I’m a bit overdue for my mental health post — but here it is. What’s been great the past few months is that my friends and I have been talking more and more about therapy. When someone goes to therapy they can be going to see a multitude of professionals from psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, psychotherapists, counsellors, etc. Who can be specialists in a variety of topics such as grief, anxiety, depression, low-self-esteem, sex, relationships, and much much more.

& yes, I see one.

Below I’ve compiled a list of FAQs about therapy:

How do you find someone? This one is tough to answer. I luckily found my therapist through a friend’s contact. Mental healthcare professionals, unfortunately, cannot advertise their services to the public (so word-of-mouth is super key). There are sites like psychologytoday where you can find therapists in your area, which includes their bios and contact information under each professional. The hardest part is reaching out to someone, but I promise you once you do, you’ll feel relieved and one step closer to taking care of yourself. Note that you won’t be able to have the same therapist is your friends due to conflict of interest. 

How do you know if it’s a good fit? You’ll know, trust me. Most therapists have an initial consultation for you to meet with them to see if you would be a good fit. Don’t be frustrated if the first therapist you see isn’t the one for you. This individual is important so don’t rush it. You want to make sure that you feel totally comfortable with them and that you’re able to speak freely about whatever subject you’re going in for. Think to yourself, “will I be comfortable being vulnerable with them in the future?”Oh and you obviously want to trust them.

How long are sessions? How often do you go? It depends on your therapist, but on average 50-60 minutes. You can go as often as you’d like or whenever you feel the need to. When you start out, if you’re able to go once a week for a month, it’ll be great to get yourself into a routine with your therapist, figure out what structure is best for you and catch them up on the topics and background information they’ll need to know.

How much does it cost? Again…it depends. During my research, the range I found was $40-$150. Now if you find a therapist who is currently finishing their certification they will sometimes have a sliding scale meaning ‘pay what you can’ between a certain range.

What’s the structure? However you’d like it to be. Again work with your therapist to see what works best for you. Either they can start the conversation or you can start with what topics you want to cover in that session or you can just fill them in on your week. It’s your time so use it however you want to.

What do you talk about? Whatever you want! Like actually. If you’re going in for a certain topic you can start there or if you don’t know where to start, ask our therapist to guide the conversation.

Hope this was helpful for at least one of you reading this! If you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can contact me here.

*please note the above is solely my opinion on the subject and based off of my personal experience.

You can read my past Mental Health posts from 2018 and 2019. If you’re looking for more resources check out this site for more links.