One of the first criteria for selecting a therapist is whether or not you like the person. Do you feel comfortable? Do you imagine that you could talk about difficult things and cooperate with this individual? There has to be that feeling of esprit de corps or you will be wasting your money.
Where to Begin
It can be quite helpful to ask all the professional people in your life if there is a particular therapist that they know or would recommend. Ask your minister, accountant, attorney, massage therapist, beautician, barber, and physician. Carefully take down the name and pertinent details, as well as a note about who referred you to that person, as you will want to mention that when you first meet.
If there is a particular characteristic that you absolutely need to have in your therapist, a Google search might bring forth some possibilities. If, for example, you require a particular location, insurance acceptance, or expertise in something very specific, such as adult giftedness, sexual abuse, sex-uality, or alcoholism, it could be easier to find someone with an Internet search.
Follow up on each possibility with an e-mail or phone call and make an appointment. You will decide rather quickly upon meeting the person whether or not it might be a fit, but either way, take along your list of questions about the suitability of the arrangement. Does this therapist practice Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? Would the person be willing to give you the name of a previous client with whom you might speak? What are the therapist’s educational background and credentials? Any specialties? What professional organizations does the therapist belong to? What insurance is accepted?
You can do a search on the site of National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists www.nacbt.org) to find a therapist in your state. This organization certifies professional mental health workers in CBT and offers helpful information for the general public. The appendix of this book lists other professional organizations associated with Cognitive Behavioral Ther-apy, some of which have links to help you find a CBT therapist in your area.
Types of Mental Health Professionals
Any mental health professional may be well-equipped to help you with CBT. In other words, her primary title may be something else, like clinical social worker. It is unlikely that you would find a person who is strictly a cognitive-behavioral therapist without those skills being in the context of a broader profession.
Some of the professions that might also offer CBT are as follows:
- Psychiatrist
- Psychologist
- Master’s level counselor (marriage and family therapist)
- Social worker
- Advanced practice nurse
Mental health professionals in the previous list are licensed. Depending upon your personal preferences, you may be interested in a type of help that is not licensed, such as the following:
- Spiritual counselor
- Hypnotherapist
- Life coach
The Initial Sessions
The first session will be a consultation, during which you decide whether or not you wish to continue with that person. You will want to ask about the values and orientation of the therapist in order to determine the presence of like-minded compatibility. It will be important to discuss costs, insurance, and the estimated length of the course of treatment.
The next few sessions will probably be centered on assessment. The therapist wants to get to know you, what brought you to therapy, and what changes you want to make in your life. The two of you will work out some plans and agreements in order for you to get the most out of your commitment to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Limitations of Family and Friends
Although those people closest to you are highly interested in your life and experiences, they may not be the best source for advice or support.
Undoubtedly their perceptions are skewed, and they may even be threatened by your hopes of making major changes in your life. It might be a bet ter use of your resources to turn to people who can efficiently zero in on your difficulty. Those people who are in your inner circle know you very well and could perhaps push your buttons when you are making significant efforts to change your life. Just be careful about what you disclose.
Differences Between Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Conventional Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy may be short-term, compared to other conventional therapies. The brevity of the course of treatment may be because insurance will pay for only fifteen to twenty-five weeks or for other reasons.
The focus will be on particular behaviors or difficulties, and on the present, not the past.
CBT is based more on scientific, measurable results of therapy rather than the art of the subjective relationship between the therapist and client.
The work will be collaborative, with considerable cooperation between the therapist and client. The client will not appear for the session and sit passively for fifty minutes. CBT tends to apply across cultures, as human behaviors are somewhat universal. With CBT, the therapist does not impose his or her values on the client. In fact, the therapist tries to help the client see that he or she has considerable power over his or her own life by choosing from a wide range of opportunities.
Thought Distortions
The CBT professional will help you become aware and change various thought distortions. Aaron Beck found that certain types of thinking patterns lie behind many mental health problems. Some of those patterns are:
- Overgeneralization
- Black-and-white thinking
- Imagining the worst
- Failing to see anything positive
- Emotional reasoning
- Imagining that others always think badly of you
- Using “should” and “must” statements
- Unrealistic, perfectionistic standards for oneself
Role of the CBT Therapist
In CBT the therapist will be your advocate, partner, and coach. It is unlikely that you will find yourself in a relationship where you become childlike and the therapist is the loving parent that you always wished you had.
You may develop a high degree of caring, respect, and love for your ther-apist, but the times together will be active and quite focused on specific goals. You won’t be meandering in the lap of the other person’s emotions just because you are willing to pay the fee.
Varieties of Therapies
There are many types of therapy, and CBT can easily be an adjunct to most of them. As you think about the right therapist for yourself, don’t close the door on other modalities, as many of them combine rather well with CBT. Some of the myriad types listed by author Jeffrey C. Wood in his book, Getting Help, include Jungian psychotherapy, couples therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, existential psychotherapy, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, family therapy, mindfulness therapy, psychoanalysis, schema-focused therapy, and transpersonal psychology. This list is by no means exhaustive.
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