How Do I Find Mental Health Support?
Yes, great question. In a world where ‘therapy’ has become a very popular buzz word, it can be so overwhelming when you’re trying to decide who you should go see and why. Sometimes this can be the most frustrating part of starting your mental health journey. If I’m being honest as a profession, we haven’t made it easy to understand who does what and who is the right professional for you (notice I did not say person, that is a totally different question, that I will answer below).
So here is a high level breakdown on mental health support providers:
• Psychotherapists: Provide talk-based therapy to support persons through their mental health concerns. There are certain assessments they can complete to help support clients, but they are not diagnostic assessments, their focus is on behaviours. They cannot diagnose or prescribe.
• Social Workers: Provide talk-based therapy to support persons through their mental health concerns. They cannot diagnose or prescribe.
• Psychologists: provide talk-based therapy, diagnostic assessments and diagnose but they cannot prescribe.
• Psychiatrists: Diagnostic assessments, diagnosis and prescribe.
TIP: What is talk therapy: It can also be referred to as psychotherapy, and it is talking with a mental health provider on mental health conditions and emotional challenges.
How do you know if they are the right person for you?
1) If you do not have insurance/benefits skip to step 3
2) Trust your instincts, but before you do that, if you have insurance/benefits, check with your benefit provider and see who they cover. They may cover psychotherapist, social workers or psychologists etc. only. Some providers cover more than one mental health provider.
3) Once you know what professional you can see based on your coverage, and your needs for mental health support. TRUST your GUT. Book a consultation with the mental health provider to see if they are the right fit for you. NOT everyone provides a free consultation, but a lot of mental health providers do.
4) Book the consultation with more than one mental health provider. Why? so you can see who’s the right fit for you. You may vibe with more than one mental health provider but there will be one person that you feel comfortable with and that is something to listen to. This process is vulnerable and raw and you should feel good about the person you are going to open up to.
TIP: Read their bios, they will share a bit about themselves but also the key mental health areas they focus on i.e. anxiety, abuse, eating disorders, addictions, relationship issues etc. So, you can choose a person that fits what you are looking for.
Where do I find mental health providers?
I hear this a lot from clients, and I understand being someone who has worked with a mental health provider. When you are ready to start, you do not want to filter through pages of bios to find someone. However, you can help support this process by using filters on websites like Psychology today, filter by location, area of focus, gender, in person/online, specialities, insurance, age, etc.
Word of mouth, if you know someone who has seen a mental health provider and has positive things to say about them, book a consultation to see if they are a good fit for you. Ask your health care provider(s).
Check out their website, booking process (is it easy), fees, if they offer a sliding scale (lower fees), when they are available next, do they have a wait list.
Any questions, reach out to us anytime! We'd love to hear from you.
