[jazzy123456]

I just want to say every person deserves respect. We don't have the right to be rude... but, we all have moments in therapy where emotions and other things just get in the way of our every day behavior...Oh and I ALWAYS have my phone off once I'm in the therapy room/office... I leave it on in the waiting room though and it just happened to ring about 20 seconds before she came in to get me so I answered it because I needed a distraction from my nervousness/anxiety of the session starting. I talked on the phone for 30 seconds and then I hung up. but, yeah... idk what I'm trying to say but, I've worked as a secretary, in retail, and a restaurant... so I know all about what it FEELS like for ppl to be rude... so, I guess I should have used a different word...in that sense.

MY only point, I guess was, sometimes I feel like I, myself am at a job in therapy just as much as she is but, idk... I hope this made somewhat more sense. or my updated version. but, yeah... I was asking everyones opinion cus I didn't really know because it all happened so fast... (since I didn't call the person and the person called me)

[lostmyway21]

Me and T are the same way with our phones. Im his first session so once in a while his goes off. He picks it up and turns it on silent. If mine goes off, I pick it up and flip it to silent. The first time my phone went off in session, he asked if I wanted to answer it. I told him no way without hesitation. I value our time far too much to waste it answering the phone, while I'm in session. I dont mind at all that he keeps his on. That is the reason he is so accessible, and I normally never have to wait for a response.

I would answer my phone if it was my kids calling me because I would know it was something important.

[PurplePaisley]

Depending on the Caller ID, T tells me to answer it.

When my dad was dying, I kept my phone on in therapy, but on vibrate. Mostly, it ended up being my husband. He kept calling during therapy, every week, despite knowing that I had the phone on for emergencies with my dad, and knowing I didn't like it when he called when he KNEW I was in therapy, unless it was to tell me something had happened to my father. So, mostly my T and I would end up talking about my difficulties in my marriage during that time, and my husband's lack of respect for my feelings, thoughts and wishes.

[BlessedRhiannon]

My T has only ever answered her phone once in a session, and it's 'cuz it was an emergency. She's also checked her text messages once for the same reason. Otherwise, she totally respects my time by not answering.

I have arrived at T's office while on the phone, since I go in the middle of the work day and am sometimes just wrapping up a conference call. If that happens, I will hold up a hand to T and mouth to her "just a sec, almost done." That way, I've acknowledged T and let her know I'm trying to wrap up my call. Once the call is done, I set my phone to silent and don't answer during a session. I don't WANT to talk to anyone during my T time. I'm dealing with difficult emotions, and answering my phone would seriously distract me and probably upset me.

I leave my phone in the car. If I had young children ... not sure. Maybe I would take it in & leave it on vibrate. But y'know - it's only 50 minutes. People can leave a message and I'll call them back in less than an hour. It wasn't all that long ago that people actually had to go home to see if there were any phone messages, and somehow we all got by just fine.

(Yep, showin' my age here ... )

[Unrigged64072835]

My old T would answer her phone in session because it was her daughter calling...and she wouldn't stop calling until T answered the phone. I wasn't mad at her for it, because if it was my daughter I'd do the same thing, because she would do the same thing. I guess we had this special agreement because we had teenagers that actually *wanted* to talk to Mom. LOL

My current T doesn't answer the phone when it rings, and I turn my cell on to vibrate in case it's something important.