How to Find a Psychologist for the First Time

So, you need to find a psychologist. Well, you are not alone. Sure, our lives have blessings and opportunities, but another side exists. We have complicated and often painful personal lives, past traumas, family feuds, and our complex love lives, and we need to meet bills and, and, and, and, so much more. No wonder you are looking for a psychologist; they should be compulsory! Yet, finding one, even in a busy metro, is challenging.

 

Psychologists - Finding One the Right Way

To make finding your best psychologist easier, we break the task into six easy-to-follow steps and offer a comprehensive guide to carry you through each.

 

Step 1: Clarify Your Goals

Step 2: Pick the Right Kind of Psychologist

Step 3: Choose the Best Setting

Step 4: Find Some Psychologists

Step 5: Vet Them

Step 6: Reach Out!

 

 

Step One: Clarify Your Goals

The first thing you need to do is clarify why you want to see a psychologist in the first place. While all psychologists are experts in human behaviour, that’s a big subject. So each type of psychologist has its focus, approach, and skill set. If you clarify why you want to see one, choosing the best professional for your need becomes easier.

Bonus: Noting down your goals lets you look back later and measure your progress. So no skimping here.

 

How to clarify your goals for therapy

If you are clear about your reasons, skip down to step two.

Don’t worry if you don't know your goals; this could be why you want to see a psychologist. For many people, all they know is that they want to feel better. And that’s fine too, but these suggestions might help you find the words you need.

Reflect on your feelings and behaviour: Ask yourself what is troubling you. Is it something about you, your child, your relationship, or your family? Are you experiencing complicated feelings like anxiety, sadness, anger, or despair? Are you concerned about your behaviour?

Consider your goals: What do you hope to accomplish by seeing a psychologist? Is it symptom reduction? Does your child need an educational assessment? Would you like to improve your marriage? Do you want to be a better person?

Look at your life circumstances: Have life events contributed to your struggles? For example, are you experiencing a significant change, such as moving, trauma, grief, a job loss, or the end of a relationship? Or does this have more to do with your past?

 

Why People See Psychologists

Sometimes, knowing why other people do something can help us say more about why we want to do that thing too. Here are some of the more common reasons that Joburgers see psychologists. Read through them and ask yourself which you relate to most.

 

Mental health problems: Some psychologists offer therapy for mental health concerns such as stress, anxiety, depression, or trauma. Therapy can help you better understand and overcome your symptoms, develop coping strategies, and work through difficult experiences.

Relationship issues: If you are struggling with issues like difficulties with communication, low trust, or a fear of intimacy, a psychologist can help. Couples often attend together to get help with improving (or ending) their relationship.

Parenting challenges: Parenting is a rewarding and stressful experience. Some psychologists help children’s behavioural or psychological problems and equip parents to enable their child’s development. These psychologists may also offer therapy to help parents address their issues.

Formal assessments: People seek psychological assessment reports for many reasons, including assessing learning/emotional challenges, school readiness, and neurological functioning or providing evidence for court or insurance claims.

 

Of course, psychologists address many more concerns than these; hopefully, these were enough to help you clarify yours and prepare you to move on to the next step, i.e., understanding the types of psychologists and which will most likely meet your needs.

 

 

Step Two: Decide on the Kind of Psychologist

So you know why you want to see one, but which type is most likely equipped to meet your needs? To answer this, we briefly cover the kinds of psychologists and what they do. Remember, this is only a guide; every professional brings a unique background, and many will have far broader skill sets.

 

Kinds of psychologists

Clinical psychologists: Clinical psychologists are trained to diagnose mental health disorders and use evidence-based therapies to treat them. These psychologists have proved competent in helping with depression, anxiety, PTSD, personality difficulties, and OCD.

Counselling psychologists: Counselling psychologists are experts in everyday challenges, behavioural matters, transitions, and stressors. They are exceptionally skilled in addressing relationship issues, clarifying values and goals, and helping people through divorce and many other such changes. These psychologists also provide evidence-based insight and growth-promoting therapy.

