Psychology and philosophy for ordinary life
Finding a therapist is harder than it should be. The rules, the costs and the public programs change from state to state. These guides explain how to find a licensed therapist where you live, what sessions cost, how Medicaid fits in and how to check a license. Every fact comes from a named source, and the sources are listed at the bottom.
If you are in crisis right now. Call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline), at any hour. In an emergency, call 911.
Café Siller does not list, vet or recommend individual therapists. These pages show you how to find and check one yourself.
License titles. The same kind of training goes by different names. Ohio uses LPCC for counselors and LISW for social workers. California uses LPCC and LCSW, and also licenses marriage and family therapists as LMFT. Colorado still has a group called unlicensed psychotherapists, though the state no longer registers new ones. Your state guide lists the titles you will see.
Licensing boards. Each state has its own boards and its own lookup tool. In Texas, one council covers counselors, psychologists, social workers and family therapists. California splits psychologists from the other three. The Texas and California lookups show whether a license is current and whether the person has been disciplined. Check the lookup before your first session.
Medicaid. The program has a different name in different states. California calls it Medi-Cal. Colorado calls it Health First Colorado. Texas and Ohio use the plain name Medicaid. Ask your state program what it covers.
Seeing a therapist online. In general, the therapist needs a license for the state where you sit during the session. The rules for therapists in another state are covered below.
A single national figure would mislead you, because prices depend on the state, the city and the type of therapist. The only self-pay ranges we could verify come from one large provider, LifeStance, on its own state pages. They show one company's prices, not a state average.
University clinics list lower fees. At the University of Cincinnati, graduate trainees work under licensed clinical psychologists. Texas Woman's University in Denton charges students $10 and uses a sliding scale from $10 to $70 by income. SMU in Dallas caps its fee at $45. The University of Cincinnati runs a sliding scale from $15 to $50. UC Irvine lists $15 to $80. Your state guide has more clinics, plus the public community clinics and the questions to ask about fees.
It depends on your state. One big difference is whether your state expanded Medicaid to cover more low-income adults. Per the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), 41 states, including DC, have expanded Medicaid and 10 have not.
Of the five states here, California, Ohio and Colorado have expanded Medicaid, and Texas and Florida have not. Check with your state program whether you qualify before you count on it.
Each state guide explains how to find a therapist who accepts your program and which number to call. Children can have a separate program. Colorado's is called Child Health Plan Plus.
Usually only if that therapist is licensed in the state where you are sitting. Three agreements are meant to make this easier, and none works the same way for every profession.
Many of these lists change, and we did not find an official page for family therapists. Ask any online therapist which license covers you in your state, and check it on your state board's lookup.
Call or text 988, or chat at chat.988lifeline.org. It is free and confidential, and open at any hour. TTY users can use their relay service or dial 711 and then 988. Veterans can dial 988 and press 1. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.