What do you call your therapist?

If they have a title, do you call them "Doctor" or by their first name? When mine calls me, she always identifies herself by her first and last name, no "Dr. xxxxx". I don't feel comfortable calling her by her first name, because it would feel too much like she's my friend. So if I happen to leave a voicemail (the only way of contacting her - no e-mail or text), I usually will not address her at all, just "Hi, this is..." but if I do, I say "Doctor". I feel she's earned that title, so she deserves to be called that, IMO.

Just curious!

I call mine by his first name. But my alter who is more formal calls him Mr.XXX . My alter who is my inner child calls him our "Dolphin Daddy" I call him "T" on PC. And I call him "The Wizard" to my S/O.

I never asked how she wished to be addressed. Early in therapy when she referred to herself in my thoughts (what I might be thinking) she used her first name, and in phone calls she uses her first name, so that's what I call her.

I only have had one therapist who asked me to call her Dr. M, even though her card gave her nickname as Molly, because I was in the middle of an attachment that she didn't want transferred to her.

All other therapists I've had used their first name.

I call my T by her first name. I started seeing her before she'd finished her PhD. She was in her last 9 months of clinical supervision. And if she calls me she just says her first and last name, not Dr. My addictions Dr. I call Dr. even though she's tried to get me to use her first name. She kind of intimidates me, so I feel more comfortable with Dr. and with my pdoc it's Dr.

--splitimage

I call him by this first name.

We are on a first-name basis. Have been since the initial introduction. I think it helps me feel more comfortable.

okay, i am probably the only weird one here, i never use his name, makes me feel like i would be too close and close=pain.
even when i have to call to make an appt, they recognize my voice now and i don't even have to say anything, they know i only come in at certain times, and if i need to talk to him, i just say, "can you have him call me please"

what he does do when he calls back is weird, tells me his first and last name, and even recites his phone number, like i don't have it memorized by now, makes me feel stupid that he keeps telling me his number each time.....

I really never address my T by name. If I leave a VM, I'll say Dr. XXXX, or if I write an e-mail, even though she ALWAYS signs e-mails or if she calls me just refers to herself by her first name. That is too weird for me! I think by calling her Dr. XXXX, it keeps a formality or something.

But to my friends she is Doc (insert shortened first name).

My current T and pdoc I call Drs. My last T and Pdoc I called by their first names. I'm not sure why the difference. When my current T calls and leaves a message she says, This is Dr. X. So maybe that is why. But that might be because that is what I call her. I don't know.

I never call my T anything. Ever. I think she probably would expect me to call by her first name. But I would feel odd calling her by her first name -- that feels too presumptuous. And I would feel odd calling her by her last name -- that feels too formal. So I just don't do either.

My old T I called by her first name. She always called herself by her first name in email but for a long time I did not call her anything, did not address her at all, like others here. Then one day I got brave and asked her if it was okay if I called her by her first name. She said it was okay so that's what I called her from then on.

My current T, I don't address at all. In emails, I call her Dr. XXX but in person I do not call her anything. She is more formal than my last T, so I imagine she would want me to call her Dr, but somehow that is too formal. Also I have somewhat of a phobia of doctors (physicians) so something about calling her Dr (even though it's a different kind of doctor) would make me feel more afraid of her. If that makes sense?

Great question, since I struggle with that too. I never call her by her name, really never. She certainly wants me to use her first name, she has askes me to do it several times, but i just cannot. it would feel horribly weird.
She signs het emails with dr. First + Last name. I really hate that, and I find it quite ridiculous too (oh come on, her full name is in the mailaddress already!). So in my replies I start with "Dear dr. First + Last name. It looks very silly and by some of her remarks I know she hates that too
But we seem to be on these terms now and as long as she doesn't change that, I won't either.
Maybe a bit off-topic, but I really go like crazy when she uses my name, too.

Me Too! I hate hearing my name. Especially in T! It seems too intimate (not in a sexual way). It is hard to explain what it feels like.

