10 Things to Consider When Starting Therapy & Choosing a Therapist: 

At Integral Bloom, we believe healing grows through connection, intention, and compassionate care. Whether you're exploring therapy for the first time or continuing your path of growth, we're here to help you begin with confidence. 

Choosing a therapist is about more than credentials or finding someone who treats a particular concern. Therapy is a relationship, and finding someone with whom you feel safe, understood, and able to grow can make all the difference.

1. What brings you to therapy now?
   Consider what is happening in your life currently that has you reaching for support. You don't need to have it all figured out, and having a sense of the context leading to your choice to reach out now is helpful. And, knowing where you'd like to begin is enough - at Integral Bloom, we believe in beginning where ever you are - in the here and now. 
2. What do you hope will shift and be different that therapy can help with?
   Think beyond what you want to stop feeling or experiencing. Ask yourself: What would I like to create, reclaim, strengthen, or become through therapy? Also, ask yourself: What hasn't been working in my life to the degree that I am reaching out now?  What am I no longer willing to put up with? What do I need to talk with someone about? What am I ready to face? 
3. What kind of therapist helps you feel comfortable?
   You may have preferences around age, gender, identity, personality, communication style, or lived experience. These preferences are worth honoring. If you have been in therapy before, what worked and what did not work about how comfortable you felt sharing yourself? Sharing yourself in the work is essential to the relationship working. Working with someone who creates space for this is a sign of a good match. 
4. What therapeutic style are you looking for?
   Some therapists are gently supportive and mostly listen; others are more active, direct, experiential, structured, skills based or insight-oriented. Some therapists are psychodynamic or analytic while others may be more skills based or cognitive leaning. Consider what helps you grow and what you are seeking. Also, consider how stepping out of your comfort zone might be what you need the most to grow in the ideal way.  
5. Does the therapist have experience with what you are navigating?
   Look for relevant training and experience with your concerns. Does the therapist have experience and training for example with treating trauma, relationships, anxiety, grief, life transitions, identity, or personal growth. Know that you can ask about their experience in the area you are seeking support? You can ask how they might envision helping you specifically with your concerns so you might see how their style aligns or not with your needs.
6. Do you feel a sense of connection?
   At Integral Bloom, we prioritize connection and we invite you to as well. Pay attention to how you feel during an initial conversation. Pay attention to tone. How do you feel listened to? How do you experience being respected, seen and supported? Is curiosity present? Notice if you are holding back or resisting being fully honest or open about your struggles. Instant chemistry does not need to be present, however, there should be seeds of trust and a sense that this person can help me... a sense that this feels right. 
7. Can you bring your whole self into the room?
   Good therapy creates space for complexity. You should be able to bring your feelings, contradictions, strengths, fears, culture, relationships, values, body, history, and hopes without needing to become someone else for your therapist. If you notice yourself adapting to be liked, accepted, approved of, etc.,  notice how this might be a pattern in your life and therapy should not be a place to reenact patterns unconsciously but to reveal them so they can shift. 
8. Does their approach make sense to you?
   Ask how they understand healing, change and "the work" and what therapy with them might actually look like. You don't need to understand every therapeutic modality, but their explanation should resonate with you. You can ask what a typical session might be like to get a sense. 
9. Do the practical pieces work?
   Consider availability, tele health versus in-person sessions, location, frequency, fees, insurance, cancellation policies, and scheduling. A good therapeutic relationship also needs to be sustainable. Do you want to use your insurance? You should ask about whether or not your insurance is accepted. At Integral Bloom we have a billing and insurance team that can answer questions you may have to make this part of the process as clear as possible. You do not have to figure this out alone. 
10. Give yourself permission to choose.
    Starting with a therapist doesn't mean you're obligated to stay. After a few sessions, ask yourself: Do I feel seen? Are we building trust? Can I imagine doing meaningful work with this person? If the answer is no, it is okay to keep looking. If the answer is yes, it is an opportunity to go deeper in the work. 

A central alignment question to consider is...

Can I imagine becoming more fully myself in this relationship?

The right therapist isn't someone who has all the answers. They're someone who can meet you with skill, presence, curiosity, and compassion and create a relationship in which healing, growth, discovery, and meaningful change can unfold. Therapy is one of the best investments you can make in your lifetime. At Integral Bloom, we are committed to delivering on this investment.