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[job_seeker1]

Back in grad school (i.e. many years and states ago) I was able to find an excellent therapist who was well-versed in the unique craziness of academic culture simply by going to the campus counseling center. It was lovely to have someone who understood how the specific stressors of my job (dissertating, job searching, etc) compounded the more run-of-the-mill depression I was going through at the time.

Fast forward to now... mid-tenure track, seriously burned out, could use someone to talk to about the whole work-life balance, stress of my job, possible depression/anxiety rearing its ugly head again, and so forth. But I can't seem to figure out how to track down the right sort of therapist who might be familiar with these issues. I am in a large city, so there are literally hundreds of therapists out there, and my campus doesn't have a counseling center to point me in the right direction. Google is not helping with this! I feel like I'm trying to find a needle in a haystack. Any suggestions for how to find a therapist who "gets" academia?

[prytania3]

Everyone is going to disagree with me, but I say you don't need someone who knows the stress of academe.

For some reason, like alcoholics, academics seem to suffer from terminal uniqueness.

Basically, a therapist who "gets" you is one who is going to tell you what you want to hear.

You can go to the validation thread for that.

[merinoblue]

For some reason, like alcoholics, academics seem to suffer from terminal uniqueness.

My love for Prytania grows.

For the OP: You could ask a colleague you trust for a referral to someone they've seen and liked. But I think "fit" with therapists is so personal. You could have a rave referral to a therapist who has an academic clientele, and s/he could leave you cold. Is there a modality that you like, that's worked for you in the past? e.g. CBT, Adlerian, Jungian, Freudian, radical acceptance therapy? What I've done is to search in a directory of local therapists and narrow them down by their approach, and by the types of populations and problems they treat (e.g. individuals, family, children, midlife, addictions, phobias, and so on.) Then I've called each one and had a short chat over the phone to find out when they're taking new clients (i.e. how long is the wait?), and whether I like their manner. I think it's trial and error. Sometimes you get very lucky, as you did.

[job_seeker1]

I guess I should clarify -- I'm not expecting a therapist who "gets" me, but one for whom I won't have to explain what the heck it is I do, what a tenure system is, why you're totally f'ed if you don't get tenure, yadda yadda. It was so lovely to have someone like that the last time 'round, and I _do_ realize that I was lucky (it took a couple tries w/ different counselors at the center to find one I "clicked" with) to have someone who could, from experience, say "I was waiting for you to have that reaction post-oral defense -- it's very common" (for example). As for type of therapy, I have no idea what it was. She asked questions, I answered, we discussed things? I was hoping perhaps someone on the forums might have some tips for an easier way to locate such a person without going the just-start-calling route. I tried doing some basic searches online and was completely overwhelmed. I'm not kidding when I say there are literally hundreds of therapists in my area, most of whom claim to practice the same techniques aimed at the same populations. I wish I did have colleagues I could ask about this, but as much of the source of my need to hash things out is my work environment, well...

It may end up being something I can't attend to for awhile. I don't have the time to cold-call numerous providers (quite frankly, trying to figure out how to squeeze in a weekly appointment is already daunting!). I know at some point I may just have to, but with the semester starting in a couple weeks, it's back burner time for anything not work-related. I was just hoping there might be a way to make the process easier, that's all.

[neutralname]

Therapists with a PhD, and possibly a PsyD, should have a grasp of some of the basics of academic life.  These days it is sometimes possible to Google the CV of prospective therapists, and you can see how much time they have spent associated with universities.  You might even be able to find their publications.

[oldfullprof]

I think that masters-prepared therapists (MSWs, MAs in counseling) tend not to be very good, because they're not very smart.  I'd suggest a PhD psychologist, but not a cognitive behaviorist.  The non-cognitive behaviorists are pretty rare.  For meds, see a psychiatrist. 

[zarathustra]

<bookmarking>

[2clueless]

I think that masters-prepared therapists (MSWs, MAs in counseling) tend not to be very good, because they're not very smart.

