I agree with that. I am, however, glad that my therapists and pdocs have always limited outside contact to phone contact and didn't venture into the whole email and texting world. For me, it kept the contact professional and something I put thought into rather than impulsively sending a quick text or email. It seems so much of the confusion about outside contact when it occurs seems to surround those forms of contact.

I wouldn't see a therapist who allowed no outside contact at all. I had enough serious crisis situations where I absolutely needed the outside help of my therapist or pdoc (and I really limited my contact to true crisis situations). A therapist who said, "Don't call me. Call a crisis line or go to the ER" would not be someone I would work with (and I've never had a therapist who did that).

I do think some people have a really hard time controlling the impulse to contact perhaps too often, but that is something the therapist should be monitoring and discussing with those particular clients as necessary. I know my therapists always told me how to get hold of them in an emergency (and what constituted an emergency particularly after hours). They never said I contacted them too often or unnecessarily, but I would go months between contacts so that isn't surprising. There were bad episodes, on the other hand, when I might speak to them multiple times outside of session if they couldn't get me in for extra sessions (which was the preferred way a dealing with a crisis time). They didn't mind those times either; in fact, there were times they insisted I call them once a day just for a check in as a way to stay safe and monitor my symptoms since hospitalization was usually on the horizon if things were that bad.