##### How to Find a Therapist - University Clinics - Healthcare provider - Therapist Finder via [Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com) - [Open Path Collective](https://openpathcollective.org/) - https://traumatherapistnetwork.com - Google "Therapists near me" Many sites will allow you to search for therapists by location, specialty, and modality. Email every therapist that you have a hunch might be a good fit. ###### Emailing a therapist I would send a therapist who treats CPTSD some version of this email, depending on how informative their website or PsychologyToday page is: >Hi (Name), > >I'm struggling with Complex PTSD and searching for a therapist. > > - Do you have experience treating CPTSD, or (list any other symptoms or concerns)? Have you experienced CPTSD yourself? > - What modalities do you use? ([[⭐️ Internal Family Systems|IFS]], [[💡 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing|EMDR]], [[💡 Somatic Experiencing]], etc.) > - What are your rates? Do you offer Sliding Scale? Do you have any Sliding Scale slots open? > - How do you keep up with new information related to CPTSD? > - Are you familiar with Alice Miller, Judith Herman, Daniel P. Brown, Dan Siegel, Joanne Twombly, John Briere, Christine Courtois, Frank Putnam, Sandra Bloom, Peter Levine, Gabor Mate, Patricia Ogden, Bruce D. Perry, Ono van der Hart, Pete Walker, and Bessel van der Kolk? > - What's your opinion of or experience with psychiatric medication? > - How do you feel about diagnoses? > - How do you respond when someone is in crisis? > - Can I get in touch between sessions if I'm in crisis? > > Thank you for your time, > (Your name) Most therapists are unlikely to answer each of these questions in full via email. They're more likely to offer a 10-15 minute consultation call. Most will be open to a video call if you would prefer. Pay attention to how you feel about each therapist. If it feels off, you're right. Check the credentials of any therapist you're about to see — some of them claim to work with modalities they have no training or direct experience with. If you're in the US, you can this [this website](https://www.asppb.net/page/LicenseLookup). ###### The Therapeutic Alliance The number one predictor of therapy success is the sense of trust, comfort, and rapport we have with our therapist. - Do you like the [[💡 Therapy#Therapy Modalities|therapeutic modality]] they use? I recommend [[⭐️ Internal Family Systems|IFS]], [[💡 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing|EMDR]] (ideally informed by IFS), [[💡 Somatic Experiencing|Somatic Experiencing]], [[💡 Compassionate Inquiry|Compassionate Inquiry]], and [[💡 NeuroAffective Relational Model - NARM|NARM]], but there are bound to be other effective modalities I haven't learned about yet. - Do you agree with the worldview, philosophy, or perspective they're working from? - Are you in agreement about what the problem is or conceptualize it in a similar way? - Do you agree with their idea of what a solution looks like? - Do you agree on what mental health looks like? ###### Treatment Plan Most therapists will want to collaborate to come up with a treatment plan, which is really just whatever goal or goals you have for yourself in therapy. It can be vague or specific and it can change over time. It's not a set of rules, and there's no "We can't work on this thing because it isn't related to your treatment plan." ###### Related - [[🦮 How to find an IFS therapist or practitioner]]