Therapist Long Island: Your Top 6 FAQs Answered for Effective Therapy
You finally found a therapist on Long Island whom you feel is a good fit for you! Now, you probably have a ton of questions popping up in your mind about therapy. This is normal!
Beginning therapy can bring up many emotions, and again, that is normal. While this can feel overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be! I’m here to help answer some of the questions that you may have about starting therapy on Long Island!
FAQs when Finding a Long Island Therapist
How do I find the right therapist on Long Island?
If you haven’t found a Long Island therapist yet and not sure where to start, I recommend that you start by checking out my blog here on Finding a Therapist on Long Island.
What types of therapy are available on Long Island?
Considering how populated this area is, it may seem very difficult to find a therapist that can help you in your specific struggles AND also feels like a good fit for you. I want to encourage you to keep on looking because there are so many great therapists on Long Island and if you look hard enough, you will be able to find someone who can help you with what it is that you need help with. I would recommend that you read my blog on questions to ask a Long Island Therapist to help you find a therapist that can help you.
What qualifications should I look for in a Long Island Therapist?
If you are looking for individual therapy, I would recommend looking for someone who has one of the following letter combinations after their name: LMHC, LCSW, PsyD or PhD. If you are looking for marriage or family therapy, in addition to the prior recommendations, you may also consider seeking out an LMFT (Marriage & Family Therapist). These are all people who are qualified to conduct therapy. Depending on what you’re struggling with, you may want to be a bit more discerning and look for someone who specializes in the area that you need help with.
Here are some common examples:
If you are looking for help with anxiety or depression, you want to look for a therapist who is trained in CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).
If you are looking for help with trauma, a CPT therapist (Cognitive Processing Therapy) or an EMDR therapist (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapy) would be best to seek out.
If you are looking for help with an eating disorder or an unhealthy relationship with your body, you’d want to find a specialist in that. DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and CBT are good approaches to help you.
This may seem overwhelming. You don’t need to know and memorize all of these things, the best thing for you to do is to do some research, like you’re doing now, to get some ideas as to what could be helpful. Based on your research, try to narrow down potential therapists based on the information you learned, and then set up a consultation call with those therapists and asks these questions to help you figure out if they’re a good fit for you. Please note that you may not be able to know what the therapists trainings, certifications or approaches are unless you speak with them. If you find a therapist who you like, but not sure if they could help, set up a consultation call and ask questions.
How much does therapy with a Long Island Therapist cost?
This is a great question and obviously, an important question. It’s a difficult question to answer because it varies greatly from one therapist to another depending on experience, specializations and type of therapy offered. Also, individual therapy costs are not the same as group therapy costs which is not the same as therapy that occurs within a higher level of care facility. If finances are a concern to you, I would recommend to start with finding therapists and setting up consultation calls with them. You will learn what their fees are on this call and you will get an idea of what to expect to pay for therapy and then see if it works for you. Keep in mind that any amount of money is too much to pay for bad therapy. You need to make sure you are finding someone who actually can help you, and from there, see if the finances work for you or if the therapist that you like can refer you to someone else who they believe can help who may be able to fit your budget better.
What can I expect during my first session with a Long Island Therapist?
The first session usually is a more formal intake session. Typically, the therapist leads the session. I will walk you through how I normally approach and handle the intake session:
I have new clients complete all of their intake paperwork prior to our first session so that we can make the most of our time together.
My intake sessions are an hour long and I take the first 15-20 minutes to go over all of the therapy policies as well as lay out expectations for the therapeutic process including what the client can expect from me as well as what I will expect from them.
I use the rest of the intake to dive deeper into the intake form that the client had completed prior. I will ask questions so that I can learn more about you, what you are struggling with, what has and hasn’t worked and what your goals are for treatment.
I am big on making sure that you always have an action plan from one session to the next, so I will start this right off the bat by giving you a next step that you can work on prior to our next session. That next step looks different for everyone because it will be based on what I learned about you in the intake. The next step may be a journaling prompt, completing a quiz-like assessment that can help us to get a better understanding of where you’re at, or another type of “assignment” altogether.
While this is how I run my intakes, you likely will see other Long Island therapists have similar intake sessions, perhaps with a few minor differences. As a therapist, my 3 biggest goals to establish in our intake are:
Begin building a trusting relationship where you feel comfortable with me and in my ability to help you.
To learn as much as I can about you so that I can best help you.
To provide you with hope for recovery - whatever that looks like for you.
Are online or in-person sessions available with Long Island Therapists?
Whether you’re looking for online or in-person therapy, you will be able to find a therapist that serves Long Island. In recent years, we have seen a large increase in therapists providing online therapy, which is awesome. I have done both in-person and online therapy in the past and I have found no difference in the success rates of my clients. I have since transitioned to doing therapy solely online which allows me to help people even if they are not local. If you are open to online therapy, you won’t have to rely on finding a good fit solely in your immediate geographic area. As long as the therapist is licensed in NY and offers online therapy, they could help you. I have found that, since transitioning to a fully online practice, my clients prefer it. It generally tends to work better in their busy schedules and takes out the need to deal with Long Island traffic! I believe that most people can benefit from online therapy with few exceptions. If you are open to online therapy and can find a private place with little to no interruptions with good wifi for sessions, you’re golden!
I hope this helped to answer some of those questions you may have around starting therapy! If you have questions about therapy with me, check out my FAQs page.
Contact a Long Island Therapist Today
If you’re still looking for a therapist, you can contact me to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation. If you want to learn more about how I can help you, click here.