Therapist recommendation in Greater Boston Area
November 9, 2020 5:26 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for recommendations for a therapist in the Greater Boston Area and/or suggestions for how to find the right therapist. I have BCBS MA health insurance, and I need a therapist who actually takes insurance. So much
I've included more info below about specific issues I'm dealing with and what I'm looking for, but feel free to skip all this and just to the summary/actual question part.
Issues I'm looking to deal with in therapy:
- Constant chronic pain and a recent diagnosis of a genetic condition causing this pain (EDS)
- Severe anxiety that is severely impacting my day to day functioning
- Trauma from a really difficult childhood. I've had some therapists be dismissive of this, like it doesn't count as traumatic since I wasn't beaten or sexually abused. I need someone who will take this seriously.
- Difficulty forming/maintaining close relationships, attachment issues, ACOA, etc
- Suicidal ideation (not an active suicide risk - this has been a chronic thing for a lot of my life)
- I have a history of alcoholism, an eating disorder, and self injury. I've been sober for nearly a decade, and I had ED and SI behaviors under control, although I've fallen back on those a bit recently.
- Severe, pervasive self loathing/self hatred
What I'm looking for in a therapist:
- Evidence based therapy
- Someone with a coherent treatment plan. Even though I always go into individual therapy with a clear idea of what I want help with, and I lay it all out there, I still feel like sessions go nowhere.
- Someone who is smart and insightful - I feel like so many therapists comment on how I have such good insight into my own behavior, but I want someone who can actually add something, not just congratulate me on my "great insight" because that insight hasn't done me any good.
- Someone who can help me with crisis planning to get my life under control in the short term, but who can also help me longer term work through the trauma and relationship issues.
- I find a shared sense of humor is really important. I need a therapist where they feel like a person I enjoy talking to.
I've looked through psychology today, BCBS listings. My current therapist I found through EAP at my job. I'm just not in the mood to roll the dice again.
Summary/Actual question:
I'm in the Newton/Watertown/Belmont/Cambridge area, but because I suspect we'll be doing telehealth for the foreseeable future, I'm not super concerned about the exact location.
I know that I could just start setting up consultations with every therapist in the phone book, but I don't have the energy for that. So if any mefites have suggestions for specific therapists that might fit the bill or that you've enjoyed working with or that you know specialize in complex trauma issues, I'd love to hear them.
I'm also open any suggestions for better ways to find a therapist besides just using psychology today/insurance listings. I know I can also go through my PCP, but for various reasons, that's not the best option. I see a psychiatrist for med management, but he didn't have any referrals for someone who would take insurance.
Thanks in advance. Please feel free to use memail if you'd rather not post here.
I've included more info below about specific issues I'm dealing with and what I'm looking for, but feel free to skip all this and just to the summary/actual question part.
Issues I'm looking to deal with in therapy:
- Constant chronic pain and a recent diagnosis of a genetic condition causing this pain (EDS)
- Severe anxiety that is severely impacting my day to day functioning
- Trauma from a really difficult childhood. I've had some therapists be dismissive of this, like it doesn't count as traumatic since I wasn't beaten or sexually abused. I need someone who will take this seriously.
- Difficulty forming/maintaining close relationships, attachment issues, ACOA, etc
- Suicidal ideation (not an active suicide risk - this has been a chronic thing for a lot of my life)
- I have a history of alcoholism, an eating disorder, and self injury. I've been sober for nearly a decade, and I had ED and SI behaviors under control, although I've fallen back on those a bit recently.
- Severe, pervasive self loathing/self hatred
What I'm looking for in a therapist:
- Evidence based therapy
- Someone with a coherent treatment plan. Even though I always go into individual therapy with a clear idea of what I want help with, and I lay it all out there, I still feel like sessions go nowhere.
- Someone who is smart and insightful - I feel like so many therapists comment on how I have such good insight into my own behavior, but I want someone who can actually add something, not just congratulate me on my "great insight" because that insight hasn't done me any good.
- Someone who can help me with crisis planning to get my life under control in the short term, but who can also help me longer term work through the trauma and relationship issues.
- I find a shared sense of humor is really important. I need a therapist where they feel like a person I enjoy talking to.
I've looked through psychology today, BCBS listings. My current therapist I found through EAP at my job. I'm just not in the mood to roll the dice again.
Summary/Actual question:
I'm in the Newton/Watertown/Belmont/Cambridge area, but because I suspect we'll be doing telehealth for the foreseeable future, I'm not super concerned about the exact location.
I know that I could just start setting up consultations with every therapist in the phone book, but I don't have the energy for that. So if any mefites have suggestions for specific therapists that might fit the bill or that you've enjoyed working with or that you know specialize in complex trauma issues, I'd love to hear them.
I'm also open any suggestions for better ways to find a therapist besides just using psychology today/insurance listings. I know I can also go through my PCP, but for various reasons, that's not the best option. I see a psychiatrist for med management, but he didn't have any referrals for someone who would take insurance.
Thanks in advance. Please feel free to use memail if you'd rather not post here.
Commonwealth Psychology is a very large psychology practice with offices all over the greater Boston area. It is a good place to go when finding a therapist seems overwhelming just because they have so many people and offices. They definitely take BC/BS.
Another option, which is smaller, and a lot more personalized in terms of finding a fit from the beginning, with offices in Roslindale and Framingham, is The Leggett Group.
posted by momochan at 6:04 PM on November 10, 2020
Another option, which is smaller, and a lot more personalized in terms of finding a fit from the beginning, with offices in Roslindale and Framingham, is The Leggett Group.
posted by momochan at 6:04 PM on November 10, 2020
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posted by solotoro at 6:55 AM on November 10, 2020