Therapist Insights / Choosing a Therapist
13 questions to ask a therapist before you hire one.
Therapy is one of the few purchases where the buyer is quietly discouraged from behaving like a buyer. These thirteen questions are worth putting to any clinician before money changes hands, including the uncomfortable ones about licence, caseload, records, total cost and how you leave. Each comes with what a solid answer sounds like and what an evasive one sounds like.
THE QUICK TAKEAWAY
Thirteen questions separate a clinician who has thought about your case from one who is improvising: licence and jurisdiction, how many people with your presentation they actually see, training in the approach they would use, the shape of the first six weeks, what gets measured, what happens when the work stalls, total cost, what goes in your record, the limits of confidentiality, crisis cover, consultation, scope, and how the work ends. CEREVITY expects prospective clients to put all thirteen to any provider they are considering, this network included, and treats a vague answer as an answer.
§01 / 09 / Definition
What to look for in a therapist.
What to look for in a therapist is specificity. A clinician worth hiring can name the licence they hold and the states it covers, give a real number for how many people with your presentation they currently see, name the approach they would use and where they trained in it, and describe what happens when the work stalls. CEREVITY treats a vague answer to any of those four as disqualifying.
Most published lists of questions to ask a therapist stop at the polite ones. Do you take my situation seriously, what is your style, do we get along. Those matter, but they are not what separates a clinician who has thought carefully about your case from one who is improvising and hoping rapport carries it. The separating questions are the ones that feel slightly rude to ask: what exactly are you licensed to do, how many people like me are actually on your books, what will this cost me by the end of the year, and what happens if six months from now nothing has changed. A clinician who welcomes those questions is telling you something about how they will handle the harder conversations later. A clinician who deflects them is also telling you something. The thirteen below are the questions to ask a potential therapist when you intend to compare two or three of them properly, ordered roughly the way a careful buyer would work through them, and every one includes what a solid answer sounds like next to what an evasive one sounds like, because the difference is usually audible in the first ten seconds.
Questions one to six: licence, competence, and the plan
What licence do you hold, and in which states?
Solid: a named credential, a licence number, the states it covers, and where you can verify it yourself. For a video session the licence generally has to cover the state you are physically sitting in, not the one the clinician lives in, so ask which states are on the list. Evasive: "I have been doing this for twenty years and I am fully qualified." Experience is not a licence, and a clinician who will not name theirs has made your first decision easy.
How many people with my presentation do you see?
Solid: a number and a description. "Right now about a quarter of my caseload is physicians in roughly the pattern you are describing, and here is what tends to be true of that group." Evasive: "I work with a lot of high achievers." Everyone says that. Ask for the count, and ask what they see go wrong most often in cases like yours; a clinician with real volume answers instantly and specifically.
What approach would you use with me, and where did you train in it?
Solid: a named approach, the training behind it, what it is good for, and what it is not good for. The APA Ethics Code holds psychologists to the boundaries of their competence, based on education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study, or professional experience. Evasive: "I am integrative, I tailor everything to the person." Integration is a real position when there is training under it and a vague one when there is not.
What would the first six weeks actually look like?
Solid: an assessment period, a working formulation of what is driving the problem, and a first target you would both recognise if it moved. Evasive: "We will see where it goes, therapy is a journey." It can be, and it should still have a shape. A clinician who cannot describe the opening phase in plain language has not planned one, and you will spend the first two months paying for that.
How will we know this is working, and what will you measure?
Solid: named goals set early, a review point on the calendar, and something observable being tracked, whether that is a symptom measure, sleep, or a specific behaviour you both agreed on. Evasive: "You will feel it." Sometimes you will. Sometimes you will feel better because the sessions are pleasant while the actual problem is untouched, which is exactly the failure a measurement plan exists to catch.
What do you do when the work is not working?
Solid: a review point, a willingness to change approach, and a clear statement that handing you to someone better matched is on the table. The APA Ethics Code states that psychologists terminate therapy when it becomes reasonably clear that the client is not likely to benefit. Evasive: "That has not really come up." Over a full career that is not credible, and it usually means non-response is being read as resistance.
▶ Research
The National Institute of Mental Health tells prospective clients to have a preliminary conversation before treatment begins and lists what to ask in it: the credentials and experience of the therapist and whether they have a specialty, what approach they will use and what its rationale and evidence base are, whether they have experience treating the specific condition, what the goals of therapy are, whether there is a recommended time frame or number of sessions, how progress will be assessed, what happens if you or the therapist feel you are not starting to improve, and whether there are limits to confidentiality. Every question on this page is an expansion of that list rather than a departure from it.1
Questions seven to nine: money, records, and confidentiality
What does this cost in total, and over how long?
