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Helping Give Away Psychological Science/Resources/Annotated List of Where and How to Find a Therapist

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HGAPS New for Fall 2022: HGAPS and Psychology Conferences
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HGAPS is finding new ways to make psychological science conferences more accessible!

Here are examples from APA 2022 and the JCCAP Future Directions Forum. Coming soon... ABCT!
~ More at HGAPS.org ~

Subject classification: this is a psychology resource.
Attribution: User Emmagch has contributed a lot to this resource and would really appreciate involvement in future editing.

Overview

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This page outlines the main ways to find a therapist in the United States of America, along with some pros and cons of each website. We start with a general outline of the process of finding a therapist, then we offer many links to find the right fit for you!

Checklist for Finding a Therapist

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Start Here:

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The links below provide comprehensive step-by-step guides on how to find a therapist that is right for you, as well as provide other information on finances and what therapy may look like. Read one or all! It would be a good idea to take notes on each section as well for when you use our links to find a therapist later on.

Next: When You Contact Them

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Some basic starting information:

  • Know what type of insurance you have
    • Ask your insurance what your "behavioral health" copay is. This is the amount you pay at each session.
  • Ask what types of insurance they can accept
    • Finding a therapist within your insurance network is a great way to save on costs.
  • If you are not sure you can afford it, ask if they have a sliding scale of fees
    • A sliding scale is a pricing method that is based on your income. Typically, the less money you make, the lower the cost of therapy. This is a great option if you are uninsured.
  • Do they offer teletherapy/online therapy?

Questions to Ask

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These questions can be helpful to get an idea of what kind of therapist they are and if they will suite your individual need.

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  • SAMHSA
    • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
    • "Welcome to the Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator, a confidential and anonymous source of information for persons seeking treatment facilities in the United States or U.S. Territories for substance use/addiction and/or mental health problems."
  • Psychology Today
    • Great place to find a therapist based on many filters, including issue, types of therapy, insurance, gender of therapist, age, ethnicity served, sexuality served, language, faith served, and price.
    • Services offered: in-person therapy, telehealth therapy, psychiatrists, treatment centers, support groups
  • Network Therapy
    • Find a therapist via telehealth or in-person, find a treatment center, or use their resources to get better informed on various mental health disorders and treatment styles.
    • Services offered: in-person therapy, telethealth therapy, treatment centers, mental health library, support groups, hotlines.
  • TherapyRoute
    • Find a therapist based on many filters, including filtering by profession, ethnicity, clients served, issues treated, and language.
    • Services offered: psychotherapy, counsellors, psychologsts, psychiatrists, mental health clinics, telehealth, non-profit
  • TherapyByPro
    • Find treatment based on profession and condition. Offers mental health quizzes to help you decide on a course of action for your own treatment.
    • Services offered: counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, treatment centers, holistic healers
  • American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
  • Anxiety and Depression Association of America
  • International OCD Foundation
    • The International OCD Foundation provides a comprehensive guide for OCD with sections including: What at is OCD?, Who Gets OCD?, What Causes OCD?, How is OCD Diagnosed?, How is OCD Treated?, How do I Find Help for OCD?, and Related Disorders. There is also a More Resources section which includes: Fact Sheets & Brochures, Books About OCD, Expert Opinions and Other Resources
  • American Psychological Association (APA)
  • TherapyTribe
  • DBT - Linehan Board of Certification - Find a Certified Clinician
    • The unique value of this list is that Dr. Marsha Linehan, as the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) treatment developer, has participated in and approved the certification standards of the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification (DBT-LBC). The Board has created high standards and rigorous protocols for assessing and recognizing the knowledge and capacity of the clinician to deliver DBT in the form Dr. Linehan and colleagues developed from years of evidence-based research.
    • You can always ask your therapist if they are involved in becoming certified by DBT-LBC. The certification process requires that they meet certain prerequisites, pass a knowledge exam on information specific to DBT and submit three consecutive video tapes of actual therapy sessions with that same client. These sessions are coded to an adherence standard for delivering DBT consistent with the treatment model.

Find a Mental Health Provider in North Carolina

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North Carolina Psychological Association’s “Find a Psychologist” Directory

  • You can choose as many or as few search filters as you would like.
  • Search engine helps find psychologists with a variety of educational backgrounds, areas of expertise and types of services offered.
  • If looking for a particular type of specialist (for example, someone who works with children or who specializes in addictions), adjust search accordingly.
  • To see a list of all psychologists in a certain area, enter zip code to see a complete list.

