The Hunt Begins

Welcome to Reaching Minds Mini Series: How To Therapy!

This episode gives tips on how to find the right therapist. Join the discussion through sending a message via Instagram @reachingminds. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Yo, yo, yo. What's good, what's good, what's good. Hey everyone. I am excited to be joining you again with um number two. Number two, um, our second topic of the miniseries of um how to therapy. So thank you for joining in. Um again, my name is Brianna Williams MS. Um, and if you haven't, um definitely uh go to the first episode and really just uh dive in to get to know a little bit about me, get to a little bit of get to know a little bit about my story, um, and things like that. So that way you can be connected with me. I definitely love to be connected with my followers and my viewers and my listeners. So please, please, please, definitely if you have questions, um, or even just comments, anything, you can feel free to message me. You can feel free to DM me on Instagram at Reaches Minds, or you could just shoot me um a message um via the link that's in the um podcast description. So let's dive right into it. So last week, last podcast, we talked about um being a black woman therapist, um, really just giving you my my story. Um, and we also talked about um just the disparity in in numbers when it comes to black therapists as well as um black Americans that are um being treated for mental health. Um, we talked about the many different barriers and things like that, but today I kind of want to dive into how do you search for a therapist? Um, a lot of times we have this extensive list, we have all these extensive like processes, um, just all the different running around, and that can be discouraging. That can definitely be discouraging. So, I definitely want to answer some questions that um some people have when they first start looking for a therapist. So um let's dive right in. We ain't gonna waste no time. Um, so the first thing you want to ask yourself is what can I afford? So unfortunately, um the mental health care system is not like our you know our medical um and our physical health care system. It's it's totally different. Um, the costs are different. Um, how much insurance covers is is very different. So you want to definitely be mindful um of the cost before like committing to make sure that you are able to be consistent. Um, so there are two options, right? There's self-pay, which that's you pay out of pocket, you know, whatever the cost is of that therapist, you just pay their their flat rate. Um, and then there's also insurance. Um, now some insurance they were they'll cover the whole session, right? Um, but that's very rare. Um, with other insurances, there are co-pays. So definitely, even if you're using insurance, you want to make sure you know your copay up front. So that way um you're able to kind of budget out your money. So you can definitely ask your insurance, you can definitely ask even the practice to kind of see okay, what is the copay gonna look like if I commit to coming to you guys for therapy? Um, so that's how you pay for therapy, basically. So, really just look into the numbers. Um, I know that can seem stressful, that can seem um very mundane, but it's helpful to know up front so that way you're not blindsided by any um any extra cost that may pop up. So you want to just make sure that you're informed um through that process. And again, you can ask your insurance company, you could ask the um company directly, um depending on like where you're going to therapy at, just ask their billing department, and they can sit down with you and actually explain the cost to you so that way you know what you're getting into before you begin services, and that will help um you be able to maintain those services as well. Um another thing that you want to really look at and know is what your options are. So within the the field, there are different ways that you can receive um therapy, different platforms, different um practices, and things like that. So one of them is um private private practice. Um, private practice, they are usually um self-pay, and sometimes they do also take insurance. Um, however, it won't be like government assistance short insurance. So um it you may have uh you may use insurance um for, but they may not have uh your specific insurance. So the insurance options are very limited, is what I'm trying to say. Um so that's something that you can definitely look into when you're looking at their practice, um, when you're looking at uh even a particular therapist and seeing like you know who they're affiliated with, who they take their funding by, um, and to see if your insurance fits with that, or again, if you're willing to pay that self-pay cost. Um, there's also community practice. Um, so this is typically um those practices that you can kind of uh get through through your insurance um as well as like Medicaid. Um, you just call your insurance company up um and they'll be able to assist you in what is in your network. Um, with these, the pickings of mental health therapists are slim. Um, just a warning. It's not that it's bad, right? It's not that it is um that you're not going to receive the best help, but um it can be uh an even greater process as far as finding the right therapist through a uh through using um like Medicaid insurance, unfortunately. Um but definitely don't let that discourage you, but keep that in mind as we keep continuing to go through um just how to find the right therapist for yourself. Um and then there's also um et-based therapy, so there's different online um therapy companies, um, especially since like COVID is getting really big, um, like ThriveWorks, uh BetterHelp, um Grow Therapy, um, all these things are out here that they allow you to have access to different therapists that are out there. Um, they allow you to use insurance um as well as like Medicaid insurance. So definitely, you know, you can check that out, you can filter that. Um, and they allow you to see like the specific therapist that you will that you and pick the specific therapist that you will want to work with. So as far as like uh when it comes to like community practice, you're usually um assigned a therapist that they have on their staff already. Um but that doesn't mean that you can't change the therapist, or that doesn't mean you can't go on their site and say, hey, I want so-and-so to be my therapist, and depending on their availability and their caseload, they can take you in. Um but it's more definitely more flexibility when you are going with um let's say private practice or you're going with an at-based therapy um practice, um, you're able to really solidify who you're gonna get and really um have control over um that picking. And then there's also our last um option is employee assistance program. Now, this right here, um, for sure, it's called EAP. Um, and this is funded through your job. So not all not all companies, you know, have this access to their employees, but definitely I would say check, check with your employer, see if they have this um this free service. So basically you'll get about like 10 sessions, I believe it is, and you'll be able to work with a therapist um for free. Your job will cover those sessions, and if you want to continue with that therapist, then again it's up to you to pay that cost. So wherever it's if it's self-pay, if it's insurance, if it's insurance with a