Finding a psychologist who suits your needs
Everyone has times in their life when they need some additional support. When it comes to mental health challenges, psychologists are often the first professionals we turn to. Therapy is a hugely important tool for many people, but it’s a deeply personal process. Finding the right psychologist can be daunting, if not absolutely overwhelming. I’ve recently created shortlists of psychologists for both myself and a friend, both of us with very different needs, and I decided to share my process in case it helps others.
I’m an adult AuDHDer (someone with both autism and ADHD) who was only diagnosed last year. While I’d previously seen a psychologist, and it was a very helpful, productive process, she had entirely missed the symptoms I was experiencing. After I was diagnosed I went back to see her again, but I found myself frustrated and often needing to explain my own diagnoses and how they affected me. Fighting stereotypes about autism and ADHD in daily life is tiring enough without also having to explain it to medical professionals.
In the past few weeks I’ve been struggling with my mental health and decided to seek support. However, this time I knew I needed to see someone more knowledgeable about the particular challenges that I face. I thought about what I wanted to get out of seeing a psychologist, and what traits I’d want my ideal psych to have. For me personally, this is what the list looked like:
Specialising in adult patients with autism and/or ADHD
Female or non-binary
Located less than 20 minutes away by car
Has online booking options.
Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash.
Once I’d made my mental list, it was easy for me to glance at a practice’s website and decide whether any of the psychologists there would suit my needs.
Needs is the key word here. Don’t think of it as being picky or fussy - finding someone you can connect with is critical to getting effective therapy. It’s very common for therapists to refer patients to another practitioner who might be better able to meet their particular needs. As a potential patient, you’re entitled to do some screening yourself!
Even if you’ve already been seeing a psychologist, you can break it off the moment you feel it’s not helping you any longer. In fact, your current psychologist should be able to help you explore your other options. They’re professionals - don’t worry about hurting their feelings. Therapy is about you.
For me, the process of finding a new psychologist was actually quite straightforward. I had my list of requirements and an open-ended referral from my lovely, supportive GP. I’m also lucky to live in an established suburban area with readily available healthcare.
Unfortunately, the process isn’t always so easy. A dear friend of mine with complex mental health needs recently parted ways with their long-term psychologist and was concerned about finding a replacement. I offered to help them research their options.
First, we established what traits were essential for their new psychologist to have, similarly to the list I made for myself. For example, like me, my friend feels more comfortable seeing female or non-binary psychologists. It was also essential that we found someone accepting and understanding of the experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community, as this is an important part of my friend’s identity and they’d had negative experiences with other so-called ‘professionals’ in the past. (To clarify, ‘professionals’ is in quotation marks because I think it’s very unprofessional to discriminate against someone for their sexuality.)
Once I understood the essentials, I asked about preferences. What things would be helpful, but not necessarily deal-breakers? Some of the thing we came up with were experience with a particular mental illness, or offering a therapy style that my friend preferred. We ended up with three or four categories.
Photo by Marília Castelli on Unsplash.
Then came my favourite part - the research! (Yeah, yeah, I’ve already said I’m autistic, this shouldn’t surprise you.) Using the list of essential requirements, I was able to narrow down the field to only include psychologists my friend would feel comfortable seeing. Next I put the shortlisted options into a spreadsheet and recorded which of my friend’s preferences each one could cater for. One of our categories was ‘experience with trauma/PTSD’. If a psychologist listed this as one of their areas of interest, I’d put a tick in that column. If it wasn’t specified, then they got a cross. I also colour-coded the sheet for easy visual referencing. Once I’d repeated this process for each shortlisted psychologist, I sent it off to my friend. Yay!
I’d also like to acknowledge I’m fully aware that making a full spreadsheet is going overboard. I enjoy being able to organise my information, but unless you’re a data nerd like me, you don’t have to make it fancy. Whether you’re doing this for yourself or helping someone else, choose a format that’s accessible for the person using it. There’s no point spending your time doing quality research if the information is too confusing to use. Something as simple as sticky notes that you can move around or an email to yourself with web links works just as well.
Mental health care is a complex process. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, so it’s important to prioritise what you personally need and seek help from someone you feel comfortable with. I hope that, by detailing my process for finding a psychologist, I’ve been able to give you some ideas about how to approach it.
However, if you’re still feeling overwhelmed, help is available. You don’t have to find the perfect psychologist on your own on the first try. Speak to your GP, your NDIS provider or any trusted healthcare professional and ask for recommendations. You can also visit our Therapists page to meet our lovely resident therapists, or use the Contact Us page to send through an inquiry. We’ll endeavour to put you in touch with a psychologist who suits your needs.
I sincerely wish you the best in your mental health journey. Seeking help is the first step - well done, you.
