[wotchermuggle]

Have you ever felt silly after asking for an earlier or extra appointment. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a mini-crisis and try to compensate by asking for an earlier or additional session. Between the time I ask and the session occurs, I often end up feeling silly for asking and then am sort of embarrassed going into session and explain myself basically.

I think it's sort of like I feel vulnerable, ask for help, then the wall goes back up and I feel stupid.

Don't feel silly about asking for help or extra help... it takes courage to reach out and ask for help.

[Butterflies Are Free]

Great question - at first I had a hard time letting my T know that I was struggling but after asking for an extra session for the first time and seeing how much it helped, I was able to feel okay with it. I also have Bipolar Disorder and my T does phone sessions so there have been times that I have been struggling with depression and just needed to check in with her for 15 minutes. I think it is great that you are going to do this and I hope it will be helpful to you!

[critterlady]

I had trouble with that in the beginning. There was one time I called him and left a message and then a couple of hours later, I called back and said never mind. He called me and I was too embarrassed to pick up the phone. He left me a message asking me to reconsider calling because he was happy to talk with me.

After a couple of times of actually fallowing through and seeing him in between scheduled sessions, I realized that T wants me to call him when I feel awful. He doesn't want me to feel like I'm not worth the extra attention. It's always helped.

[pbutton]

A lot of the time I feel silly even having regular sessions, like I am trying to be needy for no reason.

[Silent_tsol]

Originally Posted by pbutton

A lot of the time I feel silly even having regular sessions, like I am trying to be needy for no reason.

Yep, this.

Thank you for posting this question, it's good to great that some people started this way and have built past it

[healed84]

Yes, I have felt that on occasion! When expressing that one day, when I had seen T twice a week for a couple in a row he told me there are a reason Ts like to give those kind of appointments. One, b/c they like to show that they are there for you in crisis.. even if you feel silly about the crisis it is that to you and you need somebody. Also, T called them hot cognitions.. It is good to talk about the problem then and there, while experiecing it.. You might get a little more insight out of them.

[lostmyway21]

I feel guilty about seeing T twice a week. I'm like his only client that goes that often. Talk about needy. He suggested it, but I'm sure he didn't think I'd keep it going for over eight months with no end in sight.

[wotchermuggle]

Thanks for the morale boost guys. Glad I'm not alone!

[dolphingirl]

I had not heard back from my t about a time for a session so I decided to call, especially since the last few days had been rough and I felt like I really needed to talk that week. It was my first time calling t. She offered me a time 3 days later and I asked her a couple of times if there was one any sooner. She told me if something came open she'd let me know. By the day of the session, I felt silly for asking about a time sooner because the past couple days went well.

I think ts are glad when we ask for a session because that shows that we are recognizing when we need help and want it instead of suffering through or having a crisis. They would rather help before something small is wrong then find out something went horribly wrong. Sometimes it is tough to know what will change or happen in those few days. It could go either way, things could get better, worse, or stay the same. Especially when they've been bad, it's tough to see a way out.

[taylor43]

Yes i really do, but for me it has really helped allot.

[CantExplain]

No, I've never felt silly having an extra appointment.
I can still use it even if the crisis passes.

I've sometime felt stupid after cancelling an appointment.

[Crescent Moon]

Originally Posted by wotchermuggle

Have you ever felt silly after asking for an earlier or extra appointment. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a mini-crisis and try to compensate by asking for an earlier or additional session. Between the time I ask and the session occurs, I often end up feeling silly for asking and then am sort of embarrassed going into session and explain myself basically.

I think it's sort of like I feel vulnerable, ask for help, then the wall goes back up and I feel stupid.

There have been times I felt awkward or silly about it, but I'm fortunate in that any time I've expressed that, my therapist has always made me feel like she's really glad I asked for what I needed.

[athena.agathon]

A lot of the time I feel silly even having regular sessions, like I am trying to be needy for no reason.

ditto.

So my short answer is, yes, I feel silly.

But my long answer is that I have never asked for an extra session or called my therapist for anything except scheduling issues. My previous therapist encouraged me to call her, but I never would have.

A few weeks ago, I emailed and scheduled an appointment in between appointments (which I didn't really think of as "extra" because I was going to be two weeks between appointments because of scheduling conflicts on my end). I initially had told my therapist that I didn't want to schedule anything that week and that I would wait, so of course he made a point of commenting that he was glad I came and asking me how I felt about my decision to schedule a session, which embarrassed me. But I didn't die of it, so that was good.

No, I've never felt silly or whatever about scheduling an extra appointment. It isn't something I do often, so when I do need that extra time I have no guilt about it. That is one of the things I really prefer about not having a specific day and time for appointments. I have never felt like I was only allowed to be there at that one point of every week. T welcomes me to schedule as best fits what I need at the time, and often when I have more frequent appointments it is actually at his request. I like the fluid and natural method we have for determining how much time I need and when I need it.