copay, you know, making sure that you know you can you can pay that as well. Um, but if you need something, this is really good for um those who need like immediate assistance, immediate mental health treatment, um, and don't really have like the funds to um do some of those other options that I mentioned um previously. So definitely like talk to your employer, see if they have this option. If you're like, listen, I want to get started, I want to at least get my feet wet to kind of see what therapy is like, you know, before really like committing and and having like this this self-pay or having um this other bill with copay. I just want to kind of just fill things out. So definitely that's a good way to also jump into it. Um, again, it's kind of like with uh community practice. Um, you won't sometimes you won't be able to really have control over what therapist is assigned to you. So definitely like um just making sure that you know, like um when it comes to private practice and at-based therapy, um, you're definitely going to have more um autonomy up front of the the therapist that you that you would like to work with. But also you can use your voice, which we're we're going to continue to talk about. You can use your voice in in order to advocate for um another therapist or even a particular therapist, whether even it be in community practice um or EAP, you can always say, you know what, no, I I want a different therapist, um, and stay with that that company. And then last thing, um, you want to know what your goals are for therapy. And now this is important because not every therapist can um treat or has the skills um for your situation and for what you're dealing with. So really you want to sit down and you want to identify what is it that I'm looking for. You want to identify what is it that I'm struggling with. Maybe it is trauma, and trauma can look like you know, you grew up in a in a two-parent household, and then your parents got divorced, um, and that kind of that turmoil kind of um affected you. Or maybe you had an incident with domestic violence, or you witnessed domestic violence, or you know, uh you were in a car accident, um uh you witnessed uh a gunshot and or experienced a gunshot or had death, you know, go on, and so on and so on. Um maybe you're going through a season of depression. Maybe you are going through losing a loved one, or going through losing a baby, or just not feeling like yourself these days, kind of feeling lost in the world, or feeling like you are um just really struggling um to find the motivation. Um maybe you just need help with goals, with with goal setting, and trying to plan your life out. Maybe you're in a stage where you're in this rocky transition and you're trying to figure out, you know, what is next for me? What do I have um to give or to offer or what do I want to do with my life? Um and so on and so on. So really sitting down and saying, what do I want? What do I want out of this? Um, and so that way it will help you look when you are looking for even like even at the practice, maybe you can't see the specific therapist on the site, but you can see what the practice um specializes in. Does it does the practice specialize in ADHD ADHD or OCD or depression or anxiety? Does it specialize in working with kids? You need somebody for your kid. Um, does it specialize with working with teens or trouble youth? Or um does it specialize in working with college students or you know, seniors, things like that? So you want to really do a deep dive and really research these things. And I know that can seem like a lot. That can seem like homework, that can seem just um just very stressful. But if you do all these things up front, it will definitely help in aiding um in aiding you to find the right therapist for you, and and not saying that you do all these things right and you're gonna find the right therapist right off the bat, right? That therapist is gonna be perfect, they're gonna know everything, they're gonna be able to give you what you need, all these different things. Not saying that, but your chances are definitely better. And maybe like it may be that the therapist might be good for that season, but you know, as you continue to progress, you know, for other seasons, they might not be good in that season, and that's okay. But definitely you want to be able to set yourself up for some success. And so definitely do your research. Um ask people if you know people that's in the field, or if you know people that are already in therapy, um, if you know people that that know other people that have been in therapy, and you know, you want to get their experience and or how they found their therapists or what they like about their therapist, because sometimes we don't know, you know, what should I be expecting, what should I, you know, be looking for, or you know, what should catch my eye, and things like that. So definitely um talk to others, talk to others. Um, and if you know you do all this research and you're still like struggling, you can also ask your primary care physician. Your primary care physician can also help you out when it comes to um pointing you in a direct right direction for therapists. Um and then also another thing you want to look for um is if you want medication, like thinking about that, like does the practice have all the tools in that one in that one practice? Am I able to get medication if need be? Whether it's downline, whether it's right now, um, you know, really thinking about that as well, because that's also something that um is is is good to have. It's good to have that option just in case you need to consult with a psychiatrist as well. Um so yeah. So that's pretty much how you can search for a therapist. Um, definitely you can also, you know, use like um sites like psychology today. If you want to see about like a specific therapist, um you can filter some things um based on what you're looking for, whether you're looking for a particular race, um, particular um therapist that uses different modality. Um, and by modality I mean like cognitive behavioral therapy or person-centered therapy, things like that. Um, you can also, like speaking of that, you can also um educate yourself on on those modalities and see which one fits to you. Like, you can definitely do that. You don't have to wait until um a professional is just doing a method on you um to really understand these techniques that you're using. You have access. So definitely use your resources, use um Google, use read on articles on psychology today. Um definitely do your do your research on the practice, look at the about section, um, look at the therapist bios and things like that, see what they are are doing, so that way you are able to walk in with with some knowledge, with some knowledge on what what you're walking into. So, again, thank you for tuning in. Um, I love talking with you guys. Um, follow me on Instagram at Reach Your Minds if you haven't. Um, there definitely will be a couple more episodes in our mini-series as we talk about how to therapy. If you have any more questions that pop up, um, some things you may be wondering about the process, some things you may be wondering about therapy, or even like you may have a personal story that you want to share and you need direction on. Please feel free to chat it up with me, DM me, or we can also um shoot me a message via the link in the Spotify or Apple Podcasts um bio. So, thank you guys. I will see you next time.