how long does it take to get an appt w/your T?

At my session this week, I scheduled the next one, and I got the very last appointment during the week that is 3 weeks away. I'm lucky to get that one, even though it's a shorter session (50 min) than I usually schedule (90 min). I told T I could meet any day that week at any time, since it is my week off, so I was very flexible. So, essentially, it takes about 4 weeks to schedule an appointment. I guess it's no wonder the interval between my appointments has drifted to 3-4 weeks. I couldn't see T more frequently even if I wanted to.

I'm wondering how long it takes you to schedule an appointment with your T? I guess this wouldn't apply to people who have standing appointments but those of us who schedule one appointment at a time. Or maybe I'm one of the only ones who doesn't have a standing appointment?

Even though I wanted an appointment 3 weeks away and I got one, this is making me feel vaguely dissatisfied, like T is too busy and has too many clients. I guess I want his practice to suit me rather than to suit him.

Can you agree with him on... let's say... day X time Y every two weeks? Or something similar.

It is usually about once a week, but I'm not allowed to have a regular time because it is a student service and they are so overstretched. It's frustrating to not be able to have sessions as often as we want. But I agree, you could at least speak to him and see if he can make it more regular

I would say if I had to wait for one appointment to be over before I scheduled the next that it'd be three weeks as well. Fortunately, my T allows me to make my appointment 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule, so that I always have 3-4 appointments on the books when my current appointment takes place.

Call him back! Ask him to fit you in right away. T's can do this if they really need to and it sounds like going in early this one time would help. Sometimes 3 weeks between appointments is enough but why should it always be?

I have standing appointment times, but if I can't come to those for some reason, we can usually find a time during the next week that I can come. So, one week, apparently.

I know that it's pretty impossible to make an appointment during the CURRENT week - so I have to be booked a week in advance. We usually just do the whole month at the beginning of the month, but I know that he holds my regular appt times for me now.

3 - 4 weeks sounds like a LONG time. Will your schedule be regular enough anytime soon to book a standing time??

((((((((((((sunny)))))))))))))

I'm lucky because it seems like my T works part-time and she's always has extra slots for me if I need an extra session. So, each week we schedule the next week's appt. but sometimes I'll call on the weekend and ask if she has any extra openings so I can add a session to the week. So far, I've always been able to do that.

It would be extremely difficult for me to have to wait 3 weeks. Issues are pressing and I have a need to discuss them asap. I would look for another T if I had to wait so long. Just thinking about having to wait 3 weeks just makes me nauseous.

Sorry you have to go through that.

Between my T's busy schedule and my crazy schedule, we've been lucky to find exactly one slot during the week that works, so that's been our regular time. But if one of us has a conflict, we're usually on the phone for 10 minutes just trying to figure out possibilities! But if I had more flexibility and was in crisis, I could probably get in to see him within the same week.

My t doesn't give standing appointments either, but I'm always able to schedule for the next week to 10 days, and his secretary generally has me schedule a few weeks at a time so I'm always ahead of the game.

(((((sunrise)))))

I'm sorry you're upset with your T's scheduling of appointments. When you saw him regularly, weekly or every 2 weeks, he set aside the time for you. Now he probably fills up the time slots because you've seen him only every 3 or 4 weeks for a long time now. I don't know what the answer is except to talk to him about it and try to come with a plan that works for both of you. Some Ts have busier practices than others! You T is such a good one that he's very busy. You probably don't want to hear that though.

Does it make you feel less important to him? I KNOW how much your T likes and respects you but I understand how it could feel to know that he has to "work" you in. Remember, though, that he managed to see you at night when you thought you'd have to quit because of YOUR schedule. He would probably fit you in if it were an "emergency" session.

My T can usually change my appointment to a different day during the week when I give her a few days notice. But I'm not working or going to school so I have a lot of free time now.

I hope you can get this resolved and feel better about it!

I see my T every 2 weeks and now that I'm unemployed again, she's seeing me during the day, so we just schedule the appointment at the end of the session, so I guess time to get into see her is 2 weeks.

My pdoc I see every 3-4 weeks and again we just schedule at the end of each session. But I know when I had a crisis last summer, he got me into see him that very week, so I know he keeps slots open for emergencies.

My addictions Dr. is the most booked - it takes 3 weeks to get an appointment with her, but I've got appointments booked every 2 weeks through to the middle of April with her. It's sometimes possible to get an earlier appointment with her, again if it's an emergency as she does have cancellations, sometimes I've been able to see her the next day.

--splitimage

Hi,
I am new here, but I have a standing appointment each week with my T. I do not have to schedule, just show up. If for some reason I can not make it, ( he has never canceled, just me) he will make time for me the same week.
Take care

I can usually get an appointment the same week if needed. My appointments are every 2 weeks but if I am struggling I can usually arrange an appointment pretty last minute. I think it's one of the reasons I have stayed with this T for so long- I need the flexibility. Pdoc is different as she is on NHS so I have to schedule weeks in advance.