A solid answer covers the session fee, the cadence being proposed, a realistic range for how long the work usually runs, the cancellation terms, and anything billed outside the session, such as letters, reports, or between-session calls. The APA Ethics Code asks psychologists to reach an agreement specifying compensation and billing arrangements as early as is feasible, and to discuss anticipated limits on services caused by limits on financing. An evasive answer quotes the hourly rate and stops there. Ask for the total picture in writing before the first paid session, and ask what the number looks like at six months rather than at one. CEREVITY publishes scheduling, cancellations and how matching happens so the terms can be read before anyone commits.
What goes in my record, where does it live, and how do I get a copy?
A solid answer separates two different things. The chart holds diagnosis, treatment plan, symptoms, progress and session dates. Psychotherapy notes, under federal privacy rules, are the clinician's separate process notes kept apart from the rest of the medical record, and they are the one category excluded from a patient's right of access. Under 45 CFR 164.524 you have a right to inspect and obtain a copy of the protected health information held about you in a designated record set, and a covered entity must generally act on that request within 30 days. An evasive answer is "everything is confidential, do not worry about it," which answers a question you did not ask.
What are the limits of confidentiality, in your own words?
A solid answer says the exceptions out loud rather than pointing at the consent form, and says them at the start. The APA Ethics Code asks psychologists to discuss the relevant limits of confidentiality and the foreseeable uses of the information generated, at the outset of the relationship and again as circumstances change, and to tell clients about the privacy risks of working over electronic transmission. An evasive answer is "it is all in the paperwork." The paperwork is not the point. A clinician who can explain the limits fluently is a clinician who has thought about the day one of them applies to you.
Questions ten to twelve: crisis, consultation, and scope
The last three of the first twelve are about what happens outside the hour you are paying for. They get skipped most often, and they are the ones people wish they had asked.
What happens if I am in crisis between sessions?
A solid answer states a response window, states plainly what falls outside it, and names where to go for acute risk: 988, 741741, or an emergency department. An evasive answer implies round-the-clock availability without ever defining it, which fails at the exact moment it is needed.
Who do you consult with about cases like mine?
A solid answer names a consultation group, a supervisor, or a peer arrangement, and how often it meets. The APA Ethics Code requires ongoing efforts to develop and maintain competence. An evasive answer treats the question as an insult, which is itself informative about how feedback will land later.
What do you not treat, and where would you send me?
A solid answer names the limits out loud and names specific referral routes for what sits outside them. An evasive answer is "I can work with pretty much anything." Scope that has no edges is scope nobody has examined, and you are the one who finds the edge.
§02 / 09 / Telehealth
Questions to ask a new therapist on the consultation call.
Questions to ask a new therapist land best on the short screening call, before anything is booked. Pick the two or three of the thirteen that matter most for your situation, put the same ones to every clinician you are weighing so the answers are comparable, and watch how an answer is given rather than how fast it arrives. CEREVITY clinicians expect that call to be used this way.
Ask before you book, not after
Most clinicians offer a short screening call at no charge. That call is the audition, and it is the only point at which you are comparing rather than committing. Two or three of the thirteen, asked well, tell you more than a full first session will.
Licensure follows your location
For a video session, what generally governs is the state you are physically in when the session happens, not where the clinician sits. Ask which states are on their licence, and ask what happens when you travel. CEREVITY works by secure telehealth across all 50 states.
Watch what happens when you push
Ask one question, then ask a follow-up to the answer. A clinician who stays curious and specific under mild pressure will stay curious and specific when you bring something difficult. One who becomes brittle over a question about fees has shown you the pattern.
§03 / 09 / Mechanism
The thirteenth question, and why it goes first.
The thirteenth question is how the work ends, and asking it before it starts tells you more than most of the other twelve. A clinician who can describe an ending without discomfort has a model of therapy that includes finishing. CEREVITY treats a clear answer here as one of the strongest signals a prospective client can get from a screening call.
Question thirteen is simply this: how do I end this, and what happens when I do? It sounds ungrateful to ask at the start. It is the most useful thing on the list. Every other question is about whether the work will begin well; this one is about whether the person across from you has a professional model that includes finishing. The APA Ethics Code states that psychologists terminate therapy when it becomes reasonably clear that the client no longer needs the service, is not likely to benefit, or is being harmed by continued service, and that except where the actions of clients or third parties prevent it, they provide pretermination support and suggest alternative providers as appropriate. That is the standard the question is measuring against.
