Maternity Leave

My T is pregnant and going on maternity leave for 8 weeks.
Feeling really nervous about her being gone. I will see another T during the time, but it won't be the same.

Also struggling to come to terms with the fact that T has a family and people she cares about other than me. It's easy to forget that your T has a real life. It sometimes feels like she is my mother...

Anyone got any advice??

I either mark the time in some way (start a ritual you do on T day to recognize it and that time is passing and you'll see her in 7, 6, 5, 4. . . weeks :-) or I plan something for beyond when I'll see her again; a trip/vacation or activity I've been planning/looking forward to while she was away; my T was once gone over 12 weeks and I decided to write her a novel! Start a large project that can only be done because she is away and be "glad" she is away.

That would be really hard, even knowing in advance.
I had a hard enough time when my T became a grandmother! But both have a something in common - a little baby coming into their lives who will be loved. When we have mothering issues, something like this is really difficult.

My T has pictures of her granddaughter on her desk in the room where we do therapy. They are hard for me to look at because I think the adorable little girl is so lucky to have my T's love. When I recently changed seats I told T that part of it was so I wouldn't have to look at the pictures of her granddaughter and we talked about that until she asked "You could say 'I wish you loved me like you love your granddaughter'". I couldn't have ever said that and can barely acknowledge to myself that I think it. But I love that she put it out there

It is nice that there is another T for you to see during your T's maternity leave. Still I think that would be hard to do, too. Our T's know us well and that's part of what feels so good about therapy. When my T was going to be out for surgery for a few weeks (it turned out she was only out a week), I shopped for cards to send once a week. Cards that said I missed her. One said "Philosphy lesson for the day: You are not here" and inside it said "Therefore, I am sad" and had a sad little puppy picture I think. Anyway, I didn't shop for them until after the last session and the shopping and planning helped me feel like I'd found a way to stay connected with her until she returned.

I hope you are telling your T how you feel so the two of you can talk a lot about it before her leave begins.

That would be really hard! That was actually one of my worries, my T has a young child, and I figured she wanted more, and actually pushed the fact until she assured me she isn't going anywhere, and she is done with just the one.
8 weeks isn't SO bad, and at least you have another T. Can you email T during the break, or a weekly phone call, or something?? Some kind of contact?
Or maybe she can write you a little encouraging note of some kind you can look at when you are feeling lonely?
((((hugs)))) I hope it goes by quickly

I had a really hard time when my therapist went on maternity leave. Mine took about 4 months off, and it felt like FOREVER. I saw another therapist and I was grateful to have a supportive, caring person to talk to but it was still a very difficult time.
I had a lot of the same feelings and realizations you mentioned, especially about realizing that my therapist has a life and a family filled with people who she cares about and loves and who are much much more important to her than I ever will be (and it should be this way, but it's painful to have it so much in your face). It was also hard for me to reconcile that something so exciting and happy for her could be so devastating to me. It felt very unfair!
I don't really have advice for you, except to keep talking about the feelings and thoughts that come up around it - talk about it with your therapist, or talk about it with the therapist you see in the meantime. The only good thing is that after all of it was in the past, and my therapist was back, it made me realize that I am a lot stronger than I thought and even though it felt like I wouldn't survive, I did.
Sending you a hug, I know how painful those feelings were for me and I hope you are being very patient and kind to yourself.

Thanks for the support everyone!
Your advice is really helpful. I have a T session tomorrow so will talk about this stuff then.