Educational psychologists: Educational psychologists have proven skills in working with families, parents, and children. They are experts on child development and can skillfully identify and address emotional and learning difficulties. Many educational psychologists offer assessments, report writing, play therapy for children, and guidance and therapy for parents.

Neuropsychologists: Neuropsychologists assess neurocognitive functions. They see people experiencing neurological conditions like traumatic brain injuries or dementia and use standardised tools to identify deficits and develop treatment plans to address them. They may also provide assessments for insurance and legal purposes.

 

There are other kinds of psychologists, but these are most likely relevant to you. Go back to your notes and ask which aligns most with your concern; that’s the kind to search for. As mentioned, overlap and variation exist, and some psychologists have studied to broaden their scope. However, all things equal, looking for the kind whose initial skill set matches your need is reasonable.

 

 

Step Three: Choose the Best Setting

So far, you have clarified your issue and identified the kind of psychologist to look for. Before you set out to do that, you must decide on your preferred setting (online or in person) and location (local, national, or international). Not all psychologists work online, and not all work in person. Knowing your preference (or what is likely best for you) helps.

Online or in-person?

There is a reason you want to find a psychologist and no doubt you want the process to be as effective as possible. Setting up your sessions to achieve this outcome should guide your decision here. While it is usually possible to hold your first meeting online for most things, some matters require in-person sessions. Psychometric assessments, play therapy, intense emotion or risk management, and in-depth therapy are good examples.

There are exceptions, of course, e.g., you might be too afraid to meet in person and will only meet in person after growing comfortable with online work. In this case, starting online is the only way to achieve your goals. The same can be said if online is the only way to access a service, e.g., you need a psychologist who speaks an otherwise unavailable language or live deep in the Karoo.

Still, take the decision seriously if your situation allows you to choose between online or in-person sessions. Yes, online meetings can bring convenience, improve access, enable you to meet in the comfort of wherever and obliterate travel time. But there are also downsides, especially for therapies that require emotional connection or exposure (if you fear leaving home, getting out may be an essential part of treatment).

In-person sessions have their advantages too. Sitting in a room with someone you have grown to trust is helpful even before the power of therapy. Plus, time to process your thoughts while travelling to and from sessions allows you to gather, consolidate, and reflect. Sometimes, having somewhere to go and planning to get there can help you through the most challenging times.

Covid taught us that online encounters offer more than we thought possible, and online work will undoubtedly become more popular with time. But, COVID highlighted other things, e.g., how emotional connection is easier to achieve and sustain when physically together. We feel each other’s presence without trying. Our body language, eye contact, and other nonverbals help us understand each other with less effort. And there are fewer interruptions, e.g., technical glitches and digital distractions, and two rooms mean twice as many intrusions.

Important: Some popular South African providers have rules and exclusions for online sessions or sessions with people in other countries. Check with yours for more details.

 

Location - Local is better!

We think there is no contest when choosing between local psychologists or looking further afield.

Even though you live on the east side of town, you might have heard of and are considering an exceedingly great psychologist on the opposite end. And yes, psychologists differ in talent, and some are more specialised. But decades of experience have taught us that no psychologist holds a magic bullet.

Psychologists are well-trained, and the relationship you build together will count more than an extra PhD or media popularity. So, unless you need something locally unavailable, the psychologists near your home or work are probably best.

Choosing local has other advantages too. The process becomes easier to sustain by reducing travel time and cost. Scheduling sessions to fit your routine is more straightforward, and Johannesburg traffic congestion becomes less of a worry. As a result, you cancel less, avoid late cancellation fees, and have more opportunities to benefit.

 

 

Step Four: Find Some Psychologists

At last, the search begins. But before you start, remember this: if therapy is what you are after, your goal is to find someone highly skilled with whom you can form a connection and who you believe might get and accept you. Keep this in mind every step of the way.

But how do you find these nearby psychologists? Follow the steps below and keep a list of favourites (you may need to approach more than one) as you proceed.

