Definitely sounds like she noticed that you being really early is a defined personality trait of yours, and perhaps she's trying to find a trigger. Perhaps many or most patients by their 4th or 5th visit have revealed or exhibited a trigger that the clinician can then examine together with the patient as part of normal DBT therapy, and since you haven't revealed any yet (a good sign I would think), she is trying to coax one out of you. It *is* an extremely odd thing to say, imo, so that's why I thought of this trigger theory. Most doctor and dentist offices usually are quite uptight when a patient is late, and I've noticed that my dentist now even requires patients to reschedule appts. if they are more than 10 min. late, and I believe pay a cancellation fee on top of that.

Or (theory #2), perhaps she was feelings stressed out, as in, she is always late, you are always on time, and she wishes to not feel "under the gun," which your being late would alleviate. I'm not in any way suggesting you have done anything purposeful to make her feel that way, but we have to remember that MDs, PhDs, etc. are human beings, too, with the same pet-peeves and annoyances and hang ups and feelings, etc. (just in varying degrees) as everyone else, including those struggling with mental and behavioral health issues. If it is the latter (she is just annoyed), a much more professional route, to my mind, would be for her to move your appt. time back from now on. At the very least, she should THANK YOU for your continued promptness, and offer an apology for her tardiness. It is a common courtesy to be on-time to appointments. Furthermore, an offer of an explanation along with an apology would also be in order. Clearly, she's late for a reason, and it's been consistent. There is no reason to believe she won't continue to be late going forward barring changes to whatever her schedule entails leading up to your appt. time. An explanation would at least explain her behavior and improve communication. If this pattern continues, I believe it could become problematic. Each therapy session should begin on a good note, and this issue potentially compromises this goal.

Good luck, and I hope it words out for the best!

Ryan