Therapist contact between sessions?

twisted,
He has said for me to text him if I need to but I don't want to bother him and sure don't want to become that client that is the pain in the but that he wishes he had never 'got started'. We stopped Xanax a few weeks ago and it was my 'make it all stop' pill and now my brain is playing tennis with thoughts I don't want in there an I can't make them stop. I am using you all right now to just make myself 'wait a minute' for typing and response. kinda like an alcoholic just waiting one minute at a time to see if it will get better before I grab the phone.....

I would go ahead and let T know what's going on. No sense if waiting around things getting worse. I highly doubt that T will get upset about one text.

I consider that to be a completely valid use of the forum. There is no problem with that in my opinion.

I know he wont get mad at me, but I am afraid I will start him worrying about me becoming 'needy' and back off and regret telling me I can text him. I want to sooo bad but don't know. And what if he decides that I am getting worse because of session work and slows down work in session... I don't want that either.. I am so confused on what to do right now

thank you for responding twisted... either you are ahelping my by time or I will just give up and text. either way,, thanks

Like lots of other people have said, the important thing is to set expectations. Really hashing these out in session is a good way to start. I'm sure somebody else has said this here or elsewhere, but don't forget that YOU can tell T what YOUR expectations are too. If you don't say in a phone message/email when you'd like to be contacted back, or even IF you expect to be contacted back, T makes assumptions about these things--which can lead to lots of hurt feelings or just miscommunication.

In my case, I haven't really called except for scheduling issues, but often there were things underlying a requested scheduling change (maybe I cancelled an appointment because I felt too depressed to go, or wanted an additional appointment because I was in a current crisis--you get the idea). The first couple times I did this, I didn't tell T when I expected an answer--which led, once to him calling immediately because he assumed I was in some sort of crisis that I wasn't (which made me irritated) and another time to him not calling for almost a week because he figured I would call back to set up a new appt. time (which left me feeling abandoned.)

Later, I learned to say things like, "If you could please call me back as soon as you can," or "You can call me back on Tuesday or Wednesday," or "I will call back next week."

I don't know, maybe this is just simple phone etiquette, but I know I had difficulty being upfront about what level of support I needed--I didn't want to seem needy, and just hoped (expected?) T would magically know if and when I wanted him to call back.

Hope that helps.

I think it depends on the T and how they feel. Mine says to email or call but I usually just email because I'm better at writing down things. Our usual sessions are once a week but because of the holidays I wasn't able to see her.
And I'm really in a bad place and could use some help. I sent her a email and texted her and she told me that she would take a look at it but I haven't heard anything yet. I feel bad to contact her during the holidays I know she has her own life. But I also really need some help. I'm very torn.

I understand shamon,,,, I really do. I haven't text yet, but each second, I am but a second away. sorry you are to

I get it too. Struggling with the same issue-to text or not to text. Definitely don't want to get pushed back because of being too demanding. Sigh.

Contact in between sessions is fine. I've always preferred email. I have a work cell which I will give to some high-risk clients. I tell the people I meet with something along these lines: "I'm giving you this contact info so you can use it, if you need to. And I want you to use it. If you're wondering whether you should use it and you're in a sticky situation, or having a really rough time, then I'd say lets be on the safe side and contact me. Just understand that it might take me awhile to get back to you if you contact me outside of office hours, I'm known for going camping where there is no email service. I promise that I will return every contact as soon as I'm able to."

I email my T between sessions usually after my session to recap and tell her how I think it went. I only call her when I am in crisis.

I write letters mostly. I don't want the therapist to respond. Both have cell phones and give the number out but I don't often find talking to them to be useful to me. One I sometimes email -but we had to clarify for her not to try and respond. Her responses were not useful.

I think the real issue is that you don't feel like you have a right to need others (i.e. your therapist). Maybe this stems from low self worth? I think that this is an issue that you should bring up in therapy.

T and i text each other and email each other inbetween sessions.

I am very fortunate that my t lets me text, call, and e-mail between sessions. I usually e-mail or text. She will even check in with me through out the week. I really struggle with maintaining that relationship connection, it helps a great deal. I worry that I'm bothering her too, but that's her call for her boundaries. If she's offered it, then it's okay!