Finding A Therapist Shouldn't Be Hard - Start Here:
How to find a therapist: check out a few different websites designed to showcase the therapists in your area:
Google “Therapist in (city)”
Ask a friend
Call your insurance company
What to look for in a therapist
State license and a minimum of a Master’s Degree
Specialization or training in your specific concern
Personality that makes you feel comfortable
Contacting a therapist
Send an email or call
Here are some great questions to ask during your first contact:
Have you worked with someone like me before?
How would you start helping me with this issue?
Do you take insurance or what are your fees?
How often do you expect clients to see you and for how long?
Is there anything I should know about your style of therapy?
What times is your office open?
Preparing for the first appointment
Ask the clinician if there is any paperwork to complete before the first session and how to find the office.
Confirm what payment is accepted or confirm your mental health benefits with your insurance company.
Arrive on time. No need to bring anything or make any plans for the session.
Scheduling a second appointment
If you feel comfortable, go ahead and schedule that next appointment! How you feel with the therapist is the most important component of therapy.
Getting help doesn’t have to be scary. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
If you live in the Los Angeles/Westlake Village area and are interested in therapy, I invite you to contact me via email at: tanyasamuelianmft@yahoo.com . I provide a complimentary consultation. Contact me now to see if we might be a good fit to work together! Or book your appointment now!
Unpacking Emotional Baggage
When dealing with emotional baggage, you are constantly struggling under the weight of baggage, bad filters, and triggers. In any situation, nothing that is said is evaluated objectively. Everything is going through a filter that distorts the original message. It stops being about the content of the message, and instead becomes about our perceptions of the sender, and more importantly, about us. We have let ourselves get to the point where we're not really hearing anymore, we're just judging. If you've reached this point with someone, it's time to unpack your baggage.
Here are a few things that contribute to the problem and understanding them is important tp changing the situation:
Your brain processes most information using primitive filters looking only for the most basic information about threats that should be attended to.
Attention errors make it likely that you'll pay more attention and give weight to information that confirms your original point of view.
You don’t get to hear the intent of people’s messages; you only to get hear how their words come out and to feel how the message impacts you. The disconnect between intent and impact is at the heart of many strained relationships.
Start with a Positive Assumption
The next time you react to something someone else says, turn the situation on its head. Start with a positive assumption, rather than a negative one. Instead of assuming that a person is attacking you, start by assuming they are adding value.
Instead of having your normal reaction to what is said, really think about it. Repeat what they said in your head before responding. Think about the words, without reading between the lines or thinking about the back story. Hear the words coming out of someone else’s mouth—how do you interpret them now?
Pay attention to the positive, rather than the negative components of the message. Did the person start with a compliment and then share some constructive feedback? Focus on the compliment for a moment. Let it soak in.
Think about the possible positive intentions they might have had. How might the person have been trying to help? What were they trying to get at? What value are their comments adding?
If you start with a negative assumption, you waste all the value that others could be providing. A positive assumption is the only thing that gives you a chance.
If you live in the Los Angeles/Westlake Village area and are interested in understanding your emotional baggage and unpacking them, I invite you to contact me via email at: tanyasamuelianmft@yahoo.com . I provide a complimentary consultation. Contact me now to see if we might be a good fit to work together! Or book your appointment now!