[wheeler]

I got into a discussion yesterday with my T regarding what to call her. I was responding to a very helpful/supportive text that she had sent me and I wrote 'You know, I couldn't have asked for a better counselor.....'.

In writing that I struggled with the word 'counselor'. My initial text had the word 'friend', but I knew that wasn't quite right, and I didn't want to weird her out.

Then I thought of 'therapist', but that seemed way too cold, and not accurate to how I feel about her, so I settled for 'counselor', but that's not right either.

So what's a better, more accurate word?

I told her I thought of 'Muse', but that conjured up a visual of Sharon Stone from the movie The Muse, and that definitely wasn't right!!!

So any ideas, thoughts.

As an aside, it was really helpful to talk about this with her. We often talk about 'the relationship' that we have, and I always feel some sense of relief.

Thanks for the help!

Counselor or therapist is typical language, or what their degree is in (i.e. social worker, psychologist/dr, counselor for LPCs, therapist for LMFTs, etc)

I've also used/been called: mentor, advocate, clinician, support person

My T isn't very into labels... So she'd push for not labeling at all and just saying something like "I couldn't ask for a better person to work with this on"

[wheeler]

Thanks Stormyangel.

I guess 'person' would work. I think I was hoping for something more descriptive, but the relationship, or the way I feel can't be summed up in just one word.

There was a time with a past therapist that I used a word in another language that meant: to protect, to watch over, to teach. And when I proposed that I could use this term with T, I added that I wanted that word to also mean "to love", even though that's not typically associated with that term.

[sittingatwatersedge]

cmon Story, spill it what's the good word?

I just call mine Steve. I refer to him as my therapist when I mention him to other people.

[Butterflies Are Free]

I call my T by her first name but sometimes I refer to her as my "momapist" - combination of mom and therapist. Works for me!

[Omers]

I reallt want to start calling T "T"... It just really works!

[crazycanbegood]

Originally Posted by Butterflies Are Free

I call my T by her first name but sometimes I refer to her as my "momapist" - combination of mom and therapist. Works for me!

Sorry but I am so stealing momapist from you!

[Wren_]

Did your T have any ideas herself about what word to use?

[dismantle.repair]

In the almost 2 years I've known mine, I've NEVER had to refer to her.. as anything.
She uses my name, but I've never had to use her. The one time I heard from her (via phone)...
me: hullo? *sleepy*
T: Hi dis? This is Dr...
me: OH! :O HI! :O
...after convo, dis goes back to sleep and gets up 2 hours later...
dis: I had such a weird dream. I dreamt about T...
*checks phone*
OH NO!!!!!!!! What did we talk about?

[laceylu]

I started thinking of her as T or therapy. She calls herself a therapist, and I call her by her name. My inner child thinks of her as "therapy". Seriously we need a name to call them that really defines how we feel about them and what they do for us. Oh yeah and without the "others" thinking we are crossing boundaries.

[Xeneon]

I use to just call them by there first name or last name and NEVER SAID C or T word because that just sounded werid...lol

[wheeler]

Thanks everyone! I really did like 'momapist'! But I"ll keep searching for what feels right for me.
It was a really good conversation to have with my T though. She didn't have any good words, but she did share with me her family nickname, which was pretty funny, but definitly not something I'd use.
It was also interesting to hear that sometimes the word 'client' doesn't work for her, because like 'therapist' it seems a little cold and distant.

[skysblue]

For me, the word 'therapist' does not sound cold. It sounds nurturing and protective. Isn't it interesting how we each respond differently to words.? Old associations at play here. I don't resonate with the word, 'counselor'.

I call my T by her first name. But when I refer to her I call her my 'therapist' or my 'T'. That comes up in session if I'm telling her about any conversation outside of therapy in which I have referred to her.

But, to her face, it's always her first name. And that's how she refers to herself. She's not a PhD or MD so that makes it more natural. But I suspect that even if she were, she would not refer to herself as 'doctor'.

[Wren_]

It was also interesting to hear that sometimes the word 'client' doesn't work for her, because like 'therapist' it seems a little cold and distant.

I really dislike being called a client I hope you come up with a name that works well for you both

We have a nickname for our T that we refer to her as.
Sometimes we also just call her our "Talker Lady".
She likes both.

I call him "my Bob" (his name isn't really Bob, but you get the idea) sometimes.

like..."You're the best Bob in the world", "You're my favorite Bob ever", etc.

But if I need to call him by a title for whatever reason, I just call him my therapist. I have a younger part that calls him her therapist-friend.

[Dr.Muffin]

some of my clients call me Dr. Awesome.

some of my clients call me Dr. Awesome.

ROTFLMAO,,,, congratulations and thank you for the laugh!

[Indie'sOK]

My T is a social worker. I call her by her first name when I'm not face-to-face with her. When I am, I tend to avoid using her name..."you" or "my therapist" seems to come easier.

[zbmom]

I call her by her first name and refer to her as my therapist. I don't think it's cold at all, it's an official title and gives her the respect of her license. I also don't mind being called a client because again it's just a professional title of respect. I'd much prefer that over patient, which implies you're sick or something.

I don't know though, I have a very unusual relationship with my T, I know a lot about her and she is very compassionate and frank. She chose to let me know her more as a person because that is what I needed to feel like I could trust her. She recently revealed that some of her clients know nothing about her because that works better for them.

I guess people should just use whatever terminology feels the most natural to them.......