and it’s important to do some internal reflection and a bit of research in advance in order to find a therapist that’s right for you. Have patience and persistence with the process. Keeping a holistic view of your mental health by incorporating a range of practices and resources to support you can be both beneficial and empowering, providing you with a sense of control and possibility. And know that there is no one-size-fits-all approach – keep an open mind and experiment to find the combination of resources that are right for you.
Resources:
Canadian Mental Health Association, Getting Help: https://ottawa.cmha.ca/documents/getting-help/
PsychCentral, 10 Ways to Find a Good Therapist: https://psychcentral.com/blog/10-ways-to-find-a-good-therapist#resources
First Session, How to Find a Therapist in Ontario: https://www.firstsession.com/resources/how-to-find-a-therapist
