How to help a friend find a therapist

[bluefish79]

I have been a longtime-friend of an individual that suffers from ocd. I have wanted them to give therapy a try for a while now, and now is a good time to begin due to real-world circumstances. However, i do not know how to help them in finding a therapist that could work for their condition. What resources could i use to find therapists in the area that fit their needs?

[TomFed]

As for "real" face to face therapy, you should ask at your local public health clinic. For online therapy, if your friend speaks English, there are some good platforms that specialise in OCD treatment, like NOCD. Where are you from ?

[bluefish79 in reply to TomFed]

Northeastern united states, thank you again for your assistance

[Mcfly64]

First step is to speak to a doctor. They should be able to recommend a good therapist.

[bluefish79 in reply to Mcfly64]

Will let them know that, thank you

[PureOCDdude]

Well possably. Inform them thy could call 211 or visit 211.org thy will match you with social services in your area. Also you could just visit a mental health services bulding in your state. That's what I did in my case. Thy can help in diagnosing the disorder. Help to apply for social security disability and Medicare. If the OCD is severely disabling. If it negatively effects you. Takes away from your ability to recieve income and impacts your quality of life as a hole. He could recieve therapy for free. In these hard financial times. I hope this helps your friend.

[bluefish79 in reply to PureOCDdude]

Thank you, I'll definitely relay the information and look through 211, I really appreciate it

[IStillHaveHope]

I'll echo what Mcfly64 said. The first step is to probably schedule a doctors appointment. They can diagnose and refer a therapist if you ask them. If you live in the states a lot of them take insurance so it isn't very expensive. You may have to shop around to find one that does though, so don't get discouraged.

You can call a therapist and speak to them directly if you want too as well. I would just google, "OCD therapists near me" or something like that. It will likely show a lot of results. Most of them now have their own websites that outline who they are and what they do.

[bluefish79 in reply to IStillHaveHope]

Thank you very much, I appreciate it

[Natureloverpeace]

NOCD offers help virtually. Their therapists are licensed mental health professionals who specialize in OCD and are appropriately trained in ERP, the gold standard treatment for OCD. They can be reached at treatmyocd.com. Your friend can have a free 15 minute phone consultation with them to see if they can meet your friend’s needs. They can assess the level of care needed. The IOCDF at iocdf.org has a Find Help section. They have a disclaimer attached because they verify if the therapist has a license but they don’t have the resources to vet them other than that. Be careful about getting a referral from a doctor or therapist because many of them don’t know what makes a good OCD specialist. There are therapists who claim to be OCD specialists or that they know how to effectively treat OCD when they don’t. They mean well but they don’t have the appropriate expertise. Heads up about OCD coaches. An OCD coach is a self-appointed title. No education, training or licensure required. It’s basically a person with lived experience but no expertise.

Interview a potential therapist. Ask them what their approach to treatment is. If they don’t respond with ERP as the main component, look elsewhere. Many OCD specialists will add on components of ACT of DBT which is great. They customize the ERP treatment to the person because it’s not a one size fits all. Treatment should begin with psychoeducation. The person needs to understand the OCD cycle to be motivated to do the treatment. Does the therapist work with the person as a team? What qualifies the therapist to treat OCD? What specific training have they had? What is their success rate? What continuing education do they do?

[bluefish79 in reply to Natureloverpeace]

Thank you very much, I'll absolutely relay that information.

[Natureloverpeace in reply to bluefish79]

You’re welcome.