How to choose a psych****ist

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I've wanted to for years, and now I think it's very important that I see a psychiatrist or psychologist, but I have no idea how to choose one or to go about setting up an appointment.

I have insurance, and I think it would be covered, although I'm not sure. There are some things which I think will cause a lot of problems:

The list of my most significant suspected issues makes it even more difficult:
Autism
Depression
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Panic Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder

Since multiple laypeople have independently and spontaneously told me that they believe I am autistic, I would expect that a trained doctor would make such an assessment, but at the same time, I don't want to go to a doctor to request a diagnosis, because there is a small chance that the diagnosis is inaccurate(although I would be incredibly surprised to find out such a thing). I would like a doctor who is familiar with autism, but I don't want to choose a doctor specifically to have an increased likelihood of a diagnosis if said diagnosis is incorrect. I hope that makes sense.

In addition to those things, I've had some health issues recently related to surgery(and am supposed to have another related surgery soon), and I have a job which although I like very much has recently had some changes which make it somewhat urgent that I leave it within the next few months.

I am generally reluctant to interact with people unless I think I understand a situation well enough to act at least somewhat as they would expect. If a situation is not something that I understand I am completely hesitant to even attempt to interact until I've studied it enough.

I need to be able to select a some form of psychiatrist or psychologist, and although I understand the distinction(that a psychiatrist is a medical doctor and prescribes drugs while a psychologist is a PhD and does not prescribe drugs except in a few states), I don't understand why the two are not inherently one position. It seems kind of like having a doctor for the left half of your body and a doctor for the right half of your body and if you ask why there is any distinction between the two people say "Well this doctor treats the left half of your body and that doctor treats the right half of your body," when they should be one and the same.

What makes things worse is that I've been told that when selecting such a person you have to find a person who fits well with you. Telling someone who has basically been asocial something like that just seems cruel.

I would like to select a psychiatrist or a psychologist. If it's a psychiatrist I don't just want a psychopharmacologist. But I don't know how to select one and then how to set up an appointment.

A lot will depend on which country you live in, whether you need a referral from your regular doctor to get your health insurance to pay, and what you are hoping to get from this psychologist/psychiatrist (just a diagnosis? counselling, such as CBT?).

I am in Australia and I searched online to find psychology clinics in my city which specialise in AS/ASD. I was not looking for disability support or for medication, nor did I need a formal diagnosis from a psychiatrist. So I was happy to see a psychologist who could diagnose ASDs and also provide counselling for my sensory and emotional issues. Eventually, a leading ASD psychologist recommended a particular colleague who was moving to my city, so I emailed the colleague and arranged an appointment for a diagnostic assessment. I paid for that myself. At the diagnostic assessment he recommended that I see my GP, get a formal referral back to him, and continue seeing him - which is what I did. So I was able to claim subsequent visits on my health insurance.

I would stress the importance of finding someone - whether a psychologist or psychiatrist - who specialises in ASD. Non-specialists simply do not have the experience to understand the wide range of issues facing people on the spectrum, and have difficulty making accurate diagnoses. If you don't want medication and don't need a formal diagnosis for official reasons (like applying for a disability pension) then a psychologist would be OK. If you need a formal diagnosis to get health insurance, etc then you need to check up what the rules are in your state/country.