Find a Therapist - Triangle Area DBT

  • A resource to find a Dialectical Behavior therapist in North Carolina cities: Raleigh, Durham Chapel Hill/Carrboro, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Cary, Apex, Greensboro, Charlotte/Davidson, Wilmington, and Fayetteville.
  • Website also has a find a Skills Group subpage.

Psychology Today: Find DBT Therapists and Psychologists in NC

Low-Cost Options

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  • Care For Your Mind:
    • A resource for navigating low-cost treatment
  • Find a Health Center:
    • A resource for finding an HRSA-funded provider near you, whose priority is to provide quality care regardless of one's ability to afford services.
  • Open Path Collective:
    • Find a therapist near you who provides affordable care both in-person and online.
  • BetterHelp:
    • Professional counseling that is accessible, affordable, and convenient. Financial aid is available.
  • Feeling Kinda Blue:
    • A free online community where individuals who are living with mental illnesses can seek support and resources.
  • 7 Cups:
    • A free online resource where you can connect with caring listeners (both volunteer and professional) for emotional support

Pros/Cons of Various Options

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Website

(opens in new tab)

Description Pros Cons
TherapyByPro This website provides a list of counselors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, treatment centers, and other mental health professionals based on zip code, city, state, or address in the United States. Pros:
  • Provides a robust search functionality based on therapist type, zip code, address, or specific condition
  • Has quizzes to provide insights for patients
  • Allows therapists the ability to provide high quality resources to help patients
  • A newer directory so there are opportunities for therapists to be found because of less competition
 Cons:
  • TherapyByPro is a newer directory so there aren't as many therapists available as alternatives
International OCD Foundation This website provides a list of OCD-specific therapists, clinics, treatment programs, organizations and support groups based on zip code, city, state, country, or address. Pros:
  • Provides a wide range of search criteria, including specialty, gender, ethnicity, payment, and credentials
  • Comprehensive descriptions of providers and links to further information on their services
  • Gives a variety of mental health support resources, not just therapists
  • Gives a guide on how to search for help
  • Add Listing is a unique feature which allows clinicians for free to register as a professional member while ensuring you have licensure and credentials to be a good resource as an added therapist.
 Cons:
  • Provides in depth informaton, but is specific to OCD and OCD-related disorders
Psychology Today Provides a comprehensive list of providers by zip code, insurance, specialty, and more. Also links to the provider’s profile with detailed information about their approach to treatment. Pros:
  • Lists by zip code, insurance, specialty, sexuality, gender, age, treatment option, faith
  • For each provider profile, has lots of information about their approach and what they focus on as well as contact information
 Cons:
  • There is not a way to search for a therapist with a certain type of certification/licensing which makes it hard to find a clinical psychologist within the lists LPCs.
Network Therapy The website provides a comprehensive list of providers that are listed by zip code as well as other advanced specifiers (specialty, age of provider, etc.). Very thorough list of providers and other information about mental health. Pros:
  • Geographic Criteria: gives the option of zip code or city, county and within miles. They also give you the option to find a therapist by popular city or just state.
  • Advanced Criteria: can search for therapist by last name, service provided gives you 20 options or the “Any” option, practice specialty selection gives you 58 options or the “Any” option, age specialty gives you the options of: any, children, adolescents, adults or elders, treatment approach gives you a wide specific variety of 47 options or “Any”, demographic expertise gives you 16 options or “Any” option which includes race, religion, beliefs etc., Accepted Insurance gave you 76 options or “Any” option to choose from, Accepted Languages gave you 36 options or “Any.” You can refine therapist search or choose to do a new search if “No results were found that matched all of your Advanced Criteria. Some of your Advanced Criteria were dropped to produce the # result found. See below for details.
 Cons:
  • Geographic Criteria: You can only include one zip code or location to look in.
  • Advanced Criteria:  There is no way for you to select more than one option from the drop down choices.
  • It gave me a therapist firm not the specific person just a place that has people fitting criteria but not who specifically fit that criteria there.
  • No way to search for certain type of therapist like psychologist, LPC etc. so I got a lot of MD or psychiatric nurses not clinical psychologist results.
TherapyRoute Automatically displays nearby mental health service providers and therapists based on your location. Pros:
  • Utilizes user friendly filters, e.g. Language and Therapist Identity, (Black, LGBT+, Gender)
  • Lists various types of providers, including psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists (private, non-profit, and community)
  • Has high quality written resources about therapy
  • Displays providers who consult online if no nearby listings exist
 Cons:
  • Not all areas offer equal coverage