It must be so difficult to have to wait so long for an appointment with T when you need to see him. I can totally relate to you feeling dissatisfied with the length of time you have to wait and how you feel he is too busy. I thought that Ts generally encouraged appointments to be at the same every week/fortnight/month for consistency for the patient. Maybe not.

Can you ask him for a regular time/day every 3 weeks so you know you are in his diary?

I don't seem to have trouble with app'ts......my T and I work out an app't schedule for the next couple weeks, especially now that I do 2x a week, so that I get the slots that work best for my schedule. She wants to keep it consistent for me....
I know she has a bunch of other clients, but she does seem to have flexibility in her scheduling for if I have to change or have an urgent need. I'm thankful there's never been a scheduling problem (except for the time she wrote the wrong app't on my card and put the correct time in her book and then called me wondering why I hadn't showed up! )

Thanks to everyone for your understanding. It made me feel better. It's interesting to hear how different Ts handle scheduling.

No, not really. Maybe in the summer I will have a schedule that is more flexible.

Actually, most of the time he has not set aside time for me. It's true, when I first went to see my T, I did have a standing weekly appointment, for about the first 6 months. I liked that, but I also had a very flexible job then that allowed me to leave whenever I wanted for an appointment as long as I made up the hours later. Now my schedule is pretty crazy since I'm back in school full time and working at the hospital. The program directors often will schedule a surprise class we have to attend in what I thought was our scant free time, so it really is difficult to schedule with certainty. After I stopped having the standing appointment, I still saw T weekly for a long time and then every other week just by making the appointment at my previous one. It was not a problem. This shows how much busier my T's practice is now. I wonder if it is of any concern to him to not be able to schedule people sooner than 3-4 weeks? Is it OK to say, I don't like it?

I am wanting to take a new direction in therapy, which I think would go better if I could go to therapy more frequently--maybe just for a month or two. But I hesitate to do this because of the scheduling issue. I don't want to start on this topic and then not be able to go back for a month. So T's busy schedule is making me balk at working on this topic in therapy. It shouldn't be like that.

I think what I'll do is at my next session, try to schedule more than one appointment and see if he'll go for it. Even being able to schedule 2 appointments would be helpful. But my own schedule is part of the problem, I know. I also have this paranoia--how is it that I say I can go to therapy any day or time during my week off and he comes up with only one appointment, just 50 minutes long (take it or leave it)? It makes me wonder if he is trying to get me to have shorter appointments? Maybe he doesn't like the 90 minutes anymore. I have no reason to believe this--just paranoia and feeling unwanted. Stupid stuff. My session last week was not that great, and I'm sure this is affecting my thinking.

I can see him 1x week. If I need him, he will get me in more often.

I see my T once a week, and I know she is very busy, so luckily I can schedule 3-4 appointments ahead so I can make sure I see her every week. I know how frustrating it can be though, when I haven't scheduled ahead it would be 2-3 weeks until my next appointment and I always felt like my T didn't care.

Thanks, Dani. That sums it up for me too. I am becoming aware that I am feeling really down. This doesn't happen often to me--just snuck up on me. Ugghh. I don't need this now. (Not that any of us do, anytime.)

sunny:

I am lucky that I have a weekly standing appointment, but, in the event that I have to miss that, my T can almost never get me in that same week. Usually, I just have to wait until my next weekly appointment, which is hard.

My T is psychoanalytic, all his patients have set times every week, including me. Those are my session times whether I come or not and he bills me for them. I cannot cancel. I guess he only takes on new patients then when he terminates with one of his set patients? Just a guess. He does have a few slots available during the week if an extra session is needed. And he is available to meet/phone sessions if need be on weekends.

(((((((((((((Sunny))))))))))))

It sounds like you are in a confusing, painful spot. There is so much here to talk about with your T...wondering if he wants to see less of you, wondering if you can delve into the things you need to delve into without more frequent appointments, all of your feelings around all of this..and I know it will feel hard to wait so long to talk to him. I love your T, AND I wish he could be more available by phone at times like this.

Sending lots of

I have regular standing appointments, so I am lucky.

I have a set appointment every week, and if one of us can't make it, we can usually reschedule within a day either way. I can also contact her to make an emergency app-usually that exact day or the next. I couldn't wait so long

Sunrise, it sounds so hard to have to sit with all these doubts and worries about T. You always strike me as being very mature and measured, and secure in your attachment with T, so if you are anxious then I think it's definitely a situation in which most of us would be anxious. It sounds like this (organisation, scheduling) is your T's 'weak spot' and he expects his clients to radically accept that. But I think it's still important to address all the concerns you have with him. I hope he can reassure you

I don't know how long it takes to get an appointment, because I have a set appointment. She only works in private practice two days a week. The only time I've ever asked for an extra appointment (about a month ago) she came in specially to do it.