I'm also inclined to think email is problematic in the therapeutic relationship, but less inclined to think it's due to the fact that therapists are a bunch of Luddites.

Email/texting is a terrible medium for anything other than flat, factual information exchange. I'm sure many of us have had the experience of misinterpreting someone's text or email due to the inability to hear tone and delivery.

If the OP's T had replied with a brief "I've received your email, I'm sorry I can't reply in depth right now, but we'll talk at our next session," it might have mollified her, or it might have set her off by not being nice enough, or caring enough, or...whatever enough (not suggesting that's true of you, IndestructibleGirl, just using you as an example). And it takes time and focus to sit down and craft a reply that uses the right tone to reflect both professionalism and caring, and if the T had a truly busy weekend, or a family emergency, or a bad cold....it's a slippery slope. If I was a therapist, I would most likely not offer email or texting as a way to communicate, and would keep just a business line that I would promise to check and respond to once a day. Period. Anything else sets you up for a multitude of little ruptures and misunderstandings that do nothing but disrupt that process.

And it's a part of the larger question, what does the therapist "owe" the client? If my T says she's "there for me," what can I expect? Response in an emergency? Response when the client has a question? When she just needs contact? How about in the middle of the night? How many times a day? Some clients don't communicate at all between sessions; some feel the need or desire to call or write almost every day, and don't make much effort to control those impulses.

Where does a therapist draw the line, and allow herself time and mental space away from her job, which can often be emotionally and psychically draining? It's a balance that I'm glad I don't have to try to strike in my work.

Edited to say: wow, no wonder I wouldn't use email or text to communicate. I can't keep my posts under a billion words!