Where to find a therapist/counselor?

November 11, 2021 5:54 PM

I guess like so many others I've become really depressed and anxiety-ridden over the past couple years. Also for a while now I've been thinking I might have ADHD and would like a professional diagnosis. I think normally people get referred to therapists by their PCPs but I'm in a weird spot right now where I'm switching PCPs. I'm on California Medi-Cal. How do I go about looking for someone?
posted by picklenickle to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

I’ve found all of my therapists throughout my lifetime through Psychology Today’s search tool. They have lots of great filtering options for insurance, locations, etc.
posted by anotheraccount at 6:07 PM on November 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

I was in a similar situation last year and contacted the 800 number on my insurance card asking about ADHD testing, which led me to a student doing her clinical psychology hours who did all my ADHD and learning disability testing for free, and then her supervisor helped her prepare a report and made a diagnosis for me. I was able to use the report and diagnosis to get medication and later accommodation at school. I had to wait a few months to get on the schedule for that but it was absolutely worth it.
posted by zdravo at 6:15 PM on November 11, 2021

The first place I look for anything medical is my insurer’s website to find someone in network.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:33 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Seconding anotheraccount and using Psychology Today.
posted by glaucon at 6:58 PM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Are you in a Medi-Cal managed care plan? If you are, they’ll be your referral source. If you’re not, then Medi-Cal behavioral health coverage is by region, which usually corresponds to your county. You can go to https://www.trilogyir.com/ , then in the drop downs choose behavioral health, California, and your county to get to your appropriate search site.
posted by assenav at 9:17 PM on November 11, 2021

Be prepared to make a lot of phone calls - right now even general counseling services are really hard to find. Things are tough, people are needing therapy for longer and so fewer openings for new clients and everything gets backlogged even worse than usual. Maybe if you know it is going to be frustrating before you start, it will be easier to push yourself to keep trying until you find the help you need.
posted by metahawk at 11:52 AM on November 12, 2021

I found mine through Psychology Today as well.
posted by kathrynm at 3:12 PM on November 12, 2021