Shameless plug: my wife runs a psychology practice in Boston and wrote a little free guide on this topic. PDF grabbable here: https://azimuthpsych.com/downloads/Azimuth_How_to_Find_a_The...
I've seen more therapists in my lifetime than I care to admit. But something like this would have helped a lot when I was starting out.
The casual approach does a really nice job at breaking things down and explaining parts of the process, without feeling like it's being dumbed down at all. It makes it feel very approachable, which is very welcome, given how daunting it felt (at least for me) starting out.
I cracked up at "My therapist is dull and doesn’t laugh at my cat memes. Should I keep seeing them for therapy?".
1. What therapy is
2. How therapy fits inside a broader context of other kinds of practice - counseling, psychiatry
3. Some common misconceptions
4. How to go about a search process
Bookmarked to send to friends who are hovering in the general vicinity of finding a therapist in the future.
Pedantic alert: I know it isn't you, but your wife... but MFT degrees don't "specifically on couples and family therapy." The degree is just named that because the license is named that. The programs cover individual, couples, and family therapy but since the license isn't named that the programs aren't named that.