Find a Therapist
How to Find a Therapist
This can be an intimidating question: how do I find someone to trust with what matters so much to me? Ideally a therapist’s office is the place that we can examine our innermost thoughts and most personal feelings. Finding the right person to meet with can be a daunting task. Those of us listed on this page take that question and the responsibility of our work very seriously and see our work as a great privilege. We stand by each other as colleagues who know, like, and believe in one another. Twenty years ago, it would often work well to ask a trusted friend or community leader for a recommendation of who to turn to for personal counseling. Now the Internet allows us to connect with each other in new ways. We hope that by explaining about ourselves and how we see counseling working that you might make an informed choice about which marriage and family therapist will work well for you.
Sometimes reaching out and speaking with a therapist can be a very helpful way to ask questions and learn more about the process. We would encourage you to call or email to ask if a particular therapist would be able to assist you or if another clinician might be a better fit.
And fit is the right word — the right therapist for you is likely shaped by your personality, your sense of humor, the therapist’s personality, as well as the counselors training and experience. We share an office in San Jose bordering Campbell and near Los Gatos, though when using video conferencing, we are able to see anyone in the state of California. 50 years ago academics argued about how the “correct” psychological approach should be described. Today, you are more likely to find a therapist who is interested in meeting you where you are, to help you move in the direction you seek.
That said, we do know that the following issues are often important when you are ready to schedule an appointment:
I want a counselor to help me make sense of my worries and better manage my stress
Therapists often call these anxieties, and talk therapy can be a big help here. There are so many stressors in our world today, from managing the “new normal” after the pandemic, to work stress, to significant worries about things we know aren’t quite worth worrying about and more, dealing with anxiety is one of the most common reason people seek personal counseling services. Your work with a therapist could involve making plans on how to reduce your worries and stress to helping to understand underlying reasons why your brain is focussing on these issues.
I want a counselor to help me understand my low feelings, to help me work through this grief, or not feel so sad so often
This can be called depression, and talk therapy can help make your time feeling down shorter and help you make sense of your experiences. Buddhism teaches that life is inherently full of suffering; we care about things and we are saddened when they change. Counselors here work with our important reactions to grief and loss, to feeling stuck in life, and to bouts of what’s called major depressive episodes.
I am ready to talk about my relationships
Whether you are ready to talk about being lonely and dating, getting married (premarital counseling), or trying to get through a break-up or divorce, marriage and family therapists can really help understand how you arrived in this position and how you want to relate to arrive in a different spot. California states that marriage and family therapists and licensed clinical social workers are prepared to assist in relationship issues, including relating to family members, romantic partners and work-environment relationships. People moving through life changes like finding a long-term romantic partner or ending a long-term relationship often find counseling very helpful.
