Best Therapists & Psychiatrists Near You

Therapists are mental health professionals who can help you navigate emotional, behavioral, relationship, and mental health concerns. Finding the right therapist depends on your needs, preferences, and goals. Browse and compare the therapists above by specialty, location, insurance, and session format to find a provider who may be a good fit.

What Is a Therapist?

A therapist is a mental health professional trained to help people address emotional, behavioral, relationship, and mental health concerns through talk therapy, also known as psychotherapy.¹

“Therapist” is a broad term rather than a single professional credential. Depending on their education, license, and state requirements, a therapist may be a psychologist, psychiatrist, licensed clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, licensed professional counselor, or another qualified mental health professional.²

Therapists may use approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, humanistic therapy, and other forms of psychotherapy depending on their training and their clients' needs.³

Understanding a therapist's credentials, specialties, and approach can help you compare providers and find someone whose experience aligns with what you're looking for.

What Does a Therapist Do?

Therapists help people better understand and address thoughts, emotions, behaviors, relationships, and experiences that are affecting their well-being.⁴ Depending on your needs, therapy might focus on managing symptoms, processing difficult experiences, improving relationships, changing patterns, developing coping skills, or working toward personal goals.

Therapy can take place individually or through couples therapy, family therapy, or group therapy. What happens in your sessions will depend on your goals, your therapist's approach, and the type of therapy you're receiving.

What Different Types of Therapists Are There?

“Therapist” can describe professionals with several different licenses and educational backgrounds. Requirements and scopes of practice vary by state, but common mental health professionals include:⁵

• Psychologists: Typically hold a doctoral degree, such as a PhD or PsyD. Many provide psychotherapy, and some are trained to perform psychological assessments and testing.
• Licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs): Typically hold a master's degree in social work and may provide psychotherapy along with support related to social, family, or community needs.
• Licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs): Have specialized education and training related to relationships, couples, and family systems, although many also work with individuals.
• Licensed professional counselors (LPCs), licensed professional clinical counselors (LPCCs), and licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs): Typically hold master's degrees and provide therapy for a wide range of mental health, emotional, and behavioral concerns.
• Psychiatrists: Medical doctors who specialize in mental health and can prescribe medication. Some also provide psychotherapy.
• Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs): Advanced practice nurses who provide mental health care and may prescribe medication, depending on state law and their scope of practice.

You may also see therapists described by the type of therapy they provide rather than their professional license. Approaches include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and family counseling.

Do I Need Therapy?

You don't need to be in crisis or have a mental health diagnosis to benefit from therapy. People seek therapy for many reasons, including difficult life events, relationship concerns, stress, emotional symptoms, or simply wanting support as they work through something important.

You might consider therapy if you want support with:⁶

• Mental health concerns such as addiction, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Persistent sadness, hopelessness, excessive worry, irritability, or feeling constantly on edge.
• Relationship, family, or parenting challenges, including patterns you'd like to change.
• Difficulty concentrating, completing everyday activities, or keeping up with responsibilities at work, school, or home.
• Grief or loss, or a major life transition.
• Work stress, burnout, or career changes.
• A difficult or traumatic experience you'd like help processing.
• Unhelpful behaviors or coping patterns, or a desire to build healthier coping skills and improve your emotional well-being.

The reason you start therapy doesn't have to fit neatly into a category. What matters is finding someone with the appropriate experience to help with what's important to you.

How Do I Choose the Best Therapist?

The best therapist for you is someone whose expertise fits your needs and with whom you feel comfortable building a therapeutic relationship. As you compare therapists, consider:⁶

1. Location and session format. Decide whether you prefer a therapist near you for in-person appointments, virtual sessions, or the flexibility to use both.
2. Insurance and cost. If you're using insurance, filter by your plan early and confirm your benefits before scheduling. If you're paying out of pocket, compare fees and ask about sliding-scale options.
3. Specialties. Look for therapists with experience treating the concerns you want to address, whether that's anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationships, or something else.
4. Treatment approach. Therapists may use different methods, from CBT and EMDR to psychodynamic or family-based approaches. You don't need to know which one you want, but learning how a therapist works can help you compare your options.
5. Experience and credentials. Review the therapist's license, education, professional experience, and the populations they commonly work with.
6. Personal fit. Credentials matter, but so does feeling heard, respected, and comfortable. A first conversation or appointment can help you decide whether you'd like to continue working together.

You don't have to find the “perfect” therapist on your first search. Use the therapy finder above to compare therapists by location, specialty, insurance, and session format, then explore the profiles that seem most relevant to you.

Ready to Find a Therapist?

Finding the right therapist starts with knowing your options. Search for therapists near you, then narrow your results by location, insurance, specialty, and in-person or virtual care. You can compare therapist profiles and explore providers whose experience and approach match what you're looking for.

Whether you want someone nearby for face-to-face appointments or you're looking to find a virtual therapist you can meet with from home, use the search above to take the next step.

Sources:

1. American Psychological Association. (2018, April 19). Therapist. In APA dictionary of psychology.
2. American Psychological Association. (2017, July 31). What is the difference between psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers?
3. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Psychotherapy.
4. American Psychological Association. (2019, December 11). What do practicing psychologists do?
5. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Psychology careers guide.
6. American Psychological Association. (2019, October 17). How to choose a psychologist.