one step closer to my goal

I stop therapy last January due to lack of sick days from work. I decided then to start putting money aside to pay for private therapy on weekend which would not interfere with my work.

I just got some money back from my income tax return. So, I'll be ready to start before summer, maybe June or something.

The only thing is, the therapist I want to see said she is in conflict if she takes me on at her private practice as I saw her before through community mental health. (public system) She says that it would look like she is recruiting clients from her public practice to her private one...
My psychiatrist sent her a new referral to her private practice. I hope she will accept to see me. I have a good relationship with her and I would not need to start over with someone new.

I just need to contact her to see if she will take me... I am dreading the phone call.....

I was in the same situation.
I asked my (public system therapist) when I was finished would I be able to go private.
I also had a good connection, and did not want to start from the beginning again as good connections are hard to find and take an investment of time and $ to create.

The answer was long, but in effect therapists cannot suggest themselves for private practice.
The T did not hand me a business card, or make any sign that I could be or could not be a private client.

Almost a year later when I was ready and with some effort and time to find the contact information I made the call.
Because of the discussion of conflict of interest earlier in the public system, I was nervous when I phoned to see if the T would work with me.

I made request for an appointment and was pleased to say that getting to work with someone that 'knows' you is worth the effort.
Even then the first appointment was a 'meet and greet' and making sure that this was going to be of benefit for me, then it was up to me to decide. If was almost like starting with someone new.

I will say I did contact other public and private resources before hand, so I had a plan B and C.

All the best,

I hope it will work out and that the time between seeing T publically and wanting to see them privately will remove part of the problem of suggested recruitment.

How annoying!

And what's wrong with using your public practice to recruit private patients? A bet a lot of doctors do it all the time.

I contacted her last Friday. She said she would like to be able to see me, but that she has to check with the ethic board of her association. She said that it can be a difficult process some time. She said to keep my pdoc informed as she might need a new referral for psychotherapy service. I might need to meet with an independent therapist for evaluation of my motivation to see this her in her private practice.
It just seem to be so complicated.
I have been without therapy for a few months now and I do start to feel the impact. I hope things will work out.

I really hope you'll be able to go back to her. Red tape sucks.
Keep us posted?

I hope you can see her. It's so much better to continue with someone with whom you already have a connection than to start over from scratch.

My previous T was through my university counseling center, which had a 12 session limit. I asked him if I could convert to private at the end and he said it was against the center's rules, since it would be unfair to other private therapists in practice in the area. He did tell me, though, that there was nothing stopping me from finding his private practice independently through my insurance and calling directly. In the end, it was a moot point, as he moved out of state.

Carla,
Very interesting, in some way this does look like this is taking your best interest, yet I would feel frustrated as I spent all this time in therapy learning to trust my own judgment.

Please keep us informed, the whole ethics question is important.
All the best you find a speedy solution.
G

Update...

I cannot see my past therapist at her private practice...
I am kind of at a lost of what to do next. I have many past therapist, some good, some not so much. But I have all saw them through their public practice. I imagine the same rule will apply for all of them.
I will contact another past therapist, DBT therapist, and see if she can take me in her private practice. DBT rules are stricts, plus the ethic rules over that, I don't this having a positive outcome...
Any positive encouragement/thoughts/support would be appreciated. I don't ask often for this, but I feel let down and discourage...

(((Carla))) Sorry things aren't going very smoothly. Is there a reason you are only trying past T's? Maybe a new T would be easier to get into?

That's really disappointing that you can't see your old T. In some ways I get the "rules," but it's not like your T was trying to solicit your business in her private practice.

Why is it that ethics sometimes seem to not work in favor of the client?

Lots of warm encouragement to you, Carla. I'm sorry you've been struggling.

Carla, is there a waiting period. Can you see one in private practive after a year or something? There is a 2 yr rule in the States about being friends after T.

There is no wait period time that makes it easier.
Exceptions are made on a case by case basis.
Thay said there are a "few" other private therapist within 60 minutes drive that I can go see.
I just wanted the 5 minutes drive, trusted, known to me therapist. Especially that I will now be paying for it...
It sucks... I really thought that they would not only look at kilometer (miles) to make their decision, but at the trust aspect of it. I find trust is very important in the success of therapy, anyway for me...
sigh...

I'm amazed you could find anyone to see you on a Saturday/weekend, much less someone you had seen before. I commend you for saving your money to make things more to your liking. Hope you can find a new therapist that is pretty close and will work.

You can't go back to seeing the old therapist at the clinic, take unpaid leave for the hours away from work (and pay yourself out of the money you've saved?). That's what I did; just rearranged my work hours a bit or took unpaid leave.

Sorry to hear your news.