This excellent response was sent to me in private from my friend Dr. Sarah Coupland, R. Psych and is reproduced here with permission:

As someone on the other side of the therapy divide, I had a few thoughts:

1. I’m surprised you didn’t mention evidence-based practice. Certain therapeutic approaches have significantly stronger evidence bases than do others. So while having someone who’s informed by feminist theory, ultimately that approach probably won’t actually help your anxiety very much. It’s not necessarily something that a consumer would need to know going into therapy, but is a wise question to ask when you’re approaching different therapists (i.e., can you tell me a bit about the empirical support for your approach and how it will help me with my problems?)

2. I’d argue years in the field is much less relevant than quality of training. While there are certainly exceptions to the rule, the more complicated/severe your problems are, the more training you want the person to have in that area. So for example, if you’re navigating a stressful time in your relationship but otherwise things are going great in your life, you may only need a therapist with an MA or a counselling degree. But if you’re feeling really overwhelmed, coping with multiple problem areas, or these are issues which have plagued you for a really long time, you’re going to want someone with doctoral level training.

3. Remember that therapy isn’t supposed to be comfortable. It’s important to feel supportive and safe, but it’s not supposed to be easy (if it was, you probably would have been able to navigate the issue on your own). So if you’re feeling unsure about how therapy is going, bring it up with your therapist. We’re not mind readers and good therapists should be able to adapt their style to help meet your needs better and it will also help to foster your own interpersonal growth. It’s hard on us therapist too when we lose clients and don’t know why (was it something we did? Was it just the wrong time for you? Was it a bad fit?)