By Melissa McWilliams, AGSS Program Manager
Finding a therapist can seem like a daunting task.
Have you ever had this happen to you? A quick Google search reveals numerous options and you quickly begin to feel overwhelmed. “How do I know who would be best to meet with? Everyone looks the same!”, you tell yourself. After clicking on page after page of options, you decide to try again another day.
Therapy is an important part of healing and growth, and we don’t want feelings of overwhelm to deter finding a good therapist. Below are a few tips to help filter the options down to someone who could be a great fit for your and your family’s needs!
1. Which provider is best for our needs?
Families and children created through adoption or guardianship have unique needs. Finding a therapist who is trained in these needs is vital to healing. The National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI) has listed these questions as important to ask when trying to determine if a therapist is competent in this area:
- “What is your experience with adoption/guardianship and adoption/guardianship issues? (Parents should be specific about the issues that impact their problems, such as open adoption, transracial adoption, search for or strained relationships with birth family, attachment difficulties, etc.)
- Have you worked with other children who are adopted/in guardianship?
- What continuing clinical training have you had on adoption issues?
- Do you include parents and other family members in the therapeutic process?
- Do you prefer to work with the entire family or only with children?
- Do you give parents regular reports on a child’s progress?
- Can you estimate the timeframe for the course of therapy?
- What approach to therapy or clinical models do you use?
- What changes in the daily life of the child and family might we expect to see as a result of therapy?
- Do you work with teachers, juvenile justice personnel, daycare providers, and other adults in the child’s life, when appropriate
- How long have you been in practice and what degrees, licenses or certifications do you have?
In addition to these questions, you can find therapists who have completed specific adoption-competent training through the National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI) here: National Directory of NTI Trained Professionals | Professionals Trained in MW and CW (adoptionsupport.org)
2. How are you going to pay for it?
Unless you have a special circumstance, most of the time there is some type of financial commitment associated with therapy. Connect with your insurance provider or HR administrator to determine:
- Under what insurance company are your mental health benefits provided? Pro tip: Your mental health benefits are not always covered under the same insurance as your medical benefits!
- What will be your financial responsibility? Do you have to pay 100% of costs until a deductible is reached? Is there a co-pay? Is there a limit to the number of sessions that are covered?
- Do you have a Health Savings Account or a Flexible Spending Account, and do the terms of these account allow you to use these funds for mental health services? Many do! Double-check that your mental health provider accepts these forms of payment as well.
- Check with your employer, as they may offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that covers sessions at no cost. If an EAP is offered, get a list of the therapists who are covered under this EAP so that you can discern if any of them are adoption-competent. Also, make sure you know what costs they would have if services would need to continue past the number of no cost sessions.
Lifeline Exists For Families
Lifeline Youth & Family Services helps individuals and families rediscover solutions that will allow them to reclaim control, rebuild relationships, and restore hope.