August 27, 2006

Choosing a good therapist

Naked Medicine: Accessibility, Honesty, Integrity in Healthcare Information

With possibly the most obnoxious advertising sidebar I've ever seen**, nonetheless, Naked Medicine presents good healthcare information for the average consumer. They provide an article on choosing a good therapist, including information on the different counseling options available today, the services they provide, as well as advice on how to find them.

Read an excerpt from the article, including a list of questions to ask when interviewing a new therapist, after the jump.

**UPDATE: I received an email from Dr. Chin regarding the obnoxious sidebar and she's been amazingly receptive to feedback. My complaint was a simple readability issue--the advertising ran into the content, making the content difficult to read. Dr. Chin has made modifications to the design of the advertising boxes and sidebar (which are necessary to support the site), to make the content more readable and recognizable. Thank you, Dr. Chin!

Excerpted from "How To Choose a Good Psychotherapist" by Dr. Deborah Serani

"Questions to Ask:Most therapists will welcome the opportunity to answer any questions that you may have. Here are some of the most important ones to consider:

1. What is your professional training and degree?

2. How much specialized training and experience have you had with what I am seeking help for?

3. What theoretical school of thought do you follow?

4. How long are the sessions?

5. What is the cost of each session?

5. How does insurance work with mental health therapy?

6. What is your policy on cancelled appointments?

7. Have you been in therapy yourself? If so, how long?

8. Is it possible to reach you after hours in the event of an emergency or crisis? If so, how?

9. Do you receive regular supervision on your cases or belong to a peer supervision group?

10. What professional organizations do you belong to?

Good Therapy
Once these bases are all covered, and you settle into treatment, you should slowly begin to feel an expansion within yourself. Your awareness will widen, your feelings may swell, and you may find yourself thinking in new ways about your situations and experiences in life. Therapy may be tough on occasions, but in time, you should start learning techniques to help change, shift or remedy symptoms. That is how the arc of good therapy progresses. Last, but not least, always, ALWAYS, be sure that the professional you choose to work with is a licensed mental health practitioner"

Serani, Deborah (April 2006). How to Choose a Good PsychotherapistRetrieved from http://www.nakedmedicine.com on August 27, 2006.

Posted by lunasmom at 8:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Bipolar disorder and genetics counseling

http://www.fgec.org/resources/bipolar.html

The FGEC is the Foundation for Genetic Education and Counseling. Their web site includes information on genetics counseling and education regarding risk factors for susceptibility to bipolar disorder, including information on passing along this disorder to your offspring. Presented in a relatively neutral way, I think it's an interesting read for anyone concerned about risk factors.

lunasmom

Posted by lunasmom at 7:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack