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Old Oct 03, 2011, 06:41 PM
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BlessedRhiannon BlessedRhiannon is offline
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Member Since: Feb 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 2,396
Quote:
Originally Posted by rainbow8 View Post
So, why should I give up these behaviors when so many others have no problem with emailing their Ts and receiving responses?

So, why is it okay for some to email and get answers from their T? Is it because of my particular issues, I assume? Having BPD? Not being able to handle my feelings all of the time?
I think, like others have said, that the issue is in the expectations around emailing and responses. You seem to expect and want much more than your T is willing to give.

For ME, I struggle with reaching out to others. I'm also much better at expressing myself with the written word. My T allows email because she knows it encourages me to reach out to her, and it feels like a "safe" alternative to me. Also, there are times when I need to be able to process a session and then express my feelings and that is easiest for me in writing. However, when I email my T, I know that she will only read/respond to emails once per day...usually in the mornings, and not on weekends. I know that she will not do therapy by email, and that her replies will generally be encouragement or affirmation of things I've stated in my email. If I ask her a direct question, and it's something she can easily and simply answer in an email, she will do so...otherwise, she'll tell me that we'll talk about it in session. I know that her replies will generally be brief, and I'm okay with that. I tend to limit my emails to no more than one or two per week, and simply don't feel comfortable with more than that...sometimes I don't email at all. My T has only one condition around email, and that's that if I feel I'm in crisis, I must call her (or a crisis line) rather than emailing. I readily agreed to that. We've talked recently about emailing, after I sent her a long, emotional email. After we talked about it in session, I apologized for "dumping" on her. She told me that she didn't feel I was dumping anything on her, because she knows that I will talk about the email in session. She would only have a problem with it if I sent the email and then refused to ever bring it up or talk about it or try to work through the issues I raised. When I email my T, all I really want from her is to know that I've been heard, and to put things out there that I might need help bringing up and talking about in session. So, her responses to my emails fit in exactly with what I expect and need.
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---Rhi
Thanks for this!
rainbow8