I see T at the same time every week.

When I first started, we would just schedule as we went. I remember the day a couple of months into therapy when he asked "do you want to make every Friday at noon your appointment time?". It made me feel so secure knowing that I would be expected and welcome every week. I had a lot of fear of being referred or of being "too much" when I started therapy, and having a standing appointment quieted that fear a little bit.

My standing appointment times have moved around a bit over the years as my schedule outside of therapy has changed, but I always have a standing appointment.

I don't understand why your HMO won't let you schedule appts in advance? Even if the HMO won't let you have an appt on the book for some reason, it seems that T could keep every Monday at 1 (or whatever) open for you.