Choosing a psychologist..

[Notsohappycamper]

What things should I be looking out for? Obviously professional qualifications but anything else?

I have no idea. My GP gave me a bunch of business cards 'to chose from'. How are you supposed to make an important decision based on a name and generic picture? I have my first appointment coming up soon, ended up going with a friend's recommendation. Good luck!

I'm meeting my psychologist for the first time tomorrow. My GP said he thought she would be a good fit for me so I went with that.

Hi you might have more response in the mental health section.

You need to be able to trust and be open with your psychologist. You're going to be sharing some painful and difficult times and you need to be comfortable with that person. If you are private then they may do free consultations for 15 mind or so but if NHS then you get assigned and then you need to ask for a different psychologist if that doesn't work was my experience.
Good luck.

It depends if they are trained in and/or have a specialist interest in the kind of problem you're seeking help with. Also depends if they're a Clinical Psychologist or a Counselling Psychologist - the two are different.

Why specifically a psychologist and not a counsellor/psychotherapist? Just out of interest?

Because I'm not sure what the difference is?

Someone to help with self destructing behaviour, repeating patterns of behaviour, boundary issues, childhood unresolved issues, lying etc

The only way is existential psychotherapy. Good luck OP.

There's more than one mode of therapy suited to the issues you list, but I would suggest cognitive analytic therapy or a psychodynamic approach could be helpful. Cognitive behavioural therapy might be helpful if the person worked in a schema-focused way (i.e. looking more at longstanding issues with roots in childhood).

Check that the person is registered with the health professions council, and possibly the bps as well, although note that the latter is not mandatory. You can also check here, and here.

The main thing though is to meet the psychologist/therapist for an assessment, find out how they work and see whether you feel you could develop a safe relationship with them. Good luck.