I've been seeing this therapist over the past year--not a solid year because I need to take time off, anywhere from a few weeks to four months at a time. It's just the way I do therapy--work a little, take some time off and then re-engage again to do more work. She's okay with that.

When I first started with her, she gave me her cell phone number "if I needed to call" and her email. I hate the phone. I would use her office number during the evening hours if I needed to leave her a message; I knew her office wasn't open and my call would go to her answering machine. I didn't want to get her, I just wanted to leave a message. Recently, I used her email to let her know something that bugged me during our session. I expressly asked that she not respond, that I'd discuss the issue when I came to my next session. She listened. I like that. She gets me and my need to be in control of the flow of information. She understands that I'm not looking for out of session contact that involves her active participation. I really appreciate that she and I have reached an understanding of how things are going to work during this process.