Depression: How To Find a Therapist
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Few questions are asked as often: How do I find a therapist? And few questions are more crucial. Getting help in a timely manner is absolutely essential not just to relieve a current episode of depression but to prevent what otherwise likely becomes a recurring disorder.
Still, inside that initial question lurks another, more urgent one. People are not asking strictly about the mechanics of finding a therapist, although many do want to know that too. What they really seek to know is, how do they find someone who can actually exert some traction to help pull them out of the pit of depression.
The question is on target, for not just any warm body will do. First, depression is a complex disorder and certain kinds of treatment have proven more effective than others; one must ascertain beforehand that a mental health professional employs methods known to work.
Second, depression imposes some limitations on those actively in its grip; it is the nature of the beast to impair cognitive functioning and to induce passivity. Consequently, the depressed need search strategies that overcome their own debility.
“One needs a therapist with a track record of helping people who have the kind of problem you do,” contends Lori Gordon, Ph.D. “They have to be known for their effectiveness in helping with the kind of problem you have and achieving the kind of goal you are seeking.”
A second-best referral source is your family doctor. Whichever route you take, ask prospective therapists whether they’ve treated depressed people before, and how often they have done so.
Although conventional wisdom holds that psychotherapy is a value-free enterprise, that is a myth, insist eight of the 10 seasoned experts consulted for this article. As Frank S. Pittman III, M.D., a psychiatrist in private practice in Atlanta, puts it: “Most psychotherapy is really about values. It’s about the value dilemmas of ordinary people trying to lead a life amidst great personal, familial, and cultural confusion.”
The best way to discover the values of a therapist is to ask people who have been to the therapist. “Ask your friend, ‘when you tell your therapist what you just told me, that you’re leaving your job, what is your therapist’s response?’”
After checking credentials, says Ellen McGrath, Ph.D., gauge the life experience of the therapist. Ask yourself whether he or she has lived enough according to values you respect to know about life and love independent of their theoretical orientation.
“Most patients can judge the therapist firsthand,” offers psychiatrist Peter D. Kramer, M.D. “Their social judgment is not impaired; they know who’s sitting across from them even when depressed. A therapist should show wisdom, courtesy, insight, perhaps a touch of brilliance, and a good measure of patience and equanimity.”
“Studies show that a combination of medication and psychotherapy is the best treatment for depression,” observes Rick Strassman, M.D., a psychiatrist in private practice in Taos, New Mexico. “The results are better, quicker, and longer-lasting.” Unfortunately, he notes, while psychiatrists are the only mental health professionals who can prescribe drugs, they are often no longer trained to do psychotherapy.
After getting medication under control, he reports, “most patients are interested in doing psychotherapeutic work. I’m doing more psychotherapy than I thought I’d be doing.”
What should you look for in an answer? Comprehensive understanding and wisdom. “Depression is a chemical state, and you can get into it by a physical route or a psychological route or by the circumstances of your life,” says Atlanta’s Dr. Pittman.
“Running around angry all the time will depress you. Drinking alcohol daily and not getting any exercise will depress you. Doing things that make you feel guilty will depress you. A therapist who can explain that simply and honestly is likely to have the resources to help you through what you are going through.”
Psychiatrist Strassman says he usually tells questioners, “It’s how some people respond to stress. Some develop ulcers, some get headaches, some develop High Blood Pressure, others get depressed. I tell them that medications affect the biology while therapy can help identify stresses and provide more options for dealing with them.”
The breadth of view should extend to the treatment program. Ideally, says Dr. Carducci, therapy should include strategies for helping you become more connected to the community. It is therapeutic to be more involved in the lives of other people.
“Therapies that activate people do better,” observes Blues Buster’s Michael Yapko, Ph.D. “Look for therapists who give you assignments, things to do or to read, little experiments to conduct.” You also want a therapist who takes an active role in teaching you the skills you need for managing life and its inevitable stresses.
As Dr. Kramer sees it, a therapist should not be too eager to please. “A little empathy should go a long way. At the same time, the therapist should not be too rough on you. But you should not get away with too much either.”
Revision date: July 3, 2011
Last revised: by Tatiana Kuznetsova, D.M.D.
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