Dangerous Answers: Beware of This Therapist

• A coworker/social acquaintance/relative sees/used to see him/her and says he/she is good.
• I used to see him/her with my parents/children/spouse in family therapy and I liked him/her.
• My daughter/son goes to school with his/her daughter/son.
• I've heard him/her lecture and he/she sounds like a good therapist
• He/she is my minister, so I know him.
• I've read his/her books/seen him/her on television/heard him/her on the radio.
• His wife/her husband is one of my friends.
• I met him/her at a party and he/she gave me his/her card. I took a course from him/her and he/she seemed really insightful.
• I used to date him/her/I'm currently dating him/her, so he/she must know me pretty well.
• He/she is one of my father's/mother's colleagues.
• He/she is a coworker and seems bright and helpful.
• He/she is a friend/used to be a friend of the family.

Table 2: The First Contact
Rate Your Therapist
This is how the first contact happened:

Sound Answers

• I made the contact by telephone.
• The therapist answered the phone directly.
• The therapist had an answering machine/service and returned my call the same day.
• The contact was brief and to the point, handled professionally, and by the therapist alone.
• A definitive appointment was made - to occur within a few days of the call.
• The therapist gave me directions to his/her office.

Questionable-to-Unsound Answers: Reconsider Your Choice of Therapist

• Someone made the appointment for me (not an emergency situation).
• I met the therapist in person at a walk-in clinic or in a hospital emergency room.
• I called and left a message, but the therapist didn't get back to me for a day or so.
• The therapist was booked up - he/she couldn't see me for weeks.
• I made the appointment with a secretary.
• I had a long talk with the therapist when I called him/her - he/she asked lots of questions about my symptoms and history.
• I conveyed a sense of emergency, but the therapist didn't seem to take me seriously.
• I got off the phone and realized I didn't know how to get to the therapist's office.
• The therapist didn't seem to want to end the conversation, even though we had covered all the essential information.

Dangerous Answers: Beware of This Therapist

• Someone made the appointment for me so that I'd feel obliged to go.
• The therapist had his/her spouse call me back and make the appointment.
• The therapist didn't get back to me, and when I called again, I found out that he/she had forgotten.
• I told the therapist that it was an emergency, but he/she was completely insensitive to my situation and told me to make an appointment for later in the week.
• The therapist told me all about himself on the phone - where he/she went to school, what he/she believes about therapeutic technique, what his/her spouse does for a living, etc.
• Having ascertained my problems, the therapist prescribed medication over the phone.