How to Find a Therapist: 5 Tips to Find a Therapist Online or in Chicago

Tips to Find a Therapist in Chicago or Find Therapy Online

A Google search for therapy in Chicago will quickly reveal that there are a lot of therapists to choose from, representing a dizzying array of therapeutic approaches, training, credentials, experience, and populations or conditions that they treat. Expand your search to online therapy, and the choices continue to multiply. 

For many of the clients I work with; parents who are juggling stress, overwhelm, or the early signs of depleted dad syndrome; the process of starting therapy can feel even more daunting. If you’re trying to understand what’s fueling your stress as you begin your search, the parent burnout quiz can offer helpful clarity and guide you toward the type of therapist who may be the best fit.

Having options is a good thing, but it can be overwhelming to try to sort through them all when you don’t know where to start, especially when you may already be experiencing stress or are struggling. To help you find your way through the maze and get to a great counselor for you, keep these five tips in mind.

Tip 1: Consider your Top Reasons for Finding a Therapist in Chicago or Online Therapist

You may have a laundry list of reasons why therapy might be helpful for you, but it can be tough to direct your search when you’re trying to target them all at once. Take a little time to consider which problems are having the biggest impact on your quality of life, your functioning, or your relationships. For instance, if you could resolve some of the trauma from your past, might that improve your relationship with your spouse, help you connect to more supportive friendships, bolster your self-esteem, and improve your performance at work? As a therapist who often works with neurodivergent adults and parents of neurodivergent kids who are struggling with parental burnout, many of the people who reach out to me are looking to reduce the impact of trauma and burnout and are trying to find support resources and build skills to parent more effectively and in greater alignment with their values. If you’re a parent looking for resources for your neurodivergent child, how to explain autism to kids may also be useful as you explore the kind of support your family needs.

If you can identify the top one or two areas that are rippling out to cause other problems, this can help you narrow your list of counselors to those who specialize in your areas of greatest need. 

Chicago offers a large range of therapists and areas of expertise, but if you cannot find a therapist near you who specializes in your top areas of need, online therapy may be a way for you to connect to the right therapist for you and for your specific needs.

Tip 2: Remember That There is No Best Therapist in Chicago or Best Online Therapist for Everyone

It is great to get recommendations from friends, family or your doctor; to Google “Best Therapist Near Me,” or to focus on the therapeutic approach that made a big difference for someone you know. These tactics may all be really useful guides as you search for the right therapist for you, but remember that therapy and therapists are not one-size-fits-all. 

If you begin to explore a therapist or therapy technique and feel like it is not a good fit for you, consider what doesn’t appeal to you and use that information to refine or revise your search. It is totally okay if the therapist who was life-changing for your friend isn’t someone you want to work with, or if the treatment approach that turned everything around for your favorite celebrity feels too overwhelming for you. Consider what you would prefer instead, and search for that.

Tip 3: Know What You Like (and What You Don’t) When Finding a Therapist in Chicago or Online Therapist

When searching for a great therapist for you, give yourself permission to be selective. Therapy is a service, and the therapeutic relationship is an investment of time, money, hope, and emotional labor (it’s not easy to fill a stranger in on all your “stuff.”) You have every right to be choosy. Consider what matters to you. Do you want a therapist who is of a particular age, level of experience, gender, or training background? Would you prefer to work with someone who may have some life experience that is similar to what you are working on or professional experience with a lot of clients dealing with the same kind of problems? Is it essential to you that the therapist uses a specific therapeutic technique? Do you have scheduling parameters that are critical to work within or a geographic area to which you are limited?

Although it may not be possible to find a therapist who checks every box on your wishlist, if you know what the most important points are for you, it will help you sort out the hits and misses when you start to search.

Tip 4: Connect With a Therapist in Chicago or Online Therapist Before You Commit

It is probably clear by now that it’s important for you to feel comfortable with a therapist for them to be a great find for you. It can be helpful to narrow your choices to a shortlist based on your responses and discoveries following the tips above, but eventually, you’ll need to take the leap and connect with a real person. 

Consider reaching out to a few options and see if you can talk with them briefly to get a feel for the connection and to ask your most important questions before making a decision about a therapist. Many therapists understand how essential it is to have a good fit between a client and a therapist, and they want to talk with you before you schedule that first session. A lot of counselors will offer a free brief consultation by phone to allow you to get a better feel for them and for how they work before you decide if they seem like they may be the right therapist for you.

If you are seeking therapy support because you are a parent struggling with burnout who wants more clarity before reaching out, completing the parent burnout quiz can help you pinpoint the issues you most want to discuss in therapy and make your initial conversations with potential therapists feel more focused. Once you find a therapist who you want to start working with, considering how to prepare for first therapy session so that you can communicate your goals for therapy and ask for the support that you need, may help you feel more confident in your choice.

Tip 5: If at First, You Don’t Succeed 

Don’t be discouraged if you start working with a therapist in Chicago or online and it just doesn’t feel right or you don’t make the progress that you were hoping for. This doesn’t mean that you made a bad choice, that they aren’t a great therapist, or that therapy doesn’t work for you. It just may not have been the right fit for what you needed right now. Take what you learned from the experience and use it to make a more informed choice when looking for the right therapist for you. You will be that much closer to finding a great therapist. You deserve to get what you need out of therapy to feel better. 

I hope that these tips help you find a great therapist in Chicago or the right online therapist. If you are still feeling stuck, feel free to contact Shore Therapy for a free 15-minute phone consultation. Maybe I am the right therapist for you, or I can help direct you to the right person. If you are looking for help with parent and caregiver burnout; affirming therapy for LGBTQIA+, culturally diverse, neurodivergent, and other marginalized individuals; stress and anxiety; trauma and PTSD; Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR therapy); or therapy online in most states across the U.S, in Chicago; or along the North Shore, reach out today.