Journal
How to choose a therapist in New York
The licenses, what the letters mean, what to ask on a first call, and why fit matters more than a method's name.
AI-generated illustration. Not a real office.
Most people choose a therapist with very little to go on: a photograph, a paragraph and a fee. The good news is that only a few things are worth checking, and you can check most of them in one short conversation. This guide takes them in the order they tend to matter.
Nothing here is a ranking. There is no single right therapist, only the one who suits you, your situation and your week.
Start with what the letters mean
On a real practice's website, the letters after a clinician's name are a protected title, and the title tells you what kind of professional stands behind it. This is what this site says about the letters its clinicians would carry:
Licensed, one person at a time. The title "licensed clinical social worker" and the letters LCSW belong only to people New York has licensed (Education Law § 7702), and a license belongs to a person, never to a practice. On a real practice's site, every clinician's license can be checked on the New York State Education Department's public verification page. The clinicians on this demonstration site are invented and hold no license, so none is claimed and no number is shown.
The title also says something about what the person is trained and allowed to do:
What the license covers. This is written as a practice of licensed clinical social workers; the clinicians on this demonstration site are invented and hold no license. In New York, licensed clinical social workers are authorized to assess, diagnose and provide psychotherapy (Education Law § 7701). Social workers don't prescribe medication; if medication might help, we'll suggest you see a psychiatrist or your doctor.
Other professions are also regulated in New York, and each has its own title and its own rules. You do not need to learn them all. Ask any clinician which title they hold, what it allows them to do and how you can look it up, and expect a plain answer in a sentence.
The letters tell you who stands behind the person. They cannot tell you whether you will get on with them, which is a separate question, and the rest of this guide is about it.
Fit is the part nobody can look up
What most people can judge for themselves is simple. Do you feel listened to? Does the clinician let you finish a sentence? Can they say, in plain words, what they would actually do with you in the room, and what they would expect of you between sessions?
A method's brand name tells you what a clinician has read about or practiced. It does not tell you whether they will sit with you the way you need. If a clinician names a method, ask what it looks like in an ordinary session. If the answer is a plain description, you have learned something. If it is more names, you have not.
Give it a few sessions before you decide, and say so if it is not working. A good clinician would rather hear it than lose you quietly.
Language
If you think and feel in a language other than English, it is worth working in it when you can. Describing worry, grief or anger in a second language can keep it at arm's length, and some things are simply easier to say in the words you first heard them.
Sessions in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Bengali and Mandarin. For Nepali, Tibetan, Korean, Thai or another language, we'll help you find a clinician who works in it.
Each clinician's languages are on their own page, which you can reach from the page about all five.
Schedule, and in person or by video
A clinician whose hours you cannot keep is not a match, however good, so look at the hours early. Evenings, mornings and video days are not extras for many people. They decide whether therapy happens at all.
Each clinician's day is either an office day, when every session is in person here, or a video day, when every session is by video. Choose in person or video and the calendar shows you the times that fit.
The article on video or in person goes through what changes between the two.
Fees, said before you book
A practice should print its fee for each kind of session, say whether it takes your plan, and say what happens if you cancel late, before it asks you to book anything. If a site makes you ask, ask. This is how this practice prints its own:
| Session | Length | Fee | Twelve weekly sessions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free call, by telephone or video | fifteen minutes | No charge | — |
| Individual session | fifty minutes | $195 | $2,340 |
| Couples session | fifty minutes | $240 | $2,880 |
| Family session | fifty minutes | $240 | $2,880 |
| Session for a teenager | fifty minutes | $195 | $2,340 |
Out of network. We don't participate in any health insurance networks. If your plan has out-of-network mental health benefits, we can give you a monthly statement (a "superbill") to send in. Whether and how much your plan reimburses is between you and your plan; ask them before you start. If you're using out-of-network benefits, the amount we'll charge is available on request before your first session, and we'll give it to you in writing (Public Health Law § 24).
If the fee is a barrier. A limited number of reduced-fee places are available by arrangement. Ask on your free call; nobody is asked to prove anything to request one.
If you plan to use out-of-network benefits, how out-of-network benefits and superbills work lists the questions to ask your plan before you start.
Use the free call
Talk first, if you like. Book a free fifteen-minute call to see whether we're a good fit. It's a conversation about what you're looking for and how we work, by telephone or video — not a therapy session, and there is nothing to pay for it.
Use the call to listen to how the clinician talks, not to tell your story. You are choosing as much as being chosen.
There is a short list of things worth asking in questions to ask on a free first call. Bring it with you.
If you need help now, this can wait
Choosing carefully is for a calm day. If you need help right now, do not research anything first.
If you need help now. If you're in danger right now, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org, 24 hours a day; veterans can call 988 and press 1. You can also text HOME to 741741. Our phone and messages are not monitored outside office hours, and this website is not an emergency service.
General information, not advice for you. Nothing on this website can tell you what is going on for you. A diagnosis, where one is needed, comes from a clinician who has met you — never from a page, a quiz or a booking form.
Book a free call
Book a free fifteen-minute call, or go straight to a first session if you know what you want. Nothing is paid online, and nothing on the form asks why you're coming.