I consider her behavior unprofessional and rude. It reminds me of my daughters (both young adults) who go out to dinner and have their cell phones out and are constantly checking them, texting on them, etc., right in the middle of eating dinner and conversation with tablemates. They don't see anything rude about this, which makes me think it is a generational thing, so I wonder if your T is quite young and doesn't have traditional manners? I think during therapy, the client should be the focus of the T's attention, not electronic gadgets. It would be very easy for your T to put her phone away so she isn't tempted to touch it. It sounds like she is addicted to her phone and it is getting in the way of her performance and professionalism. And now that you have brought it up, she has made no effort to change her behavior and is trying to make it about you--your request was not out of line or nitpicky. It sounds like it has become a power struggle for her now, no way will she change her behavior for you to let you "win."

I have had my T have his electronic gadgets near him in session and we have talked about it. He had either his phone or laptop set to "ping" whenever he received a new email. How distracting! Why does he need to know whenever someone emails him? I asked him to turn off the sound so we wouldn't be distracted, and believe it or not, he did not know how to turn off the sound! After I showed him, he has kept the sound off since then. There was also a period when he kept his laptop near him on the couch and would pick it up every so often and open it and do something! Was he checking his email or what? I asked him to put the laptop over on his desk so he wouldn't be distracted by it. He said none of his other clients had a problem with it. Too bad. I really think he did this stuff because he is addicted to gadgetry, like my daughters and their cell phones at the dinner table. I don't see anything wrong with asking a T to be professional and focused on the work.