Blog
Notes from Couch Commons
How the directory works, what we check, and what changes. Every post names its sources.
How Can a Solo Therapist in NY, NJ, or CT Get Found Locally Without Paying for Rank?
A practical local-search plan for solo therapists in NY, NJ, and CT: an accurate site, an eligible Google profile, and a directory that does not sell rank.
How Do I Check a Therapist's License in NY, NJ, or CT?
Use the official NY, NJ, or CT register to check a therapist's name, profession, license number, and status; then read what a Couch Commons receipt records.
Understanding the Letters After a New York Therapist's Name
What LCSW, LMHC and LMFT mean in New York: the education, exam and supervised experience each license requires, what each may do, and the rules all three share.
Can I See a Therapist Online If They Live in Another State?
A therapist's location does not settle telehealth eligibility. Check the rules where care is received and ask which licenses cover the visit.
Therapist Confidentiality: What Your Therapist Can Share, by State
What stays private in therapy, the exceptions every state has, and how duty-to-warn laws differ by state, with the law for each.
Why the order of therapists changes every day, and why nobody can buy the top
Every search on Couch Commons builds the exact set of matching therapists first, then rotates that set once a day by a published rule. Payment, clicks and tenure never touch the order.
What we record when you contact a therapist, and what we never see
There is no message form on Couch Commons. A profile links straight to the clinician's own website, booking page, email or phone, and what you say next is between you and them. Here is exactly what we record, and what we never see.
What the dated license receipt on a Couch Commons profile actually says, and why it is a document rather than a badge
The dated license receipt on a Couch Commons profile is a document, not a badge. It records the license number, the date we checked, the registry we checked, and the status that registry gave.
What 'accepting new clients' means on a Couch Commons profile, and what it does not promise
A Couch Commons profile shows a clinician's own availability claim with a confirmation date. It is not a guarantee of an opening, and Couch Commons does not schedule care, relay messages, or know whether a clinician will respond.