Choosing a Psychotherapist

THE PRACTICE of psychotherapy begs one and all to become practitioners of the art. The person (the consumer) who feels the need for help for emotional problems, where does he go and go with confidence? Selecting a competent physician involves many uncertainties; choosing a psychotherapist is a near impossibility. A surgeon may be judged by the neatness of the scar or the frequency of complications; the psychotherapist has no such measure. Anyone can play, and does.

The question of how one chooses a therapist has plagued both helper and patient since the widespread acceptance of psychotherapy. The recent proliferation of modes of therapy and the folk culture surrounding approaches to emotional illness have compounded the difficulty. The proper approach to this problem is vital to the success of the ensuing endeavor, ie, the treatment itself. What follows is an attempt at a resolution or at least an understanding of the