Outside T too? I only have this feeling in T. But it's indeed about the intimacy. I have a very long name and people tend to abbreviate it, which is usually really ok for me. BUT NOT WHEN SHE DOES THAT. But every name she uses to address me makes me feel horrible. There have been times that her voice calling my name echoed through my head every second of the following week

Sorry about hijacking the thread!

It doesn't freak me out, but I have noticed that my T uses my name very purposefully-like when she really wants me to pay attention to what she is saying!

I call my T by his first name. He has a Master's degree, so if I did use a title, it would be "Mr." I tend to call practitioners "Dr." when they are MDs and quite a bit older than I am. My T is only about 5 years older. Also, I have a PhD, and in my field, it is considered kind of snobby to want to be addressed as "Dr", even though yes, we did earn that title. It's a "cultural" thing, though, and I know the cultures of different fields may like to be more formal. My daughter is 30 years younger than her therapist and is on a first name basis.

I don't call my T anything and she never refers to me by name either. I don't think I ever heard her say my name. In e-mail I use her first name as that's how she signs her e-mails with the previous one I used to use Dr.

First names. I call her Carole. She calls me Bob. I'm around 15 years older than she is and that has something to do with it. It's no big deal at all. We're both far too into what we're doing to care about things like that. She has a Ph.D. I have fifty years of reading about depth psychology and living in a world oriented to that kind of thing. We're equals and comfortable with it. Take care.

I knew my T before she was my T. I called her Dr.XXX once. She didn't answer she knew I was refering to her but it was almost like the Dr. in front of her name made it unrecognizable. She was honestly perplexed. So I call her by her first name. My Pdoc is more complicated. She has two last names. Any written things from her are very formal and have her (very long) full name. Her receptionist refers to her as Dr.XXX and drops the second last name. My T calls my Pdoc by her first name. I doubt tht my Pdoc cares what I call her so long as it can be used in polite company . So... when in doubt, opt out...I don't use her name!

My T calls me by my first name on occasion, usually to get my attention as I have wandered off topic. I always jump nearly out of the couch which she finds amusing. The one that gets me though is when she uses a shortend version of my name. She always says it in a very soft, gentle voice and it almost always makes me cry.

I also think it is really funny that when my T calls me her name comes up on my caller ID. If she is at home it comes up as private and she is the only person it does that with. So... I always answer with Hi and then her first name. There is always a significant pause before she then thells me this is and then uses her first and last name. Ok, one, she knows that she is the only person I know with that first name and two, as if I didn't know her voice!!!!

I call my T by his first name but only when talking to others like if I call to talk to him I will ask for him by first name. The only time he uses my name is when he really wants to drive a point home and wants me to remember it. As for my pdoc, I call her by her first name. Anytime she has called me she has always just used her first name.

I have always called my therapists by their first name and I've always called my psychiatrists Dr + whatever their last name is. I hadn't thought about that distinction until now!

Just don't call the T a$$hole and you'll probably be ok.

I call my therapist Dr. -----. And this eventually became creepy because he answers the phone without Dr. but with his full name instead, and when other patients leave, they call him by his first name--even the shortened form of it. Once he called to talk to my husband and said this is------using his first name and I said -----who? It bacame an example I used once to bolster my claim that I DO respect his boundaries, never forget that he's not my friend, etc., that I couldn't imagine calling him by his first name. And I can't imagine it. And that makes me feel like I'm not as ...welcome...I guess, as his other patients...........maybe it's my fault...that I started out calling him that and always have....but he never, ever corrected/asked me to call him what the others do........even my husband uses his first name when they're talking, although he uses "Dr. ----" when we're talking about arrangements with him........Jeez.....

first name since day 1

Hmm. I usually call my T by his first name, but sometimes I call him Dr. XXXX (last name). He's a psychologist w/ a PhD in clinical psychology. It took a long time for me to want to even use his first name and was in a way a sort of a "break through" lol. Still depends on the context and how I feel.

I don't usually talk to P doc very often but I always call them Dr. XXXX (last name) because I don't usually have any relationship with them beyond surface level and don't care to. In other words I trust my T but I have very little trust in P doc.