How to Find a Mental Health Provider

Mental health providers offer services to help you and your family cope more effectively with psychological and behavioral problems that interfere with your quality of life. A mental health provider may be a psychiatrist---a medical doctor who specializes in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses and substance use disorders---a psychologist, clinical social worker, or a counselor.

Most mental health providers have a license issued by state regulatory boards and advanced college degrees in their field. Clinical programs that train mental health providers usually require academic training and field practice such as supervised internships or practicums before granting a degree.

Instructions

• 1

  Identify the reason you are seeking services from a mental health provider because this will help you identify practitioners with the right set of skills. Is your child having academic or behavioral problems at home or at school? Are you and your partner having difficulty communicating or solving problems? Is there an issue of substance abuse? Are you depressed or thinking of suicide? Each of these problem sets are areas of mental health specialization.

• 2

  Talk with your primary care physician and ask for a recommendation on mental health providers. Other people in your life who may know appropriate mental health providers include your pastor, professional associations, and referral services associated with training universities. The Mayo Clinic also suggests, "Search nonprofit, government or mental health organization websites that provide listings of providers in your area." If you are comfortable sharing your need to find a mental health provider, recommendations from friends are valuable.

• 3

  Check your insurance to identify mental health professionals who are within your network of approved service providers. Understand what services your insurance covers and for how long that period of coverage lasts. Ask your human resource administrator if your company has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) program.

• 4

  Prepare a list of candidate therapists or mental health providers based on special skills, insurance coverage, and location---near home or office.

• 5

  Schedule a screening appointment. Many mental health providers expect and want to meet with you---often without charge---to see if they can help you and for you to ensure that this is a person you are comfortable talking with and with whom you can establish a trust relationship.

• 6

  Prepare a list of questions that will help you select the best mental health provider for you among the potential candidates. Find out about their licensure and certification. The hours they are available and their fees. Ask about the types of problems and clients they specialize in seeing. Talk about their approach to treatment. If you need medication, ask if they can prescribe or if they work closely with a physician.

• 7

  Reflect on your feelings about the initial meetings with your mental health provider candidates. Were you comfortable talking with them? Did they seem to understand your situation? Will you be able to meet with them consistently since mental health services are usually provided over several months of weekly meetings?

• 8

  Make your selection.