Print

Introduction This book covers many questions I get asked as a practicing psychother- apist and as a college professor teaching in the fi eld of psychology. There are also many questions that I think more people would benefi t from ask- ing before deciding on a counselor or therapist. The mental health fi eld is broad, in that there are clinicians who have varying types and amounts of training. This can, in many ways, directly impact whether a particular counselor or therapist will be a good fi t for a particular patient. Licensed counselors and therapists have not only different types of edu- cation but also different letters after their name (e.g., PhD, PsyD, LMFT, LCSW), which can make fi guring out which counselor or therapist to work with confusing at best. In addition, even those with the same letters after their name may practice in very different ways. Some may approach mental health issues from a solution-focused perspective, whereas oth- ers may take an insight-oriented perspective. Knowing which among the myriad approaches to treatment will work best for you can be diffi cult to determine. The objective of this book is to answer common questions that many people ask prior to setting up an appointment (e.g., how much does therapy cost?) as well as other questions that are important to know the answer to but may not cross the mind of someone looking for a counselor or therapist (e.g., do I need to see a counselor who has a particular spe- cialty?). Specifi cally, the book starts with discussing myths associated with