[pbutton]

I email when it starts to feel like my other option is self-combustion. Maybe a small group of 2-3 emails every 3 months.

every single day,via email/private online journaling,usually many times a day.

I usually call once between sessions which would be about 3 times a month. It feels like way too much. There's no email option. No texting or anything like that. Just the phone. I have written a few letters.

[healed84]

Latley it has been once in between our once a week sessions. T is okay with that, but is my goal is to not have to call him at until my session with him Wed. I don't e-mail or text though.

[critterlady]

I don't have email or text options with T. I've called him outside of sessions three times since I started seeing him in January.

I rarely contact my T between session, and only by phone when I do. Usually the only time the need comes up is when I am in a very serious depressive episode. Otherwise I find I can generally handle life as it transpires in between sessions. I guess the last time I called him was sometime back in November. That was the last time I ended up in the hospital so I was definitely in crisis mode.

[Chopin99]

I'm OCD enough to actually look. T gave me her email address in October. Since then, I've emailed her 86 times and she's emailed me 29 times. I've never called her, although she will do phone calls up to 15-min free. I think that's pretty generous.

[sconnie892]

I've never made contact between sessions. We've never discussed it as an option and in many ways I like no contact. It forces me to use the tools t has given me to cope with situations between sessions. If I had email or phone I would probably be contacting t all the time.

[struggling2]

i never have. its never been talked about. i know the group she's with has an after hours crisis line and im sure i could call her office if i really needed to...ive talked to her outside of sessions for scheduling conflicts and such but thats it.

[critterlady]

It just occurred to me that T spent about 45 minutes on the phone with me the day my mother died and he didn't charge me. He's a good egg, my T.

[stopdog]

I try to call and ask directly if I am calm enough right after the appointment to clear up or at least clarify in order to keep the anxiety down. That is usually once every couple of months.
I email in order to get rage and frustration away from me after the appointment if I think it will keep me from excessive si. That is about once every three or four months.

I usually am in a frustrated rage after every appointment but only contact the therapist if I think it will help dissipate some of it so the si is not so bad.

[rainbow8]

I hardly ever call my T but I email her at least once in between sessions, (I see her weekly) usually 2 or 3 times. The rule is that she doesn't email me back, but I can email her as much as I want to. I like that! Probably we'd have to discuss it if I emailed every day or more often than I do, but so far she's okay with it. She only has to read them, not reply so I don't feel guilty.

[eclogite]

a LOT.

Primarily email (which she offered up front at the beginning).. I see her twice a week and can't think of the last time I haven't emailed her at least once between sessions. She emails back too as needed. Emails can be updates, crises, insights, logistics, or light/humorous. Sometimes I just email her "thank you".

I've always made it clear that I do not expect responses in any time frame. So sometimes she replies, and sometimes she just brings it up in session. Typically, she replies and does so sooner than I would hope.

[tkdgirl]

I've sent a total of 7 emails since the start of March when I first emailed. 3 of those were in the last week though as I was a bit out of control and T had given me explicit premission to email her. Before that I only sent the odd post session email. I always resist the urge to email, I think it's me trying to exercise self control and prevent any dependence.

I will preface my answer with, he encourages it. We have emailed 74 times since May 1st and one phone call, he always initiates or responds.

We see each other twice per week.

I email her once-twice per day--sometimes just to feel connected, say thank you, send her a hug or ask for a hug; always an "afterthoughts email" following our sessions; other times w/ updates about things going on. If I ask her to email back she will make sure to, though often when I don't ask she emails anyway. She probably emails me 4 times a week, though much shorter emails than I send (sometimes a sentence or two, but this is plenty for me). She always sends me some sort of hug based on what's going on. For example, an "I believe in you hug" or a "keep at it hug." In depressed/anxious periods (like now), I'll email more often and will also text. She responds to texts maybe half the time, depending on what I write. As for talking on the phone, maybe once or twice per month and between 10-15 minutes. Again, all depends what is going on. Sometimes she calls after I've calmed down and it's good for me to check in w/ her at this time.

She doesn't charge me for this time. I've talked to her about it and since it's never more than 15 minutes on the phone (and I think that the most often we've talked in one week over the last 21 months is 3 times ) and her emails are short and she said that she genuinely wants to do this, she wants no money from me. So this works for both of us.

The irony is that my last T never called me back, I couldn't text her, I could email her though she'd never email me back, yet I felt more dependent on this T who minimized our contact (and we met once per week).

I have emailed my T twice in two years (he typically doesn't allow emails). I have never texted him (he doesn't want texts). He allows telephone calls freely, he says. In the first year, I probably only called him once, other than for scheduling issues. I called maybe three times for scheduling in that first year. When my dad got sick, I called him in between sessions for an actual issue for the first time. I called maybe once a month. Then when my dad was REALLY ill and after he died, I called T three times in one week, twice the next two weeks. Then I didn't call him again for two months, and then about another three months until the next call. So. I guess that was a really long way of saying, "It depends."

[learning1]

I included something in addition to a scheduling request in an email once.

[rainboots87]

Zero emails to this T. I was calling 2-3 times a week when I was really struggling, so we upped the frequency of my sessions from once a week to twice when possible. It's helped me stay more stable during the week and I was mostly able to go without calling. Then things got tough again, and I texted more. Not necessarily for a reply, though a couple times I wanted a call. Thsi week T told me that she can check her voice mail w/o having her phone on her, so it would be preferable than texting. Though she said I'm more than welcome to text just to get something out there, if it helps me (which is usually what I'm doing). Overall, I'd say I average once a week between sessions, typically via a phone call.

I find it really helpful to connect when I melt down between sessions for one reason or another.

[BlessedRhiannon]

I typically send one email in between sessions. I like to process the session in email. Sometimes, I don't email at all, and sometimes T and I will have a brief email exchange of maybe 2 or 3 emails. I call when things are particularly difficult, but that happens less than once every couple months. I've texted T a few times, per her request, to update her on a situation. So, usually, I contact T once between sessions, but there have been times when I'm struggling where I've had daily contact, which T encouraged.

[BonnieJean]

I have two sessions a week. I have unlimited email permission but I try hard to be considerate of her time. I keep them short. They might average 1-2x a day averaging out that I don't email her every day. Emails have been an important supplement to sessions and I continue working thru them even though she doesn't do therapy by email. Her answers are brief. But she does answer most times. I'm allowed to call in a crisis but I don't call. She doesn't text.

[retro_chic]

I see my T fortnightly and I usually send her an email in between sessions. The one time I didn't, I relapsed with my SI. Now I worry I am becoming too dependant on her emails. She always emails back. I have never called her. I don't like speaking on the phone and she has a really busy schedule anyway.

[bipolarmedstudent]

I now see my psychiatrist for therapy around once a month. I don't contact her between sessions at all.

[LadyShadow]

I see my T twice a month with no emails, texts or phone calls. However if something happens, I have known him long enough, and he's known me long enough that I feel free to call him and schedule an emergency session. I think having the option of the emergency session anytime I need it, makes me secure with my T. He is just a phone call and a short drive away and that brings me great comfort.

[Dreamy01]

Not very often. She doesn't always reply to emails, an issue I really struggle with. I tend to send one about every two to three months, that's all. I phone even less frequently, perhaps about every three to four months.

I like knowing I can contact her if I need to especially by phone, but while she's fine with it if I need to she doesn't encourage frequent contact. I think it's good in a way as I can concentrate on my own resources outside sessions rather than needing her too much. I do wish she would respond to my emails though.