A solid answer sounds unhurried. It describes what a planned ending looks like, usually a few sessions of consolidation rather than a last-minute goodbye. It says what happens to your record afterwards and how long it is kept. It says how you would raise the subject if you wanted to stop and were worried about how it would land, and it says that a request to stop is not something you have to justify. It often includes an offer to help you find someone better matched if that is what stopping is really about. An evasive answer treats the question as a threat, or reframes wanting to leave as something to be interpreted rather than answered.
Ask it, then listen to the second half of the answer. A clinician who says "of course, you can stop whenever you like" and then adds nothing has given you a policy, not a plan. The clinicians worth hiring keep going: they tell you what they would want to do before you left, what they would say if they thought stopping was premature, and how they would say it without holding the door shut. That is the same skill you are hiring them for in every other part of the work, and this is the cheapest possible place to test it.
► Standard advice vs. CEREVITY's approach
Standard therapy
"The fee is discussed once and the total commitment is never named"
CEREVITY
"Rates are published, and the expected cadence and duration are stated up front"
Standard therapy
"Progress is assessed by whether the sessions feel useful"
CEREVITY
"Goals are set early, tracked, and reviewed against something observable"
Standard therapy
"A poor match is absorbed until the client quietly stops booking"
CEREVITY
"A poor match is named, and a better-matched clinician is arranged inside the network"
| Standard insurance-based therapy | CEREVITY's specialized approach |
|---|---|
| "The fee is discussed once and the total commitment is never named" | "Rates are published, and the expected cadence and duration are stated up front" |
| "Progress is assessed by whether the sessions feel useful" | "Goals are set early, tracked, and reviewed against something observable" |
| "A poor match is absorbed until the client quietly stops booking" | "A poor match is named, and a better-matched clinician is arranged inside the network" |
A break from the page
Ask us the same thirteen questions.
Nothing on this page is written to make CEREVITY the easy answer. Put all thirteen questions to this network and to every other provider you are weighing, and compare the answers side by side. CEREVITY is a nationwide network of independent licensed clinicians working on a private-pay basis. You can read what happens between your inquiry and the first session or send a private inquiry.
§04 / 09 / Cases
Common challenges we address.
The buyer who has done this before and been burned
The patternSomeone who has already paid for a year of pleasant, directionless sessions and does not want to repeat it. The tell is usually that nobody ever named a goal, so nobody could name a failure, and the work simply thinned out until it stopped.
What we addressThe fix is structural rather than motivational. Set the target in the first two sessions, put a review date on the calendar, and agree in advance what would count as this not working. Questions four, five and six exist for exactly this reader.
The senior professional who cannot afford a false start
The patternA partner, founder, or physician with very little slack in the calendar, for whom three wasted months is not an inconvenience but the whole window. The risk is choosing on availability rather than fit and discovering the mismatch in month four.
What we addressFront-load the vetting. Two screening calls with the same thirteen questions cost about forty minutes and remove most of the risk of a false start, and the answers about caseload and scope are usually decisive. Where exhaustion rather than a discrete crisis is what brought the reader here, the caseload question should be pointed straight at how clinicians treat burnout in demanding roles.
§05 / 09 / Methods
Evidence-based treatment approaches.
CEREVITY clinicians name the approach they would use and why it fits the presenting problem, rather than describing themselves as eclectic and leaving the reasoning implicit. The list below is what question three is asking about: each of these has a training route behind it, a set of problems it suits, and a set it does not.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Structured, goal-directed work on the thought and behaviour patterns maintaining a problem. Strong evidence base for anxiety and depression, the easiest approach to hold to a measurement plan, and the one most often named when the presenting complaint is therapy for high-stakes anxiety.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Builds the capacity to act on what matters while discomfort is present. Suits people whose problem is not a lack of insight but a habit of waiting to feel ready, which is common among high-performing professionals.
Psychodynamic therapy
Works on the longer-standing patterns underneath the presenting complaint, including the ones that make asking for help feel intolerable, which is frequently the same material as therapy for feeling unqualified in a job you earned. Slower to show on a symptom measure, so ask specifically how progress will be judged.
EMDR and trauma-focused approaches
Structured processing of specific events driving current symptoms. Requires distinct training, which is precisely why question three asks where a clinician trained rather than whether they offer it.
Behavioural activation and sleep-focused work
Targets the concrete daily inputs, activity and sleep, that keep depression and burnout in place. Unglamorous, measurable, and often the fastest observable change in the first six weeks.
§06 / 09 / Investment
Understanding the investment in private-pay care.
