Quote:
Originally Posted by ElectricManatee
This thing about liking/not liking/resenting outside contact came up with my main T (Liz) yesterday. I told her that I am sometimes slightly annoyed when my students contact me, as I would rather not have to answer a bunch of emails. (I teach a course as an adjunct sometimes.) She said that in her experience, having that kind of contact as a professor and as a therapist are two very different things. (She has taught courses for therapists in training in the past.) She said she isn't always like, "HOORAY! IT'S MANATEE!" because sometimes she is busy, but she said that she wants to be there for me and to help me feel like I have supportive, helpful people in my life. Maybe it's easier because usually she prefers phone calls to email, so it's just extra talking, rather than writing? So maybe she's an outlier or a workaholic, but apparently not all therapists see outside contact as a chore.
|
That seems like a good answer she gave. And it makes me think of one time when I asked Dr. T a while back if he's ever like "Oh, no, now I have to deal with LT" when he looks at his schedule. That I certainly wouldn't expect him to be like, "Yay, it's LT!" He said he can assure me that he's never thought "Oh, no, not LT," when he saw my name on the schedule. Which made me feel better.
Dr. T said yesterday that he prefers talking things true in person/video, like we were doing right that. I said I got that, but sometimes all I'm looking for from an email is just a sentence or two. And I don't think he'd do a 5-minute or 15-minute session. He said no, and that understands those sorts of emails, and they're fine. I do wish he was willing to do brief phone calls or Zooms, even paid, as I'd think that 15 minutes talking would generally be more valuable that 15 minutes of email (which both would likely be $45, though with my current discount, probably $35). But I also understand his not wanting to do a random phone call in addition to his scheduled sessions.
He also said how some therapists (like yours I guess!) do allow regular phone check-ins, then something about "not judging them," but it's not how he chooses to run his practice. I was thinking that ex-MC would fall in that category (and he never charged, even if a call was 45 minutes).