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lifelesstraveled · Aug 10, 2013, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amandalouise

I agree for some people the T on the phone while client is doing something else can be seen as being inappropriate...

that said this has and does sometimes happen to me....

sometimes my therapist would get up, go to her desk and use her time more wisely by getting other things done. While I sat there twiddling my thumbs, looking around the room, texting, she would take/make phone calls during my sessions too..

how rude right..

finally one day I got angry and asked her what she was doing, I pay for this session why was she over there and not with me.

her response was...you're right. this is your time but this is also my time. when you come in here non responsive, non talkative or one word answers that get us no where, not participating, dodging my questions, and other deflecting/negative behaviors that show me you either dont want to be here/dont want to work on your problems or just need a place to be quiet and think...thats a waste of my time. you have choices and so do I. therapy isnt a one way dead end street. it takes two to travel this journey, but if you dont need me then I am not going to waste my time. Im not going to sit here and poke, pry, bribe, beg ....to get you to engage in therapy. how and what you use your time in therapy for is up to you, but I wont be wasting my time. you are free to tell me any time that you need my help with something and I will be willing to come back to the therapy session with you.

then she went back to making scheduling calls/doing her paper work/organizing files. then let me know our session was over.

After that I understood she wasnt abandoning me or being rude. She was making a point and she was just using her part of the therapy session wisely if I did not need her.

Im not saying this is what is going on in your session but just a suggestion...maybe this is what your therapist was trying to do with you....make a point that its ok for you to come in sit, say nothing, talk about anything, do anything you want and if you didnt need her at that moment she can give you some privacy and alone time while she takes care of other things.

my suggestion...maybe you can ask your therapist why she did that, maybe she had a reason that didnt get clearly communicated to you.

I don't think that is what she was trying to do. I was literally in the middle of (FINALLY) talking about the extreme levels of anxiety i've been experiencing for weeks, and her phone rang while I was talking. As I was talking, I saw her looking at her phone and after the it stopped ringing, she cut me off while I was in the middle of talking and asked me to hold on. I said OK....and then 50 minutes went by. At the 50 minute mark she was still on the phone turned around and apologized as I was walking out. She called me twice ( i couldn't answer at the time)and then sent an email later explaining that taking the call was very unprofessional of her and that she didn't think it would last that long.