Hmm. I disagree that master's-level therapists are "not very smart;" it depends on the individual. At least at my old university, the master's-level students tended to exhibit less intellectual curiosity and engaged in less critical thinking than the doc students; the master's-level students seemed to have undergrad backgrounds that emphasized cookie-cutter, paint-by-numbers learning, and it was often a struggle to help them realize that therapy is not a paint-by-numbers enterprise. But many of them were just as smart as the doc students...

I would say that 75% of both sets of students were lousy therapists. It's unreal how many bad therapists exist compared to the good ones. Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions on how to find a good one; if there's a clinical person in your psych department, he/she might have a good suggestion - feel free to muddle your concern when asking around for recommendations or ask "for a friend who just moved to town." (If you do this and a psych colleague recommends him/herself, just say that your friend would prefer to see someone who isn't a colleague of yours.) Sometimes, being specific with your concern will help you find the perfect person, but sometimes it doesn't matter.

(FWIW, the biggest difference between the doc and masters students in my experience was that the doc students were "better" at hiding their, um, screw-ups compared to the masters students, which was Not A Good Thing from my perspective. All those years/semesters/cohorts and I only had one student ever figure out why I did all of my own paperwork in the staff room...)

[alleyoxenfree]

Do you have a primary care doctor?  Mine gave me good referrals to therapists, when I was looking.  Print out the name of providers serviced by your health insurance and see if he/she knows any of them or has an opinion on them.  Get some sleeping pills at the same time so that you can stay rested.

Is there another university in town that DOES has a counseling center?  I found my very best therapist by finding someone who is on staff at the counseling center at another uni, but who also has a practice on the side.  Thus, hu gets it all and has heard it all.  I used to think Ph.D's were better trained, but now think that it's entirely a personality thing.  In fact, some of the MFT's are better because they are people who had life experience, then went back to school to get a degree in counseling.

A good shrink in my past was someone who was on faculty at the local community college in psych, but who also had a practice.

[oldfullprof]

I think that masters-prepared therapists (MSWs, MAs in counseling) tend not to be very good, because they're not very smart.

Hmm. I disagree that master's-level therapists are "not very smart;" it depends on the individual.

I actually agree with most of what you said.  Were your doc students counseling or psychology?  I think that makes a difference.  But I think nerdy cog-behavioral psychologists can be deadly as therapists, unless it's for specific goals, like phobia reduction. 

I was a counseling masters student in the mid-80s, but didn't go into practice.  I had a two year internship in a counseling agency.  I had 15 years in psychiatric nursing first as a licensed person. 

Many of the students at that time jumped on some iffy bandwagons like repressed memory syndrome, multiple personality disorders, and so on.

I was trained in strategic family therapy, which I was actually pretty good at.  I discovered, though, that I had no desire to practice for money.   

[zarathustra]

I ran across this site by John McManamy: McMan's Depression and BiPolar Web.  It made me curious about his book, which I've got on my kindle now.

He talks a lot about how there's a spectrum of mood disorders that the DSM doesn't really address, which from my cursory reading seems like a "Well, duh, of course." He seems to really like Hagop Akiskal's approach to depression.

Any thoughts on that site? Or Akiskal? 

[macaroon]

Geography?

Someone with a practice right across the street from the biggest university in town just might have seen tenure track faculty before.  I tried that.  It worked. 

[alleyoxenfree]

Or the bartender in the bar most likely to serve faculty might have heard it all, and know a name.

My hair stylist is always pretty well-connected.

[melba_frilkins]

If it's someone in academe that you want, then contact universities with clinical/counseling psych programs and ask whether any of their professors happen to be involved in private practice as therapists.

[merinoblue]

If it's someone in academe that you want, then contact universities with clinical/counseling psych programs and ask whether any of their professors happen to be involved in private practice as therapists.

This is a great suggestion. The counsellor I saw through our conselling centre as a grad student had a private practice. I think most at the centre did.