Mine does encourage contact between sessions. There have been one or two phone calls in which I have felt as connected to him as I have sometimes in session... then there are been phone calls which don't go too well. Overall, he leaves the crappiest messages ever which end up leaving me very angry. It's very important for me to know that he is available outside of session... whether or not the phone call or the message goes welll, this has helped me through some very rough times... I have occasionally made a deal with myself on very bad nights... I will tell myself... if I call him and leave a message, then I will not SI... and this had worked for me. I find myself needing to constantly check in, to make sure it's still "ok" to call. The last thing I said yesterday as I was leaving was, "So if I'm falling apart, it's alright to call you, right?" And he said, "Do you think it's alright?" Well, I almost killed him. I said, "Please! No more questions!" And he goes, "Of course it's alright. You know that." One problem I have found is with my resistance in processing his crappy messages. I have no problem telling him, "I hated your message. " But then (and this happened yesterday) he will ask, "What did you want it to say?" or my personal favorite, "What did it not say?" Then I shut down because I am too embarrassed to tell him what I really wanted him to say. I'll get there. I will.