This is an important question, because psychotherapy takes quite a lot of time and resources, both material and moral. Therefore, recommendations from friends are good, but it is in your interests to get to know the specialist with whom you will need to have a heart-to-heart talk. The first selection criterion, I think, is obvious - higher psychological education and advanced training. Such information can be found on the psychologist’s website, on social networks or professional platforms such as this The second criterion is narrow specialization. “I take all requests in a row” is not the best option. I work with children, teenagers and adults. With loss, panic attacks, family problems, psychosomatics, career guidance and other requests. At first glance, this may seem like a plus. A very experienced psychologist will help you deal with any issue, because he understands all topics. Perhaps so... But superficially... The narrower the specialization, the more deeply the psychologist dives into the topic, the faster and better you will get the result. If you do not have an understanding with your husband , then it is better to contact a family psychologist. If the intimate sphere in a relationship suffers, then it is better to make an appointment with a psychologist - sexologist, etc. For example, I have two main directions: First, all topics that are related to the relationship between men and women, except for sexology. Since the intimate sphere is closely related to the body and hormones, it is important to have a medical education in this area. I don’t have it. The second is self-knowledge and self-love. This direction is closely related to the first, because it is difficult to build good relationships without understanding yourself and treating yourself well. In this topic we solve requests from self-acceptance to changing thinking. - self-esteem - self-confidence - self-understanding - psychological boundaries - movement towards your goals - managing feelings and emotions - and other questions about yourself I advise only adults. The third criterion is experience and reviews. Pay attention not so much to the psychologist’s experience, but to the experience of solving your particular issue. For example, a psychologist has a diploma from 2000, but he did not work in his specialty and only a month ago he decided to return to the profession. Or I worked with relationships for 10 years, and a month ago I received an advanced diploma in clinical psychology and began to take on clients with depression, phobias and panic attacks. In this case, this psychologist will have not 10 years of experience in solving such problems, but one month. As for reviews, I understand that now everything can be bought and not everyone trusts them, but nevertheless, pay attention to them. If a psychologist has articles, then also pay attention to the comments under them. Speaking of articles. The fourth criterion is the presence of a psychologist on social networks, forums, professional Internet platforms, etc. It’s good when a psychologist has his own blog or pages on social networks .Read the texts and pay attention to: Literacy of the text and presentation of information. For example, you may be put off by profanity or too abstruse phrases and words that you do not understand. Are there articles on your question and how is the topic covered? Are the meanings and values ​​conveyed by the psychologist close to you? The fifth criterion is personal feelings. This criterion is not entirely about the psychologist, but very important. Listen to your intuition. How will it be for you to communicate with this person, is he pleasant to you, can you open up and talk honestly about yourself? Even a competent specialist will not suit you if you are annoyed by his appearance, voice or manner of communication. Another interesting point about choosing a psychologist. There are clients and visitors who go through psychologists so as not to actually solve their problems, because they are afraid to dive into themselves , the resistance turns on. In other words, it is convenient to constantly choose a psychologist and not find “the one.” Create the appearance of solving a problem, but in fact do not solve it. With this approach, there is no point in looking for a psychologist at all; you will devalue any specialist. Therefore, even before you start looking for “your”