I could see a T easily forgetting how many emails that week they had received from a client and responding to an important email, even if it officially broke a rule they had established with a patient. A T probably gets a ton of emails each day and if he accidentally responded to you, well, so it goes. Certainly talk to him about this if it is bothering you, is confusing, etc. Perhaps you can try harder to uphold the boundary on your end so this situation doesn't arise again? You asked if you were "justified" in now sending your T additional emails each week. I would say don't deliberately cross the boundary until you have discussed it. Respect what you have already established even though your T did respond to your extra email in a time of need. T's boundary, after all, was that you only email once a week, not that he would not respond to additional, something-really-big-came-up emails.

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Originally Posted by ultrmar would I be justified in responding, "But you broke the boundary yourself! You answered my e-mail and didn't say there was anything wrong with me sending it. How can you criticize me for doing it!"

I would say no, you are not "justified." It is interesting how you use that word again! The boundary was that you not email more than once. You broke it. Don't criticize him for not bawling you out for your transgression. You're not a child who needs punishment after disobeying. As an adult, you can take responsibility, recognize your error (instead of focusing on what your T did), and try not to repeat it. You could also apologize for breaking the boundary: "Hey, I'm sorry for the extra email last week when Big Thing happened. I really appreciate your responding even though I know you asked me to email only once." That might be a good opener to further discussion of the boundary, if you are confused about it, would like to alter it, etc. Good luck!