Finding a therapist

I’m often asked how people can find good therapists that treat anxiety. Here’s how I go about trying to find possible referrals:
1) My first strategy is to find therapists who practice Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a form of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy that is great for helping anxiety disorders. Go to contextualscience.org for a listing of therapists.
2) The second place I look for therapists is at the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, which has a rigorous credentialing process for CBT therapists (from a broad range of forms of CBT). The Academy’s listing of affiliates is at academyofct.org.
3) The third place I look is on the website for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. At adaa.org there is also a listing of therapists on the “Finding Help” page.
4) Sometimes I will also look on psychologytoday.com to see if there are therapists that list themselves as being cognitive-behavioral therapists — then I try checking out their websites to look for evidence of this approach. This is hit-or-miss and more time consuming.
I always recommend more physical exercise (see Spark by John Ratey) and mindfulness practice as two first steps in treating anxiety disorders.