Quote:
Originally Posted by lolagrace
Again, the OP started with the statement that not offering evening or weekend hours is "obnoxious" and others added that anyone who can't accommodate evening or weekend hours, putting clients first, should never even enter the profession in the first place. However, person after person commented that their therapist does offer at least some evening or weekend hours, so apparently this isn't as obnoxious a problem as was originally posted, and people are finding therapists who do keep hours they can work with. My contention is that a therapist who chooses to keep regular (9-5 or 6) hours which apparently work fine for his clients and for his own personal life is not being obnoxious nor should he/she accused of not putting clients first or should it be argued they should never have entered the profession at all. I am simply going on claims/statements made directly by people on this thread.
As a family person, I do believe family MUST be placed first in a person's life. How many people here are in therapy for the fact that their own families did not place the health and welfare of their families first and foremost in their lives? It seems completely counter to everything we know about the importance of supportive families and good parenting to say therapists MUST put others before their own families and their own personal welfare. (Personally, I don't think that is quite what the ethics code intends, but since it keeps being quoted as the justification and reason these hours MUST be provided, then it is open for argument.)
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Therapists should most definitely put their families first just as any other professional should, and I agree that the statement in the ethics code is not suggestion Ts should sacrifice everything for their clients. Im also editing to add that it's important to know that a large portion of social workers are not therapists and their obligation to society extends outside of the hours they keep to see clients in therapy. That said, I have gotten pretty annoyed when searching for a T for my daughter and not being able to find one at the practice I prefer who will see clients beyond 5:30. Given that most middle and high school aged kids go to school until about 3:00, parents work and then have to travel through what in my city what is essentially rush hour traffic, I thought it was obnoxious there wasn't one day where she stayed until at least 7:00. I won't go so far to say that I think she is doing a disservice to the community since she has plenty of other clients who live closer and the hours are fine. But for anyone who has to travel a bit to see a decent T, it can be very frustrating. Taking time off from work is one thing, but pulling kids out of school to get there, which is what i usually do to see her psychiatrist, can get daunting after a while.