doogie, those frequent cancellations sound very frustrating! Each time I meet with my T, we set the next appointment together. It is always at a different time and day, and it is at a time that works for both of us and only a short time away, so there is less chance it will be canceled due to planned-on things. Setting the appointment together does make me feel involved. After that, either of us is free to cancel the appointment, so I do feel like I have power in the decision to meet or not to meet.

Earlier this year, T canceled 2-3 times the night before our session, and then we were unable to reschedule that week. Each time, he had an off-site meeting come up that he was scheduled into without his input. OK, he had no control over this, but I expressed to him that I thought it was rude that they didn't let him know about these meetings until the day before. He squirmed a bit and said well he had known about the meetings earlier. It turned out they had been scheduled between our sessions, which are 2-3 weeks apart, but he had failed to call me to reschedule until the night before, so of course there were no other openings by that time. I let him know I was displeased with this, and I asked him in the future to let me know soon after a schedule conflict comes up so we can reschedule or at least so I won't hold that slot free on my calendar--I am busy too! He agreed to do this. It wouldn't have helped the situation at all for me to get huffy and not meet with him next time--he never would have known I had a problem with the situation if I did that. Since I was direct with him, he could work to solve the problem. We have worked on this type of thing in therapy--good communication and being direct--so I felt good about this, like yay, therapy is helping me!

Anyway, doogie, I encourage you to talk with your T about this and tell her about your frustration with the appointment changes. Maybe she can assign you a different time that is less apt to being canceled, let you schedule only one appointment at a time like farmergirl and I do, or will have another solution.