You've done the hard part. You've admitted to yourself that you could use some support. Maybe it took weeks to get there. Whatever brought you here, you made a real decision: I'm going to find a therapist.
And then you opened your insurance portal, or typed something into Google, and the wall hit you.
Dozens of names. Confusing credentials. Profiles that say almost nothing useful. Half the people aren't taking new clients. You're not sure what "LCSW" means versus "LPC," or whether the therapist who lists "anxiety" as a specialty is the right fit for your kind of anxiety. So you close the tab. You tell yourself you'll come back to it. And later never quite comes.
The Hardest Part
The moment you most need to find a therapist is usually the moment you have the least capacity to do it. Depression makes the research feel impossible. Anxiety makes every choice feel like the wrong one. They drain exactly the kind of focused energy the search requires.
You need help to find help. And that's not a personal failing, it's just a genuinely hard situation.
What I Actually Do
I'm Shari Wooton, founder of Mountain Compass. I offer practical support for people navigating complicated situations and finding the right therapist is one of the most common ones I help with.
Here's what it looks like: I start by understanding your situation, your preferences, and any practical constraints like insurance or location. Then I do the research by going through listings, making calls, finding out who's actually accepting new clients and whether they're a reasonable match for what you're dealing with.
Then I bring it back to you: a short, clear list of real options with enough context to make a confident choice. No information overload. No decision fatigue.
One client, Dana, described it this way: "Shari helped me find a therapist when I was too depressed to reach out. She went through the listings and narrowed down my choices to three people by calling and asking questions. I will forever be grateful. I never would've found this professional without her help."
How It Works and What It Costs
The most common starting point is a curated shortlist. I research your options and deliver a clear, personalized list of therapists worth considering, so you can review them and decide who feels right. That's a flat $125.
If you'd also like help reaching out with tasks such as scheduling initial consultations, making the calls, handling the back-and-forth that's available as an add-on. We can talk through what level of support makes sense for your situation before any work begins.
This isn't therapy, and it isn't advice about who you should choose. It's practical, steady help with the part that feels overwhelming so you can get to the part that actually matters.