It depends on what you mean by "after hours"--do you just mean outside of their office hours? In that case, yes, it's OK to call or e-mail my current T after hours--but if it takes more than 15 minutes, he charges at his hourly rate for every 15 minutes (in other words, first 15 minutes to respond to e-mail is free, but if it takes a half hour, he charges $45 for the extra 15 minutes). And he's said he won't respond to text/calls between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., which I can understand.

Marriage counselor has no restrictions on this. I called him at 3 a.m. once--called, let it go to voicemail, then called again--and he answered then talked to me for a few minutes. And he's fine with texting or e-mailing whenever, but can't guarantee how quickly he could read or respond (sometimes almost immediate, other times, several days...). And he recently asked me to reduce outside contact, which has contributed to our decision to start the termination process with him...

It can be very difficult if a T basically allows unlimited access, then suddenly decides to limit it. I now think it's much better when a T has clearly defined boundaries from the start...rather than saying it's all OK, then being like, "Oh, that's too much, you need to pull back." I think boundaries can be a healthy thing for a T, like not checking e-mail/texts or answering phone calls during certain hours. It's a part of self-care. As much as I'd like to have 24/7 access to a T...I'd also prefer they practice self-care and know their limits.