  • The amount of information included in each listing varies greatly.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry The website is more difficult to navigate than others and only lists name of provider but not any link to a website to look more into them. Pros:
  • The website can be viewed in Spanish
  • Has good fact/resource area for families
 Cons:
  • Have to read through disclaimer that might be confusing if you don’t know its purpose
  • Can lookup by state or zip code but only get name of provider, sometimes an email, not much information about them or any link to a website
  • Only lists one provider in Chapel Hill zip code even though many more; thus more narrow listings
  • Very limited information about each provider
DBT - Linehan Board of Certification - Find a Certified Clinician DBT-Linehan Board of Certification aims to provide the public and relevant stakeholders a source that identifies providers and programs that reliably offer DBT that conforms to the evidence-based research. Clinicians show their requisite knowledge and skills to deliver DBT with adherence to the model developed by Dr. Linehan and colleagues. DBT Programs demonstrate having the necessary components and organization to deliver DBT with fidelity to the model. A roster of certified clinicians and programs is available. Pros
  • Can look up US zip code and make the radius 5 miles to 400 miles, provider last name, state/province, city, and choose from 8 other countries besides the US
  • Over 2500 clinicians in the database
  • All clinicians on the list have DBT-Linehan Board of Certification
 Cons
  • Some states have more therapists than others and it is more helpful to search by State first
  • Does not have a insurance search function
  • Strict qualifications required to make it on this list meaning some that are close to being included are left off
Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Has a lot of resources about therapy, CBT, and guidelines for choosing a therapist as well as lists of providers. Pros
  • Has resources on the side such as FAQs, what is CBT, guidelines for choosing a therapist
  • http://www.abct.org/Help/ link has information about self-help items
  • Can search by zip code, state, speciality, insurance
 Cons
  • Limited information about some providers
  • Most only list provider email, not their website
Anxiety and Depression Association of America Can lookup by zipcode, good map of providers and detailed information about the disorders that each provider works with, their website information, and the population they treat. Pros
  • Can lookup by zip code, a good map of providers and detailed information about the disorders that each provider works with, their website information, and the population they treat.
 Cons
  • Minimal information about provider but has link to website
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Really great resource to find behavioral health treatment centers and agency-centered treatment centers. Better suited to those with limited insurance or cost as a barrier to treatment. Pros:
  • Really great resource to find behavioral health treatment centers and agency-centered treatment centers. Better suited to those with limited insurance or cost as a barrier to treatment.
  • They also have a disaster crisis hotline: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline
  • Can search for VAs and buprenorphine providers
  • Filter for substance abuse, mental health, or both
 Cons
  • Unable to search by specific concerns (i.e. search is limited to location and general concerns such as mental health versus substance abuse)
  • Little to no information about cost of services
American Psychological Association (APA) Very robust search tool, lots of information about the providers, their specialties, website for the provider Pros:
  • Lots of information given for each provider, their website, specialities
  • Lots of providers listed for areas
 Cons
  • Limited information on cost of services or whether sliding scales are offered
North Carolina Psychological Association (NCPA): Find A Psychologist North Carolina Psychological Association’s “Find a Psychologist” service aims to help you find the right psychologist for you or someone you love. All psychologists in the director are a type of NCPA member, meaning they have access to training, continuing education, and resources from NCPA to help them as therapists and diagnosticians. Pros:
  • Over 275 NC Psychologists in the directory
  • Find NC Psychologists by zip code, city, county, or telehealth
  • Provides a wide range of search criteria filters besides location: accepted insurances, first/last name of psychologist, ages served (e.g., children under 6, children (6-12), adolescents, college age, adults, all ages), treatment approach, issues that the psychologist's treats/specializes in, psychologist's degree earned, certifications/qualifications, and psychologist's gender identity
  • The issues search filter has a long list that includes specific disorders, assessment/evaluation types, adoption, divorce, weight management, LGBTQ+, Grief, etc.
 Cons
  • Not all psychologist profiles are filled out all the way or some only have the name meaning you need to search for contact information outside of the website.
TherapyTribe Database of providers including psychotherapists, relationship therapists, pain management, and Alzheimer's therapists. Includes provides in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada Pros:
  • Broad database with providers for relationship advice, pain management, anger management, Alzheimer's, addiction, and mental illness
  • Has an international reach including the US, UK, Australia, and Canada
 Cons
  • Limited information on cost of services or whether sliding scales are offered
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