 

Visit online directories

Therapist directories are the most convenient way to find therapists. TherapyRoute.com is one such option. Not only will you find many mental health professionals, but its features will speed up and smooth the process. For example, the homepage instantly displays the closest psychologists (and other therapists) and shows which have availability.

If you need to look elsewhere, you can use the search box to search by location. Helpful, as psychologists typically practice in affluent suburbs, so there may be more choices near your fancy work office than your homely.

TherapyRoute also helps you find your best-fit psychologist by providing filters like professional type, language, issue, client group, and even identity, e.g., black, male, female, LGBTQ, and more. So all you need to do is visit TherapyRoute.com, use the dropdowns, open the profiles you like best, and read them to see which ones resonate most.

 

Ask for recommendations

While it does mean exposing yourself a bit more, this is another popular approach. Turn to people you trust, especially the ones you know who have seen psychologists before, and ask if they know anyone to recommend.

It is usually best to see a psychologist without connections to your circle. Good boundaries help enable you to be more honest and open. So, even if you don’t see their psychologist, their psychologist could link you with another suitable, trusted colleague.

Turning to your Doctor is another popular strategy. Again, you may have to share personal information, but doctors often have referral relationships with psychologists. Ask for a referral to someone they can vouch for and who they know helped their other patients.

Schools are also a good port of call, especially if the client is a child. Many schools call upon psychologists, and the teachers see which ones benefit their scholars. It is worth asking your child’s teacher if they have someone they might recommend based on their observations.

Whichever approach you choose, once you have a list of options, the next step is to vet them for any red flags. We will tell you how to do this next.

 

 

Step Five: Vetting the Psychologists

Call us paranoid, but Johannesburg isn’t known for its lack of scammers. So, taking a moment to confirm someone’s credentials and peeking at their online footprint is a good idea.

Several professional licencing organisations offer online public portals for their database of clinicians. These portals allow you to look up professionals and confirm who is registered and in which category.

Looking someone up using their registration number is usually easy. You can often also search by name, although this is less reliable.

The point of checking is to see their status, note judgments or offences, and confirm the information corresponds with their self-description.

Once satisfied that each psychologist is in good standing, the next step is to Google their name. Stalking is terrible as you may form unhelpful conclusions that could undermine your future relationship. But, Googling to look out for obvious red flags is worthwhile. While you do this, ask these questions: Do you see a pattern of negative reviews? Do worrisome news articles appear? Does their online footprint look professional, e.g., are they mentioned on relevant websites?

If all still seems promising, it is time to reach out.

 

 

Step Six: Contact the Psychologists

Hooray, finally! It’s time to reach out. Before committing to a meeting, you could fire off a few quick one-line messages or use this as a final opportunity to learn more about them and see if they are the right psychologist for you. We recommend the latter.

Your aims here are to find out if they have availability that suits you, whether they think they can help with your concern, and to clarify their process and requirements. Also, if you have deal breakers (e.g., the psychologist must be trans-affirming), now is the time to ask about them.

There is no one way to reach out, so don’t take our pointers too seriously; we put them together to help you along. Please read through them and give them a bit of thought. Ask yourself if we missed something vital to you. Then, once you know what you want to say, draft a text to send or to use to prompt you through the jitters if you decide to phone them.

 

Introduce yourself

Offer a summary of the issue you bring, ask if they can assist, and ask about their approach to helping. You must provide some details but keep confidential matters until you meet. Remember, you might not choose or be able to see them, and you don’t know who uses their devices. So, exposing any deeply personal matters may leave you feeling uneasy.

 

Confirm availability and fees

Ask if they are accepting new clients, how long till a session becomes available, and if they offer regularly recurring slots for people who need to return or if they reschedule every time. If there are strict limitations to when you can meet, mention these.

Also, be sure to ask about their fee, whether they offer a sliding scale or low-fee sessions (if you need these), and how they expect you to settle the bill, e.g., who claims from medical aid or is it a cash practice?

 

Mention special requirements

If you have needs that must be accommodated, mention them and ask for their thoughts, e.g., working for the film industry could mean you are away every second month.

