Since my practice is limited to the Beverly Hills area, I realize that some people do not live close enough to see me and others cannot afford to see me. I have listed some of my favorite referral sources below because I don’t give out individual names for referrals. Sections 1 and 2 list general places to search for other therapists. Sections 3, 4 and 5 list places to find low-fee or sliding scale therapists. (Note: clicking on these links will take you away from my site.)

Los Angeles County Psychological Association: The Los Angeles Psychological Association (LACPA) represents over 4,000 licensed psychologists within Los Angeles County by responding to the mental health needs of the community.  Its purposes are to advance the science and profession of psychology and promote human welfare while educating the public about psychological issues.  To find a licensed psychologist in the Los Angeles County area, click here: LACPA’s Online Psychologist Directory.

California Psychological Association (CPA): CPA is a non-profit professional association for licensed psychologists and others affiliated with the delivery of psychological services. The psychologists listed in the Locator Service are members of CPA and are licensed to practice psychology in the state of California.To find Licensed Psychologists all over the state of California, click here: CPA’s Psychologist Locator Service.

National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology: The National Register credentials psychologists who have top-notch education and training as a “Health Service Provider in Psychology.”  By seeking services from one of these providers, you know that you are getting a psychologist with education and training at a level that often exceeds state licensing standards.  For a psychologist who is registered as a Health Service Provider in Psychology, click here: National Register’s “Find a Psychologist” website.

American Psychological Association (APA): This national association of professional psychologists has an impressive informational website that includes a psychologist locator. Most psychologists have doctorates and extensive training in psychotherapy and behavioral treatments to help people deal effectively with many of life’s problems. The Psychologist Locator lets you consider many factors in searching for psychologists, including areas of specialization, gender, sexual orientation, insurance accepted, languages spoken, and much more. For a psychologist in your area, click here: APA’s Practice Central “Psychologist Locator” service.

Psychology Today: The popular psychology magazine has an impressively large therapist directory and an interesting website.  Therapists are not screened (some are not even licensed), so you need to do your homework to find a good match.  To find a therapist of every type, educational level, and expertise in nearly every corner of the United States and Canada, click here: Psychology Today’s “Find a Therapist” directory.

The Treatment and Research Advancements Association for Personality Disorder (TARA APD):  TARA APD is a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster education and research in the field of personality disorder, specifically but not exclusively, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). They operate the only national hotline for BPD that provides referrals to treatment providers, special programs, and community resources that specialize in treating personality disorders. Click here to access TARA APD’s Referral Hotline.

National Career Development Association (NCDA): NCDA inspires and empowers the achievement of career and life goals by providing professional development, resources, standards, scientific research, and advocacy. To find a “Master Career Counselor” in your state, click here: NCDA’s “Find a Counselor” service.

UCLA Career Services: This is a helpful service for students, faculty, and, and alumni of UCLA.  But in conjunction with the Alumni association they also have a list of career counseling professionals in California (and a few other states).  They also offer a 25% discount to UCLA Alumni Association members. To access the list of career service professionals in California, click here: UCLA Alumni Association list of Career Professionals.

If you can’t afford services from a licensed provider in the Los Angeles area, I do not recommend seeing an unlicensed provider in a private practice setting as their supervision is usually minimal and they are generally trying to build a practice versus gaining skills and training.  Rather, I would recommend the following agencies that provide low-fee therapy provided by intensively trained and supervised therapy interns.

Southern California Counseling Center (SCCC): Conveniently located on Pico between Fairfax and La Brea. SCCC provides individual, couples, family, child, and group counseling. In addition, The Abuse Prevention Program (TAPP) provides exceptional services for domestic violence and provides parenting classes. To access SCCC’s very low-fee counseling services, click here: Southern California Counseling Center.

Airport-Marina Counseling Service (AMCS): A private, non-profit, community-based mental health clinic near LAX that has been serving the region since 1961. The mission of AMCS is two-fold: to provide excellent, affordable and professional mental health services, and to train mental health professionals.  To access AMCS, click here: Airport-Marina Counseling Service.

L.A. County Department of Mental Health:  You can call the Access Center at (800) 854-7771 to speak with a psychiatric nurse 24 hours a day/7 days a week for help, support, or information on where to go for services.  Or, if you would like to find a facility or provider in your area, click here: L.A. County Department of Mental Health clinics and service providers.

The Wright Institute Los Angeles Hedda Bolgar Psychotherapy Clinic (HBPC):  The Wright Institute Los Angeles is a private, non-profit mental health training and service center. Most of their therapists are clinical psychology interns and postdoctoral and postgraduate fellows who are studying with and supervised by a highly trained and experienced faculty of clinical psychologists, psychoanalysts and other mental health professionals. Located on West Pico Blvd in the Beverlywood neighborhood, the HBPC is licensed as an outpatient psychology clinic by the California Department of Health Services and offers sliding scale fees for individual, couples and group psychotherapy. Click here to access the HBPC Referral Service.

The Maple Counseling Center (TMCC): Founded in 1969, TMCC’s goal has always been to provide low fee counseling for those in need where no one is turned away for lack of funds. Their mission is to provide low cost comprehensive mental health services to individuals, couples, families, and groups throughout Los Angeles County, and to provide training for interns and counselors who are working towards licensure in the mental health field. TMCC offers adolescent and child counseling, couples therapy, family therapy, group therapy, parenting classes, and individual counseling in the Beverly Hills area.  To access TMCC’s list of services, click here: The Maple Counseling Center.

Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS): Founded in 1970, LAISPS is the first fully interdisciplinary psychoanalytic institute to have been established in California, comprised of psychologists, psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists. Located on San Vicente Blvd in the Westwood/Brentwood area, the LAISPS Referral Service offers affordable psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy with licensed mental health professionals who are either candidates in analytic training at LAISPS or psychoanalysts who are members of LAISPS. To access the LAISPS referral hotline, click here: LAISPS Referral Service.

New Center for Psychoanalysis: If you’re interested in more traditional psychoanalysis, I highly recommend the New Center for Psychoanalysis. There is an application process prospective patients must complete, but if it is determined that you are a good fit for their clinic, then you may qualify for low fee analysis. Located on Sawtelle Blvd between Santa Monica Blvd and the 10 Freeway, they also have some wonderful low fee services for parents, families and children. Click here to access the New Center for Psychoanalysis Referral Service.

The Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis (ICP): This is another organization that offers low fee psychoanalysis in the Century City area. Analysts-in-training at ICP are already seasoned mental health professionals who seek additional specialization in psychoanalysis. If you meet with an analyst-in-training here, you will be expected to come to therapy 3 to 5 times per week. There is also an application process to determine if you are eligible for their services. Click here to access ICP’s Referral Service.

Academy of Cognitive Therapy (ACT): ACT was created in 1996 as an organization to benefit both mental health professionals and the public. The principal function of ACT is to assess the competency of clinicians in cognitive therapy and to certify them in this type of psychotherapy. As a public service, they provide a directory of low cost certified cognitive therapy providers.  Click here to access the ACT Low Cost Therapy Providers List.

OCD Center of Los Angeles (OCDLA): OCDLA is a private, outpatient treatment center dedicated to the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders and anxiety disorders using evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques. They have a low-fee/sliding scale program that includes both individual and group therapy options which are available for adults, children, and adolescents at three locations in Los Angeles: Brentwood, Woodland Hills, and Orange. Click here to access OCDLA’s Low Fee Therapy Options.