I'm thinking of going to therapy

Are you in college? If so, nearly all colleges have a staff counselor. I wouldn't say such a counselor would necessarily be the ideal one to see (although you never know), but s/he'd be a good bet as the first person to talk to. S/he will probably be able to suggest other therapists.

Lex

 

check your insurance website or call the 1-800 service line as many have a listing of mental health doctors that are covered under the plan. mental health doesn't mean you're crazy, just means you want to seek wellness and balance mentally.

if covered you will have a copay

also search online at your insurance company or via the customer service line for someone specializing in gay and lesbian issues. they may even be able to tell you if the provider has self identified as gay or lesbian in their search fields.

once you get a few names, do some online research on them. check their websites, see if you can get pictures of them, look at reviews on yelp and other patient review sites.

then when you have narrowed the list, call and set up an appointment, try and briefly discuss what your issue is and see if they assist people with that. if so, set up the appointment.

have goals in mind. a good therapist will be able to help you understand where you are, why you are there, and assist you with ways to look at things differently so that it will help with your current mental state. if all they do is say, "so what do you want to do about this, tell me how that makes you feel, what do you think you should do...." well in my opinion, you need to get out of there fast. yes, you ultimately hold the power to your own solution but sometimes you are such in a fog, that the therapist shoudl be able to provide you with a flashlight to help you on your journey out of the fog. also, if they are quick to want to prescribe meds, i would run out of there too. you should proactively have a plan or goal, "this is what i want to accomplish but i have no clue how to do that". and then the therapist should be able to help you along the way, each time making sure you are making progress on your goal or helping you when you stumble. if you feel like you are rambling and you never get any practical advice or solutions, then you can basically do that own on your own at home. be realistic, they are not there to solve all the problems but they should be able to help.

 

Another option might be through your parents' employer. Some companies provide their employees and families with an employee assistance program (EAP) that includes access to counselling. It would likey only cover a few sessions but it would be a start.

I imagine the fees will vary widely depending on the qualifications of the therapist. Mine wasn't a registered psychologist but a trained counsellor. His rates were only $60 an hour (and in fact if I paid up front it was only $40 per hour!) so it was very reasonable. Plus, I'm working so it wasn't an issue for me. As a student I know even $60 a week is perhaps more than you've got to spend. But there might be options available to you like local social services.

As Les suggested, start with your school if you're attending one and see what they have to offer. Good luck. I highly recommend it. I credit my counsellor for saving my life - and for setting me on the path that I'm on. He attended my wedding recently - because I wanted him to see how far I'd progressed. I thought he'd like to see the 'fruits of his labour'. He was honoured to attend.

 

If you are in college it's fairly simple and usually free. If not, there are numbers you can call where people will actually assist you in finding a therapist I believe.

oh and therapy as one of the best things that ever happened to me so go for it!