Nationwide, private-pay, and priced where you can read it
At CEREVITY, our online individual therapy sessions are structured as a direct investment in your mental agility and overall well-being. The investment includes:
- Licensed mental health professional specializing in burnout, anxiety and depression in high-performing adults
- Evidence-based, one-on-one approaches proven effective for burnout, anxiety, and depression
- Flexible online scheduling including evenings and weekends
- Complete privacy with no insurance involvement or red tape
- High-performing professionals expertise and understanding
- Outcome tracking and progress measurement
The cost of a poor therapist match going unaddressed
Consider what is at stake when a poor therapist match goes unaddressed:
Total cost, not the hourly rate
Question seven asks what the whole thing costs, and that is a fair question to put to any provider, this one included. The honest components are the session fee, the cadence, a realistic duration range, cancellation terms, and anything charged outside the session. Start with what you can actually book, then read the numbers. View our current rates here: cerevity.com/our-pricing-for-therapy/.
Session formats that fit a real calendar
Sessions run by secure telehealth nationwide across all 50 states. The standard 50-minute session is the format most ongoing work is built around, and it is worth understanding why most ongoing therapy is built around the same fifty minutes each week before agreeing a cadence. Where difficult material keeps getting paused rather than finished, why some work needs ninety minutes is the better question, and 3-hour intensive sessions concentrate progress when a standing weekly slot is not realistic.
§07 / 09 / Evidence
What the research shows.
The questions on this page are not a house style. The National Institute of Mental Health advises a preliminary conversation with any prospective therapist and lists the ground it should cover: credentials, experience and specialty; the approach the therapist will use and its rationale and evidence base; experience with the specific condition; the goals of therapy, any recommended time frame or number of sessions, and how progress will be assessed; what happens if you or the therapist feel you are not starting to improve; and whether there are limits to confidentiality. NIMH adds a line most guidance omits: if you have been in therapy for what feels like a reasonable amount of time and are not getting better, talk to your therapist, and you might want to explore other professionals or approaches.
The rest of the list sits on published standards you can read yourself. The APA Ethics Code confines psychologists to the boundaries of their competence, asks them to reach an agreement on compensation as early as is feasible, asks them to discuss the limits of confidentiality at the outset and again as circumstances change, and states that therapy is terminated when it becomes reasonably clear the client is not likely to benefit. Federal privacy rules define psychotherapy notes as the clinician's separate process notes, kept apart from the rest of the medical record and excluded from the right of access, while 45 CFR 164.524 gives you the right to inspect and obtain a copy of the protected health information held about you in a designated record set, with the covered entity generally required to act within 30 days. Separately, NIMH advises preparing your questions before an appointment rather than improvising them in the room.
§§ / 09 / Recap
Key takeaways.
Five things to remember
- Specificity is the whole test Across all thirteen questions, the difference between a solid answer and an evasive one is whether it contains a number, a name, a date, or a limit. Warmth is not a substitute for any of those.
- Ask the uncomfortable four first Licence and states, caseload with your presentation, total cost, and what happens when the work is not working. These four filter more effectively than the other nine combined.
- The record question has a real answer Your chart and the clinician's psychotherapy notes are different things under federal privacy rules, and you have a right of access to the first. A clinician should be able to explain the difference without looking it up.
- Ask how it ends before it starts Question thirteen is the cheapest test on the list. A clinician who can describe a good ending calmly has a model of therapy that includes finishing, and will handle the difficult conversations the same way.
- CEREVITY provides this through online individual therapy nationwide, with full privacy through its private-pay concierge network and no insurance involvement.
§08 / 09 / FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
What are the best questions to ask a therapist during consultation?
Pick the two or three of the thirteen that matter most for your situation, because a screening call is usually short. For most people that means the licence and states question, the caseload question about how many people with your presentation the clinician currently sees, and the total cost question. If you have been in therapy before and it went nowhere, swap one of those for the question about what happens when the work is not working. CEREVITY suggests putting the same questions to every clinician you are considering, so the answers are actually comparable rather than a series of separate impressions.
What are good questions to ask a new therapist in the first session?
Questions to ask a new therapist in a first session are the planning ones rather than the screening ones, because screening should already have happened. Ask what the working formulation is, what the first target will be, what would count as progress by week six, and when the two of you will formally review whether this is helping. CEREVITY clinicians set goals early and put a review point on the calendar, and any clinician worth hiring will be able to answer all four without preparation.
Is it rude to ask a therapist about their credentials and experience?
Credentials are a fair thing to ask about, and the reaction to the question is itself useful information. The National Institute of Mental Health tells prospective clients to ask about a therapist's credentials, experience and specialty in a preliminary conversation before treatment begins, so a clinician who is surprised by the question is out of step with standard consumer guidance. CEREVITY expects prospective clients to ask, and a clinician who becomes defensive over a straightforward question about training has answered a different and more important question.
