![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaberettPrevious interludes are under access-lock. As stated elsewhere, in general I grant access very readily, am happy to receive requests regarding same, and use lock so I know to first order who is reading. That's why the numbering looks out-of-order. Additional disclaimer: I have drugged myself to hell and back again and it's all kicking in over the course of writing this post, so like, if it stops making sense halfway through then (1) I apologise and (2) I'll be back in the morning to fix things.
<edit>now more sober, I realise that it would be helpful to state explicitly that I am here talking about finding a private counsellor, which obviously involves a significant amount of financial privilege, even with low-income places. I discuss my reasons for using private counselling in comments.</edit>
There's a number of places I look when I'm trying to find a counsellor. They include:
This shortlist arises at least in part because I know what I am looking for. I know that I do my best brain-work when I'm teasing out why I think/feel/believe/do A Thing: the way I approach the world, I find it much easier to address a problem when I know why it is happening. That's why ACAT's on the list above: Cognitive Analytic Therapy is the framework most of my counselling's been in; it combines aspects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (e.g. techniques to challenge intrusive thoughts) with a narrative approach (i.e. working out why). (The ways in which CAT works really well for me are... abundantly clear, I think, from my habit of exploring my emotional state and wellbeing and relationship to the world via contextualisation/resonance of song lyrics and poetry.)
BACP is on the list because they've accredited every counsellor I've ever worked with and, for that matter, every counsellor I've ever considered working with. They're more-or-less a gold standard.
And PinkTherapy is included because I'm poly, trans and queer, and I really don't want to have to explain that from scratch to someone I'm paying private rates.
So my process for finding a counsellor goes a bit like this:
And then, of course, there's the issue of the actual first session. How I tend to approach those - and the suggestions I'd make to someone going into a first session, especially if they've not had counselling before - comes in the next Interlude.
<edit>now more sober, I realise that it would be helpful to state explicitly that I am here talking about finding a private counsellor, which obviously involves a significant amount of financial privilege, even with low-income places. I discuss my reasons for using private counselling in comments.</edit>
There's a number of places I look when I'm trying to find a counsellor. They include:
- PinkTherapy, which is good if you're in London but honestly kind of staggeringly useless everywhere else I've ever looked
- The British Association of Counsellors & Psychotherapists' Find-a-Therapist portal
- The Association of Cognitive Analytic Therapists' Find-a-Therapist portal
This shortlist arises at least in part because I know what I am looking for. I know that I do my best brain-work when I'm teasing out why I think/feel/believe/do A Thing: the way I approach the world, I find it much easier to address a problem when I know why it is happening. That's why ACAT's on the list above: Cognitive Analytic Therapy is the framework most of my counselling's been in; it combines aspects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (e.g. techniques to challenge intrusive thoughts) with a narrative approach (i.e. working out why). (The ways in which CAT works really well for me are... abundantly clear, I think, from my habit of exploring my emotional state and wellbeing and relationship to the world via contextualisation/resonance of song lyrics and poetry.)
BACP is on the list because they've accredited every counsellor I've ever worked with and, for that matter, every counsellor I've ever considered working with. They're more-or-less a gold standard.
And PinkTherapy is included because I'm poly, trans and queer, and I really don't want to have to explain that from scratch to someone I'm paying private rates.
So my process for finding a counsellor goes a bit like this:
- Work out what style of counselling I probably want (in addition to CAT, I'm currently doing a lot of self-led Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and I'm getting on really well with it).
- Find directories of counsellors relevant to my broad geographic region (country-level).
- Filter to local (or willing-to-Skype).
- Filter to types of counselling I'm interested in.
- Run through the list and see if the individual profiles suggest that the person in question has sufficient relevant experience that I won't want to scream before we're ten minutes in to a first session (for me, that means "has heard of queers" and "has worked with trauma"; "knows what an autism is" is a bonus; "will do Skype counselling and is flexible about session regularity" is SUPER-AWESOME but I don't expect to find it).
- No luck? Remove one of the constraints (starting with style-of-counselling - though I note that I have some pretty hard limits about the level of fluff I am willing to tolerate; I fundamentally want counsellors I can trust to tell me I'm talking bullshit, if necessary, in those words).
- Sit with the shortlist for a few days and see who sticks (much like my approach to purchasing Lioness jewelry, entertainingly enough).
- Start sending out e-mails (ideally one at a time) to enquire as to (i) space on their list? (ii) willingness to set up a first session?
And then, of course, there's the issue of the actual first session. How I tend to approach those - and the suggestions I'd make to someone going into a first session, especially if they've not had counselling before - comes in the next Interlude.