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Take away tips:

1) Don’t be afraid to ask therapists about their background, training and experience in psychotherapy, and how this influences the way they work and what they offer.

2) A therapist’s training and therapeutic orientation can be more or less important for different clients depending on their circumstances – spend some time considering how strongly you feel about these areas and whether it would be helpful to understand the different therapies available to you in more detail. How important is the type of therapy for you?

3) Be wary of therapists who provide long lists of different areas of ‘expertise’. Being willing to work with your experiences is not always the same as being competent to help you.

4) Try to have an initial phone conversation before booking an appointment. You should not have to pay for this or feel pressured into booking an appointment.

5) Use the assessment session(s) to get a sense of whether you could work with someone. Many therapists treat the initial sessions as a ‘trial therapy’.

6) Agree a point in time during the first 1-4 sessions where you and the therapist review how things are going. You should never feel obligated to sign up to a long process or a full therapy from the beginning.

7) Consider your personal context and how your own diversity could be important to forming a relationship and feeling understood.

8) Consider your relationship history with people in a ‘helping role’ and how this might affect your experience of seeking and receiving support.