What should I look for in a therapist?
What to look for in a therapist is a clinician who answers specifically and without irritation. Specifically means a named licence and the states it covers, a real number for how many people with your presentation they see, a named approach with training behind it, a described first phase, something being measured, a stated plan for non-response, a total cost rather than an hourly rate, and a clear account of what goes in your record. CEREVITY treats warmth as necessary and nowhere near sufficient, because a pleasant year of directionless sessions is the most common way this goes wrong.
How do I know if my therapist is a good fit?
Fit is judged over several sessions against something you agreed to watch, not scored on a webpage. No online questionnaire can assess a clinical relationship, and CEREVITY does not publish one, because a self-test would give a number without the two things that actually decide the question: whether the target you set is moving, and whether you can raise a difficult subject with this person and have it handled well. If neither is true by the review point you set, say so directly and ask what would change.
Can I ask a potential therapist how much experience they have with my issue?
Yes, and questions to ask a potential therapist should include a request for a number rather than a reassurance. Ask how many people with your presentation are on the caseload now, and what tends to go wrong in cases like yours. A clinician with genuine volume answers immediately and describes the pattern; one without it moves to general statements about working with a wide range of people. CEREVITY matches prospective clients to clinicians on presentation rather than on availability alone, which is the same information this question is trying to surface.
How do I end therapy if it is not working?
Therapy can be ended without building a case for it. Say plainly that you want to stop or change direction, and ask for help finding a better-matched clinician if that is what stopping is really about. The APA Ethics Code states that psychologists terminate therapy when it becomes reasonably clear that the client is not likely to benefit, and that they provide pretermination support and suggest alternative providers where appropriate. CEREVITY moves clients between clinicians inside the network without restarting the process from the beginning.
How does your private-pay pricing structure work?
As a private-pay concierge network, we offer structured investments in your mental health without the restrictions or privacy risks of insurance. You can review our full fee schedule and specific session lengths directly on our website. While this costs more than insurance copays, it provides the flexibility, total privacy, and highly specialized care that standard options cannot offer. View our current rates here.
How do you protect my privacy?
Privacy is foundational to our network. As a private-pay network, your sessions never appear on insurance records or EOBs that could be seen by employers, boards, or family members. We use HIPAA-compliant nationwide telehealth platforms, and you can attend sessions from anywhere with a private internet connection.
§09 / 09 / Begin
Bring the thirteen questions with you.
A page that arms you to interrogate any provider has to survive being pointed at the provider who wrote it. CEREVITY is a nationwide network of independent licensed clinicians working on a private-pay basis, and every question on this list is one we expect to be asked. Call (562) 295-6650 or send a private inquiry.
Seven days a week, early morning to late evening · Current session and support hours are on the contact page, shown in your time zone§§ / Author
About Martha Fernandez, LCSW.
Martha Fernandez, LCSW
Martha Fernandez, LCSW is Co-Founder of CEREVITY and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 8 years of psychotherapy experience working with executives, entrepreneurs, and healthcare professionals. Her work integrates cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR, and somatic-informed approaches with a trauma-aware foundation. She sees clients via CEREVITY's nationwide telehealth network. Note: as an LCSW, Martha is referred to as 'Martha' or 'Martha Fernandez, LCSW' rather than 'Dr.' in body copy. View full bio →
§§ / Sources
References.
- National Institute of Mental Health. Psychotherapies, including What should I look for in a therapist?. 2024. nimh.nih.gov
- American Psychological Association. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, Standards 2.01, 2.03, 4.02, 6.04 and 10.10. 2017. apa.org
- Office of the Federal Register, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 45 CFR 164.524, Access of individuals to protected health information. 2026. ecfr.gov
- Office of the Federal Register, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 45 CFR 164.501, Definitions, including psychotherapy notes. 2026. ecfr.gov
- National Institute of Mental Health. Tips for Talking With a Health Care Provider About Your Mental Health. 2022. nimh.nih.gov
- CEREVITY. Imposter syndrome therapy. cerevity.com/imposter-syndrome-therapy
- CEREVITY. Executive burnout therapy. cerevity.com/executive-burnout-therapy
- CEREVITY. High-stakes anxiety therapy. cerevity.com/high-stakes-anxiety-therapy
⚠ Crisis resources
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or having thoughts of suicide, please reach out immediately. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline · Call or text 988 Crisis Text Line · Text HOME to 741741 National Alliance on Mental Illness · 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)
