Find the right therapist or counselor for you

Find the right therapist or counselor for you

This short article is intended to provide guidance on choosing a therapist or counselor in the psycho-spiritual field. Although aimed at psycho-spiritual therapists and clients, much of what is written here applies to those seeking a therapist or counselor of other psychological orientations.

When looking for a practitioner to work with, you should try to be clear about what you are looking for. Think of therapy and counseling as four levels: problem-solving or symptomatic counseling, therapy motivated by a presenting life problem (such as a relationship or marriage breakdown, career and financial difficulties, a life change, or an emotional crisis), depth psychotherapy which lasts longer and is likely to be more profoundly life-changing, and finally the spiritual journey.

As far as psycho-spiritual psychology is part of the spiritual field, a number of misunderstandings have arisen due to weak thinking. If you are a student, client, or convert seeking advice from a therapist, a guide, or a spiritual teacher, you are entitled to clarity. Just because spirituality deals with the invisible, numinous realms of light, energy, and inner reality doesn't mean we can't speak about them with precision, grace, and vividness.

So when you approach a psycho-spiritual psychotherapy practitioner, don't hold back. Ask challenging questions about their worldview, beliefs and prejudices. Look for references to teachers, religions, scriptures, yogis and rishis, etc.; If it is wisdom, it should come directly from the practitioner.

Second, be clear about where the practitioner is on the spiritual journey. Ask for a definition, ask again if something is not clear, because you will not go further than the spiritual guide while you are in their care, so you will know immediately how far you are going and whether that potential will satisfy you by asking these types of questions.

Third, remember, this field is full of practitioners who don't know as much as they make up. Fuzzy ideas about spiritual wisdom, higher knowledge, and non-verbal communication are all very good, but they can simply mask the fact that the practitioner doesn't know, isn't smart enough yet, or doesn't know how to say it!

One more thing: Many practitioners today wear multiple hats. But a good therapist is not necessarily a good teacher and vice versa, just as a good writer on a topic - on any topic - is not a good practitioner of what he writes about. So remember that the roles of individual therapist, instructor, and author reflect independent talents of your potential therapist.

Awards, accreditation, training count for something, but empathy, presence and compassion are difficult to learn in any training. So don't take anything for granted just because the practitioner is trained and accredited. There are well-qualified therapists who are mediocre, ineffective, or no good at all, and there are underqualified therapists who are tremendously talented and innovative.

The rules are: listen and hear, use your instincts and intuition, and trust your gut when interviewing a potential therapist guide. And remember, you are interviewing the practitioner, not the other way around. You have nothing to prove to them. Ultimately, offer it to a higher power because if it is the right person for you to work with, you will feel it and it will come together.

Alternative practitioner psychotherapy

The best place to find alternative practitioners psychotherapy is in our free alternative practitioner directory. To view all alternative psychotherapy practitioners, please click here.