The “Good Therapist Near Me” Myth: Why the Search is So Hard

The Search For a “Good Therapist Near me”

You may be at a point in your life where you’re finally willing to try therapy. Maybe you’ve tried therapy before and didn’t have the best experience, but this time’s different. You’re determined to pick the right one. You do some Google searches for “Good therapist near me” and it produces pages of results. Instead of narrowing those pages down you click on a therapist directory and give their filter a shot. You get 42 pages of results and that either leads you to abort the mission or pull out your spreadsheet and narrow it down to your top 10. We’re going to go ahead and guess you’re in the financial field if you have that spreadsheet!

Search Overwhelm

Does that sound overwhelming? Even therapists have reported having a hard time finding a therapist for their own mental healthcare so you’re not alone. One thing we know about the search is that it can sometimes take multiple attempts and even then, people have reported they quit searching altogether after having a less than ideal experience. 

If you’re already dealing with anxiety on your own, the online search for a qualified provider could end up increasing the symptoms you’re looking to improve. Furthermore, if you start your search you may send multiple emails and leave voice messages for providers who never call back. 

It’s the sad and very true world of therapy.

This is what makes it so hard. Providers who accept insurance are oftentimes maxed out on their caseload capacity and many have said they just don’t have time to get back to everyone who reaches out. It’s the sad and very true world of therapy. At Find My Therapist, we don’t want you to give up hope on your therapy search. We want to empower you to optimize your search by considering a private pay model when you’re ready to resume your search.

Empowering Therapy Seekers

At Find My Therapist we wanted to make it easier when you’re online searching for a “good therapist near me,” and since we specialize in marketing private pay providers, we have a duty to share what that means. 

A private pay provider is one who has opted to not accept health insurance for mental health services. One important thing to know is that providers don’t do this for selfish reasons. It’s actually a move that empowers therapy seekers and puts them in the driver’s seat as it relates to mental healthcare. Here are some benefits of seeing a private pay provider. 

Private pay providers are committed to delivering personalized care tailored to each client’s unique needs. Insurance companies often restrict the type, frequency, and duration of care they allow providers to deliver, therefore, providers who accept private pay may be able to offer more individualized services without these constraints.

Private pay providers are often able to have more manageable caseloads. This increases the chance you’ll receive a response to that email or voice message you left inquiring about their services. Simply put, those providers aren’t spending their free time on hold for hours with insurance companies inquiring about claims. 

By choosing a private pay mental health provider on the Find My Therapist directory, you can filter to choose a provider by personality type instead of being limited by in-network providers who you may not feel are the best fit.

Regardless of your journey to finding a therapist, we hope this article normalized the struggles you’ve encountered. If you’re ready to give our directory a try to find a therapist near you, visit this link to start your search.

If this is your first time searching for a therapist, here’s a tip. When viewing profiles, look for the “Free Consultation” section to make sure you can connect with a potential provider “before” you officially start therapy.

Happy Searching!

About the Author:

Marquita S. Myrick, NCC, LPC, LMHC, CCTP, is a National Certified Counselor, Licensed Psychotherapist, and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She’s dedicated her professional life to helping others heal from anxiety, depression, trauma, and unhealthy relationship patterns. Marquita is also the creator of Find My Therapist. You can learn more about Marquita here.