Reddit reviews The Heroic Client: A Revolutionary Way to Improve Effectiveness Through Client-Directed, Outcome-Informed Therapy

I work in the mental health field in the twin cities, and there are a ton of factors into what you will be getting from a therapist.

Its really important to remember that therapists aren't like doctor's. There is no 'skill set' for working with a disorder in the way a doctor can specialize in orthopedics or something. Therapists who say otherwise are either evangelists for what they think is the only/best type, or they are trying to sell you something.

Research on the effectiveness of therapists shows that about 70-80% of whether or not you will make progress through the process is based on your relationship with the therapist. The techniques a therapist specifically use to help someone is very tangential to helping clients. While its a bit dated at this point, you can read all about this in The Heroic Client by Barry L Duncan, Scott Miller, and Jacqueline Sparks.

What I would recommend looking for is someone that feels right. If you meet with a therapist and they don't feel right, find someone else. Finding the right therapist isn't the same as finding a friend though. 'Feels right' can mean whatever it needs to for you and your situation. I personally find therapists with a Cognitive Behavioral style to be so ineffective with many of my clients that they might as well have not gone to see a therapist. On the same token, I have a friend whose client's would most likely consider the same of me. Any therapist worth their salt knows that they don't work well with everyone, so don't be afraid to advocate for yourself and find someone else.

If you are going with insurance based services, you will need to be diagnosed with something. If you don't want to be diagnosed with something, you need to find a therapist who works without diagnoses, and takes cash. Something that just occurred to me, is that many private therapists I know will still give a client a diagnosis, so you may have better luck looking for a life coach or something similar if you don't want a diagnosis.

If you are just looking for chemical abuse knowledge, Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor's (LADC) specialize in that. To throw my two cents in about LADC's however, you get a really mixed bag. Some of them are just hard core anti drug warriors, and treat drugs as dangerous chemicals that you need to be saved from. Some of them focus on harm reduction. A rare few actually understand that drug use is not a sign of horribleness out of principle, and just want to help you with having a better life.

Another issue is price. You could be throwing down anything from about $50 an hour to $300. If you are willing to pay cash, many clinics provide a sliding scale based on your income.

Feel free to ask any other questions if you think of any.