Need Help Finding a Therapist?

It may come as a surprise to some, but being a therapist doesn’t necessarily make the process of finding a therapist—whether for myself or a family member or friend—that much easier. Options can feel limited even when using all the knowledge I’ve gleaned from other professionals in the field and my own experience comparing various search engines/directories and psychotherapy companies. Those options become further restricted for certain populations—children and teens, those who seek in-person therapy, and people with limited financial resources (and in these days of late-stage capitalism, that includes the vast majority of folks). And for people struggling with significant mental health symptoms which prompt them to seek therapy in the first place, the search process itself can present as a seemingly-insurmountable barrier to accessing services. Hence the reason for this blog post: I want to help as many people as possible access the quality therapeutic care the need and deserve.

Most people understandably start by trying to find a therapist who is “in-network” with their private insurance company in order to afford care. However, the issue of overwhelming demand vs. short supply of experienced therapists with availability becomes much more pronounced when limiting one’s search to in-network therapists. Another barrier to finding an in-network therapist is that insurance companies’ search engines tend to yield hundreds of pages of outdated results, and even popular search engines like Psychology Today don’t filter results based on current availability or in-person vs. telehealth offerings. It’s also important to acknowledge that many people who have insurance still face deductibles and copays that force them to choose between budgeting for their heating bill that month or weekly therapy sessions. The following resources aim to help people learn more about how to expand their out-of-network options in affordable ways and simplify the process of finding an in-network therapist.

1) Out-of-Network Reimbursement

Most people do not know that the vast majority of private insurance companies will partially reimburse for out-of-network providers. While this route likely won’t be as affordable as a $20-60 copay, it can significantly expand your options and potentially allows you to afford the quality care you need. Here is the list of questions that I give to potential clients to ask their insurance company in order to determine whether out-of-network reimbursement will meet their financial needs:

• Do I have “Out-of-Network” insurance benefits for “Outpatient Mental Health Services”?

• What is my deductible and has it been met?

• How many sessions per year does my health insurance cover?

• What is the "allowed amount" per therapy session? What percentage of the allowed amount is covered?

• *If asked what billing code would be used for a therapy session, tell them 90834 - the code for a 50 minute therapy session.

Out-of-network reimbursement requires clients to pay up front for sessions, and then their therapist sends them a monthly “superbill” that clients submit to their insurance company for reimbursement. Everyone’s policy is unique, but from what I’ve gathered after meeting a deductible most companies reimburse 40-80% of the cost of each session.

2) Sliding Scale Fees

People are often unfamiliar with the concept of sliding scale fees that many therapists offer. Even if a therapist doesn’t explicitly advertise one, feel free to ask any potential therapist during a free consultation call. A ‘sliding scale’ means that the therapist has a range of fees they are willing to accept based on a client’s financial situation. I personally offer multiple sliding scale slots and on a case-by-case basis will consider lowering the fee even further due to significant financial stressors such as job loss. Open Path Collective (https://openpathcollective.org/) is a website that caters to people who are searching for therapists who offer a very steep sliding scale of $40-$70 per session. Someone who responded to a reddit post I made on this topic helped me discover RAD (Rise Above the Disorder) where folks can access steep sliding scale ($50 per session) or even free therapy covered by donations (youarerad.org) and I’ve also recently become aware of a similar organization, The Liberation Institute (https://liberationinstitute.org/).

3) In-Network Therapist Matching Companies

As it’s so difficult for potential clients and therapists to find each other in general, there are now a proliferation of companies that provide matching services so clients don’t waste time and energy reaching out to therapists who are unavailable or unable to meet their specific needs. Most of these companies act as the middle-man between insurance companies and therapists to remove the barriers that prevent many therapists from taking insurance on their own. One such company is Headway (https://headway.co/) which partners with many health insurance companies and allows you to filter your own search by in-person vs. telehealth, location, and availability within specific time-frames. Another is Octave (https://www.findoctave.com) which I personally contract with, and Alma (https://www.helloalma.com) is a similar company. I had initially begun to list the insurance companies each of these companies partner with, but they differ depending on your state of residence and get to be quite lengthy as lists. You can go to their websites to learn more.

There are certainly many more of these companies, each with their own pros and cons, but rather than get in the weeds about my own comparisons I just want to strongly advise to STAY AWAY from those like BetterHelp. BetterHelp has been fined for selling sensitive information and data gathered from clients, and in general companies like BetterHelp are like “therapy mills” that set up therapy and client expectations in a way that is detrimental to the therapeutic relationship and process. One red flag to look out for is if the company advertises text messaging with your therapist. I would not trust the quality of a therapist who doesn’t recognize the pitfalls and detrimental effects of offering such a thing (the only exception to this in my mind is the phone coaching component of a highly boundaried, structured modality such as DBT).

Other websites I’m aware of that can help match you with therapists include Mental Health Match, Therapy Tribe, Good Therapy, Therapy for Black Girls, Therapy for Black Men, and Neurodivergent Therapists, to name a few.

If the information I’ve shared here helps even one person access therapy who might have otherwise gotten bogged down in the tedium and discouragement of the search process then it will have been well worth it. If you are reading this and have recommendations for further resources I could include then please feel free to reach out to me at rachelganz@mountainspringstherapy.com.