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Sometimes people seek therapy to enhance their personal growth. More often, people seek counseling when they are experiencing conflict in their lives. Unfortunately, because their emotions are guiding them during these times, they can’t always think of the best questions to determine what type of therapist they most need. Weeks or even months into treatment they may realize this isn’t the best fit, but they already feel invested and find it difficult to make a transition.
The best experiences come from word of mouth. If you feel comfortable ask a friend, a relative or your physician for a recommendation. It is not usually helpful to look at therapist referral sites, because everything written about the therapist, is written by the therapist. With only a couple of lines to describe one’s practice, there is rarely useful information.
An alternative approach is to interview 2 or 3 therapists prior to making a selection. Some therapists offer a complimentary first session. Others like myself are happy to speak to you by telephone to answer any questions you may have prior to scheduling an appointment.
Please feel free to use the following list of suggested questions for interviewing me, or any therapists with whom you might be considering.
- How long have you been in practice and where have you worked?
MWY: 19 years - all in full time private practice. Many new therapists will cite several years of being a therapist but that may include internships, administrative or agency work in which they did very little hands on or full time therapy work.
- What is your theoretical orientation?
MWY: I assess and diagnose with a psychodynamic orientation and intervene when appropriate on a cognitive level. This means that I think about how a person is “put together” developmentally and consider their early life environment as an indicator not only of how they have arrived to where they are now, but also about how they have formulated their conclusions and assumptions about life. I look at the message underneath the presenting problem. However, I don’t simply use this as an exercise to collect “interesting” data. I use the information to develop and suggest strategies of intervention to address the presenting problems with practical, real time solutions. Both my Masters and Doctoral degrees were heavily weighted in clinical theory development and application.
Sometimes when therapists are less trained, they may use the term "eclectic". A true eclectic has studied theories to their root assumptions and has selected specific traits of more than one theory (as described above) for a specific outcome. When that is not the case, "eclectic" might mean , "a little of whatever I can remember".
- Are you licensed and is your license current?
MWY:I maintain both a counselor’s license as my Master’s is in counseling: State of Missouri CS001586
And a social work license as my Doctorate is in clinical social work: State of Missouri 2005033041
Both are active and on file with the division of professional registration: www.pr.mo.gov
- What is your doctorate in and where did you acquire your education?
MWY: Practitioners are not required to achieve education beyond the master’s level in the state of Missouri. However, I personally did not feel that this provided me with adequate training to do the complex work of helping people resolve conflict and enhance their well-being. A master’s degree is usually comprised of 48 credits or 2 years of classes. I didn’t feel that was enough course work to expose me to the depth of study needed to do the job effectively. I elected to pursue a doctorate because I wanted the confidence of knowing that when I invited a patient into my office I could offer them the skills of a highly trained and competent professional.
My doctorate, which I received from the Institute for Clinical Social Work -Chicago (ICSW) is in clinical social work. I attended classes 2 full days every other week for 4 years and concurrently met with case supervisors outside of class time. My courses included issues across the life-span, developmental theory, practice application, specific population counseling i.e. marriage and family, and culminated in a dissertation which was published in 2009.
There are many "doctoral" programs available. Some of these require almost no face to face course time. Many do not require the completion of a dissertation. I selected ICSW both because of its strong clinical training and because it required students to be in active practice simultaneously while in the program.
- Do you maintain continuing education or supervision?
MWY: Absolutely! Please see the tab on continuing education located on my home page.
Finally, I recommend you go with your gut feeling. A fancy office isn’t what is important. A bunch of meaningless "certifications" are not important. Solid education, and professional experience combined with a compassionate approach are what matter most when choosing a therapist that is right for you.
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