In early summer 2022, Marcella Bilotto, a 23-year-old student based in Chicago, began feeling the impact of a series of personal tragedies.
As a full-time pre-law student and bartender, Bilotto has a lot on her plate. And it was becoming hard to function; She found herself having extreme anxiety and making impulsive choices. She knew she needed to seek help for her mental health when her friends began telling her they were worried about her.
“Over the course of two weeks, I had three of four people say, ‘Maybe you should start seeing a therapist,” she says. “That kind of drew me to think, ‘Maybe I should. I keep hearing this over and over again, it seems like a good time to start.'”
Bittolo identifies as queer, which made her search for a therapist more complicated. She had reservations about going to therapy; In the past she had met with a few therapists that “didn’t really understand the adverse effects of being queer in modern society.”
“It’s hard to find a provider who’s entirely unbiased when it comes to queer sexual health,” she says.
With Zocdoc, she was able to customize her search preferences to match the type of support she felt she really needed, and found psychotherapist Stephanie Franzoni, an LGBTQ+ friendly licensed professional counselor. Luckily, they hit it off right away. She’s formed a great relationship with Franzoni over the past couple months — and doesn’t see herself stopping anytime soon. Franzoni was able to refer Bilotto to a provider who helped her reach an ADHD diagnosis and adjust mental health medications.
“Switching antidepressants was a game changer,” Bilotto says. “But having an ADHD diagnosis changed my perspective on life and how I can go through my daily routine and the structure.”
Franzoni has also just been able to help guide Bilotto through being a queer young 20-something in 2022.
“I’ve had several therapists throughout my life, and she is definitely the best fit,” she says. “I like to think it’s because of Zocdoc, because I was able to personalize and tailor this person to my needs.”