Finding the Right Therapist

By Debra Hoppe

The second part in our series is Finding the Right Therapist.  This is no easy task.  It takes a great deal of thought and understanding of yourself and your needs.  The way that I found a therapist was again through the Center for Mental Health in Helena, Montana. 

The gal that I was paired up with is a good listener and a very compassionate person.  She has a wonderful attitude and a great sense of caring.  Those are the qualities you look for in a therapist.  You also want to have them understand your personal needs so you can have a good relationship with them. 

Patience is another thing that you need.  Finding just the right therapist takes time and effort.  It may take more than one therapist to find the right balance of understanding and knowledge.  It took three therapists for me before I found the perfect person for my needs.

Another thing to remember is if he/she caring enough to tell you when you need help or what you need in your life to be successful.  I know the therapist I have is a compassionate person and a good listener.  She is new to me so I am just getting to know how competent she is.  She is a very good match for me because she listens to me and helps me through the hard times.

I just had a hard time and I needed help to figure out what to do next.  She helped me through this rough patch because she understood what I was doing wrong in my life and was able to help me to become a better person.  It took guts to work through my bipolar disorder and diabetes, but she managed to fulfill her job description and now I am not going through as much of a crisis.

What a wonderful feeling to know you have a supportive team out there helping you not only through the hard times but through the good times as well.  Everyone keep up the hard work and remember that a good therapist is hard to come by but finding the right one is worth the effort.

NOTE FROM NAMI Montana: It is also important to ensure that your therapist is using an evidence-based type of therapy for your condition such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression or dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder.