Have you been considering starting therapy? Maybe you’ve been feeling a little off lately, or maybe something major has changed in your life. Whatever the reason, starting therapy can seem intimidating at first, but it is often extremely beneficial for individuals with a variety of conditions, including anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and more. Therapy can help increase your self-confidence and improve your mental health. It can also be a space to understand your past, develop healthy coping strategies for any challenges you might be facing, and reframe negative thoughts and patterns.
Therapy has many benefits, but it is most effective when you find a therapist who you get along with and can trust. Another important thing to consider when starting the search for a therapist is finding someone who accepts your insurance. Paying out of pocket for therapy can often be expensive, and many insurance plans have built-in mental health care options available. This article includes strategies for finding a therapist who accepts your insurance in Colorado.
1. Insurance Company Portals
One of the best ways that you can find a therapist is by utilizing your insurance company portal. If you log on to your health insurance member portal, you will be able to search for a doctor or view the directory of providers in your network. You should additionally be able to filter your search by keywords like “therapist” or “mental health.” If there is a specific type of therapist or a style of therapy that you are looking for, you can also try to refine your search based on those keywords. It is very important to make sure you search by the exact name of your plan to ensure that the therapists you find are covered under your specific plan.
2. Mental Health Match
Mental Health Match is a website where you can find the right therapist for you quickly and for free. You can choose from different categories including specialties, approaches, identities, language, in-person/online, and insurance. Under the insurance dropdown box, you are able to choose your specific insurance network and discover what therapists are covered by your plan. This website also allows you to pick specific cities in Colorado, so you are able to find a therapist who is physically close to you, if in-person therapy is your preference. After entering the information that applies to you, you can find a list of therapists that align with your situation.
3. Psychology Today Colorado
Psychology Today is a comprehensive database of therapists and psychiatrists. This database allows you to filter search results by specialties, insurance companies, types of therapy, age, gender and sexuality, language, faith, and price to find therapists. You can search by zip code and look through a comprehensive list of therapists to find a good fit. Psychology Today has an incredibly extensive list of insurance companies, and you will be able to search and ensure that your specific company and plan are covered with certain therapists. Psychology Today also features thousands of articles and blogs written by psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, and academics about topics ranging from mental health conditions to self-improvement.
4. SonderMind
SonderMind is a mental health platform that is based in Denver, Colorado. SonderMind has a provider directory where you can choose your insurance plan and provider, along with your preferred location (in-person or online) and each therapist’s specialties. SonderMind operates a large network of thousands of behavioral health professionals across Colorado and simplifies the process of using major health insurance plans to cover therapy. Counselors at SonderMind treat a broad spectrum of mental health needs, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, and relationship stress. Additionally, in Colorado alone, there are thousands of SonderMind providers specializing in everything from LGBTQIA+ support to adolescent psychology.
5. APA Psychologist Locator
The American Psychological Association, the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world, has a psychologist locator function on its website. When you first click on the website, you can choose Colorado as your state and search to find a list of all providers in Colorado. You are then able to select the kind of insurance you have from a dropdown menu on the left. You can choose multiple different insurance options, and the APA psychologist locator will find and display all of the therapists and mental health providers in Colorado that accept your specific kind of insurance. From there, you can also filter by treatment method, practice areas, and different specializations like religion or sexuality.
6. Zocdoc
Zocdoc is a free service that allows patients to find local therapists and counselors, check if they accept their health insurance, read verified patient reviews, and instantly book in-person or virtual appointments. You are able to enter your location, symptoms or medical specialty, and insurance provider to see a list of matched, in-network practitioners. On the Zocdoc website, there is an incredibly thorough and extensive list of insurance providers, broken up into both popular carriers and all carriers, with an additional section available to explore paying for your services out of pocket. Through this service, you can view each therapist’s live calendar to find and book same-day or next-day appointments. Zocdoc’s insurance checker feature lets you input or snap a picture of your insurance card to verify your plan.
Starting therapy can seem intimidating, but it is a crucial first step for many people on their path to better mental health. Finding a therapist who accepts your insurance is a critical step in making therapy affordable and accessible, and these tools are a great place to begin. After finding a therapist who accepts your insurance on any of these websites, it can be a good idea to call their office and confirm that the information online is current. If you call and provide your insurance information, the therapist will be able to confirm that they are one of the providers in your network, and you can then book your first appointment.