Info: Advice on how to choose a therapist

Advice on how to pick a therapist How do you know if your provider is right for you? Professionals from both sides of the debate offer some tips:Bruce Wampold, University of Wisconsin: “Get referrals from friends. Give your therapist a reasonable amount of time. If you feel connected and trust them, and they have a reasonable plan, stick with them. If not, get somebody else.”John Norcross, the University of Scranton, Pa: “When selecting a therapist, by all means ask if they’re familiar with the best available research to reach treatment goals. But equally important is to select someone you feel comfortable with.”Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emory University: “There’s a list available on the Web of empirically supported treatments. . . . There may be cases where a therapist chooses to overrule that and give you a different treatment. But it should be a bit of a warning sign. You should ask why.”Access the list Lilienfeld refers to at www.apa.org/ divisions/div12/rev_est.Access more tips at www.findapsychologist.org, self-help resources compiled by the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. -- Eric Jaffe