How do you think of yourself in therapy?

My T calls me by my first name but - but I heard her tell someone on the phone one time that she has a "client" waiting so she needed to hang up. So, I guess "client". My T before this referred to people as his "Patients".

Do you wear that as a badge of honor, chilidog? I know I would!
By the way, I am having fun referring to you as "_____dog" and my goal is to continue doing it until I can't think of any more prefixes. But don't worry, I won't call you "hotdog" because we aren't close enough for that term of endearment.

I'm sure she doesn't mind, fish-taco!

LOL if she minds, of course I'll stop.
I was going to ask you if fish-tacos taste good, but...

IT'S A REAL THING! I saw it on the cooking shows! You use cole slaw and some nice fish - very fresh and healthy! maybe it's a California thing...

It is definitely not a Mexican thing.

Everything unusual is a California thing, Hanky! I'm on the other side of the country, and not quite close enough to NYC to really be affected by its own brand of unusual!

I know my T refers to the people he sees as his patients... I do feel like his patient, which I think I am okay with at this time.

Hate to contribute to off-topic chatting, but fish taco's are the best!
My favorite is at Sloppy Joe's.

Going out now to buy some stationery for a Thank You not for my therapist. This week is our 5-year anniversary our co-working

Away from sessions I think of us as Dr and patient (he's a Psychiatrist). When we are in session , I think of us as two adults with varying levels of expertise who are trying to unravel the mystery of me

A "Thank You not?" Is that a Freudian slip?

Fish tacos can be tasty whether authentic or not.
The therapist did, after about the third or fourth reference to me and challenging client in the same sentence, assure me she enjoyed a good challenge. I reminded her I care little about her level of enjoyment, she replied she knew I would say that, and, balance having been restored, we went on our merry way.

Slushpuppy

T has never referred to me in conversation as a client or as a patient. He did once in an email state that we are on equal footing as two individuals trying to help me. I kinda liked that...

i guess i see myself as her client

Oh, she would LOVE this! Thanks! (really!)

Can we all play?

As far as my xT I was a client. I think I want new T to be my Caddy. He can carry my bags and suggest a club, and advice occasionally.

That's really interesting. I feel the opposite- I much prefer T to therapist because it feels like a gentler way to face the truth that she is 'only' my therapist. I never ever say therapist in real life and we just say 't' now

I had to think for quite a long time about why he would find this funny... then it dawned on me that you might not actually be called hankster! Strange to contemplate...

I suppose I am his client as I keep reminding him he's technically my interior decorator! I still have trouble calling him Dr. Matter fact, I can't!

My T keeps referring to the relationship as an 'alliance'. i like that term. Sometimes I refer to myself as a patient...when I'm more connected. At other times I refer to myself as a client...when things are not going so well in therapy. I don't do it on purpose but I catch myself choosing the different words depending on how things are going.

When I first began therapy, I asked my therapist if I was considered a patient or a client. She told me that since she is not a doctor, I am considered a client. I kinda like that term. Not sure why, but it makes me feel important!

Like some of the others have commented, I don't use the term "T" in referring to my therapist. (For me) it sounds disrespectful. I don't call my doctor "D", or my psychiatrist "P". I refer to them as my psychiatrist or my doctor.

I call my therapist by her first name. I just don't use her name on PC. She uses my first name, so the terms therapist and client are not really brought up that much.

I thought "T" was used on PC as a shortcut to typing "therapist" all the time, since we use that term so much! I would never actually call my T "T' outside of this forum! I have emailed her sometimes where I'm talking about this forum and inadvertently used "T". I assume she figured it out!

I see myself as "that chronic patient with no hope of recovery, who no T wants on their caseload". I never used to think that. It was through my journey in therapy that that view has been perpetuated. ironic, really. I guess if you treat your clients that way, then eventually they will come to believe it.

My T calls me her client, although not often. It came up at the beginning when I wanted to know whether I was a client or a patient. When I'm having a bad time though I think of myself as a patient because I just want someone to make me better.

And yes, I have very nearly called her T! I've taken hard copies of my posts in before and she's queried what T means so she knows anyway.

patient, client, whatever: I feel like SWDDT (She Who Doesn't Deserve Therapy)

Hm - T2 is a doctor, but she calls the people who see her "clients", and wants them to call her by her first name. I haven't had occasion to call her anything, but I think of her as Dr ________.