Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaybird57
I've used email to breakdown any powerful feelings I might have had after a session. I have never required a response from my therapist, although she sometimes responded back with one or two lines, indicating the breakdown held powerful information that we "would process in our next session". I have never expected her to do therapy via email. My use of email has been to enhance my ability to put into words things that are difficult for me to express. The immediacy of email allowed me to be in the moment when the emotional storm was hitting and calm myself by thinking and/or analyzing what might have been going on for me.
|
When I was in a really intense phase of therapy, I did something really similar: I journaled after the session, broke down the process in words, came to new insights through processing, got the pain and emotions out on the page. This helped me make a lot of progress between sessions. I was always welcome to bring my journal to sessions, but never did. In session, I just picked up at the new place I was at and if journaling helped me get there, then great. The immediacy of having my journal always available to me really worked well. It was a great tool for me and I still use it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaybird57
By eliminating all emailing by all clients, a T is perhaps closing off an avenue of communication that might really enhance and move a client's therapy along. I think deciding on the right course of treatment for any client should be individually based. By saying, I'll never allow emailing because I see that it causes too much anguish for the population of clients who post on an online forum, I think a person is shutting off a possible treatment choice prematurely.
|
Even though I really agree with what you wrote about how therapy should be individual based, I think not allowing emailing is close to what I've been thinking of doing in my future practice. Maybe I might allow clients to email me to change their appointment time, like my T allows me to do. But I think for me, a new practitioner who is inexperienced and still learning about the variety of clients, I would start with the no therapy by email policy. It wouldn't be so much the case that I believe all clients have the same needs, but that I am not experienced enough to have effective and therapeutic email conversations with clients. (I remember how rainbow wrote that her T used to agonize over every word in the emails she sent, so this is not something a T takes lightly.) But I would definitely encourage my clients to process their sessions by writing in journals, doing artwork, etc. As I gain more experience, I might allow emails for a broader range of reasons than just scheduling. We'll see how I do. I would definitely not allow texting, though. One of the worries I have with email is that clients would use it instead of face to face conversation. It might be a way to avoid learning to communicate in session. Even though the phone doesn't work for me and my T, I like the idea of clients using the phone to reach the T. (My T tends not to listen to messages the same day or return messages at all, or maybe that's just special treatment he has reserved for me!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by farmergirl
I only call him when I'm in a crisis anyway, and email would be a horribly ineffective way to deal with a crisis IMO.
|
That's a really good point, farmergirl, and one I agree with. I see contacting the T as what you do in or near crisis, and I don't think email and text are good for that. Maybe what it comes down to is does the T tend to allow communication for more reasons than just crises? If the answer is no, then phone is best. If the answer is yes, then email and text might work as well.
Great discussion. I am reading and learning.