Similarly, include any specific requests or preferences, e.g., wheelchair accessibility, a nearby coffee shop to wait in, or off-street parking.

 

Choose the best channel

After all this effort, the last thing you want is to reach out and hear nothing back. Take a moment to see if the psychologist mentions a preferred channel of communication, e.g., email, phone calls, or WhatsApp messages. If you follow their lead, you will hear back sooner.

WhatsApp and email are usually best if no preferences are given. This is because text messages don’t distort and become inaudible or difficult to understand, and WhatsApp (or SMS) won’t land up in spam folders.

 

Here is an example of what to say:

“Hello, I am a 21-year-old trans woman (are you affirming?), and I would like to inquire about starting therapy with you. This will be the first time I see a psychologist, and I want to meet to see if I feel safe enough to work with you. Would you allow that? My main issue is that I constantly worry and think people dislike and speak negatively about me (irrational, I know). Do you offer therapy, and would this issue suit your interest, experience and training? If so, please say a little about the approach you take. Also, please let me know your fees, if you are available in the next few weeks, and if you are near any public transport hubs. Thank you, I look forward to hearing from you. Jessica Kingsly, She/Her”

 

Once you have sent your messages (or made all the calls), it’s time to wait for replies and review the answers; at this point, with all the groundwork you have done, you should trust your gut and choose the one that feels right and fits your budget. There's a good chance you’ll pick the best psychologist for you.

Phew! You made it to the end. Thank you for reading this far. We are sure you have more questions, like “How to prepare for the first meeting”, “How to get the most out of therapy”, and “How to tell if it’s going well?”. We will come to these questions next time.

Team TherapyRoute wishes you all the very best on your journey.

This article was written under the guidance of and reviewed by Vincenzo Sinisi | Licensed Clinical Psychologist / Trained Psychoanalyst .

 

 

Additional Resources

Should you wish to explore this topic further, we have included diverse resources below. These articles, books, and trusted organisations provide helpful insights, guidance, and additional resources on finding a psychologist or therapist, making the most of the process, or learning more. We are affiliated with Amazon, so please support us by buying the books you like.

Relevant Books and Articles

How to Find a Therapist - A clear, relatable book that explains how to find a therapist that is the best fit for you. You'll find common misconceptions clarified, popular questions answered, and degrees & licenses explained. Succinctly written with a touch of humour, this book offers the information you need to find your therapist match.

Thinking About Therapy? What to Expect From "The Talking Cure" - If you are considering therapy, this book can save you time, money, and emotional distress.

Finding Your Therapist - A straightforward overview of what to look for in a psychotherapist. What to expect, what to avoid, and how to tell if your therapist meets your needs.

How to Choose a Psychologist by American Psychological Association – Provides tips and guidance on choosing a psychologist that is right for you and how to evaluate their credentials, determine their expertise, and assess their approach to therapy.

Therapy: A gripping, chilling psychological thriller – A fictional thriller providing a thought-provoking exploration of the therapy process, the relationship between therapist and client, the power dynamics in therapy, and the ethical considerations involved in treating mental health concerns.

 

Relevant South African Organizations

South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) - A non-profit organization offering mental health support, resources, and referrals throughout South Africa.

The Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) - A national professional body for psychology in South Africa.

The South African Psychoanalytic Confederation (SAPC) - A professional organization representing psychoanalytic practitioners in South Africa. Visit their website at:

 

Relevant International Organizations

World Health Organization (WHO) - An international organization providing information, resources, and guidelines for various health issues, including mental health.

American Psychological Association (APA) - The largest professional organization representing psychologists in the United States. They offer a wealth of resources related to psychology and therapy.

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) - A professional organization representing counselling and psychotherapy in the United Kingdom.

International Association for Marriage and Family Counselors (IAMFC) - A professional organization promoting excellence in family and couples counselling.

European Federation of Psychologists' Associations (EFPA) - An umbrella organization representing national psychological associations from European countries.