How to choose a mental health professional

My family has sometimes asked me for referrals to mental health professionals. This is a little difficult for me, because I know that at the end of the day the decision is very personal. Because you have to feel confident with the person you consult with. However, these consultations have made me identify a series of requirements that for me are basic to entering a relationship in which you expose your soul, your vulnerabilities and your most complex parts in front of a complete stranger.

From how I see it, one of the main requirements that a mental health professional has to have is to have done deep work on themselves. There are certain schools and therapeutic approaches that include the requirement that applicants have to complete a number of hours or time of their own psychotherapy to be certified, but not all. This for me is the main thing, a mental health professional needs to have learned to deal with their internal demons, with their shadows, identify what makes them feel insecure or fragile, we need to have the ability to be vulnerable to grow.

The other fundamental requirement for me is that the person has some specialization in at least one school and/or therapeutic approach. This can be a specialization, a master's degree, a specific certification. Examples of this could be a specialization in psychotherapy, a certification in Family Constellations, a master's degree in psychotherapy, Systemic Family Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy or Compassionate Inquiry, to name a few options. Today I am convinced that many deep and powerful therapeutic schools are not necessarily supported by the scientific method, nor by traditional academia, however I have verified that several of these schools have rigorous training methods and include as a requirement the therapeutic process of the and the applicants.

One of the most widespread therapeutic schools in the field of psychotherapy in the West is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which has solid foundations in the scientific method and is very good. However, from how I perceive it, this therapy focuses mainly on eradicating the symptoms, which are often the ones that have led us to therapy. It focuses on identifying the beliefs that support the symptoms, but does not delve into the function of the symptoms, nor their origin.

Symptoms are messages that our being sends us to let us know that we need a change. For me, the other great weakness of CBT is that its training, no matter how rigorous, does not necessarily include a personal therapeutic process.

Finally, the last requirement is experience. I have described the requirements in order of priority for me, indeed the experience is one of the last, because from my perspective, if a mental health professional has been practicing for many years, but has not done his or her own healing process, I consider which will see its effectiveness limited. Finally, the therapeutic process of a mental health professional is the best experience to be able to accompany the growth and healing process of another human being.

Something important to keep in mind is that, just as you interview anyone you are hiring, it is important to take the time to interview the person you are considering as a therapist. 

Today's goal is to give you my opinion so that you can have some guidance when interviewing your next therapist.