Good therapists have therapists. They don’t necessarily have a standing weekly appointment until forever, but between addressing how their value biases impact their interactions with clients, getting treated for their own mental health diagnoses (a LOT of therapists have at least one mental health diagnosis, even if we don’t feel safe disclosing it), and managing our extremely high-stress jobs, we often benefit from our own treatment. Plus, willingness to receive our own treatment helps reduce stigma about mental health.
But it can be hard to find a therapist who works with other therapists. It’s kind of like how they say medical doctors are the worst patients to have in hospitals – there are unique challenges to doing therapy with another therapist. When I step into a therapy room, my brain automatically goes into “work mode,” and I need someone who can help pull me out of that space and actually have a session for myself.
It is hard to find a therapist who specializes in your symptoms, is a good fit for you personality-wise, and takes your form of payment. That’s why therapist directories exist. But some directories have accepted kickbacks from certain online therapy providers known for some pretty serious ethical violations.
Jeff Guenther, the creator of Therapy Den was offered such kickbacks and not only refused to accept them, but created a series of TikTok videos about the practice.
I reached out to Jeff via Twitter with my issue, and he immediately (like less than an hour later) added “Therapists Who Treat Other Therapists” as a specialty over at Therapy Den! Granted, as I’m writing this, not many therapists had changed their profiles to reflect this specialty, but I love that it is available and am sure options will be available soon!
So if you’re a therapist looking for your own therapist, head over to Therapy Den. And if you’re anyone else looking for a therapist, head over there also because you can search by your specific issue, zip code, and method of payment through a directory that didn’t compromise its morals for money.