[tinyrabbit]

A few people have mentioned their Ts' vacations recently. I'm feeling nosy and thinking it could be interesting to compare. How much time off does your T have in a year? Do they take lots of small breaks or a few bigger ones?

My T is in private practice and seems to take eight weeks off. He takes a bunch of small breaks rather than a few big ones - no more than two weeks at a time. I prefer it that way as I wouldn't cope well with a longer break. What about everyone else?

In the nearly 3 years I've seen my T he appears to have only taken 3 x 2 week breaks. If he takes more I do not know as it hasn't affected my sessions.

[anilam]

I was thinking about it too...
My T takes one week in summer (beginning of july), one week through x-mas and then 2weeks a year- work related.
That's it. Never longer than a week. Though it sometimes happen that we dont see each other longer. Longest were nearly 2 months when I went abroad.

[Solepa]

Thanks for the question tinnyrabbit. I have to ask my T that. She will leave in September to have her baby and be gone for few months. I strongly hope I will sort things out before that. But if she also takes some time off during the summer there would be not much time left for me to do so. I´m starting to fear this maternity leave thing. Oh how naive I was thinking I need just few sessions to get fixed like maybe 5 or so.........how naive. Is it realistic to think I could do that before September? I dunno I hope so.

I have only seen my T for about 11 months so I don't know exactly, but he seems to take 1-2 weeks off at Christmas/New Years (which makes every kind of sense since pretty much everybody has the days from Dec 23 to Jan 2 off), 1 week at Easter, and about 8 weeks in summer. (Last year he took 9 weeks in summer, this year he'll take 7 or 8 - obviously I'm hoping for 7...)

This is not an unusual amount of holiday time in this country for someone over 60; it's difficult for me when he's away that long, of course, but I don't think it's wrong or unreasonable at all. Unfortunately, since he's in private practice there's no backup therapist or anything like that - I would have liked to have some emergency option but on the other hand I know I'll survive without it.

[~EnlightenMe~]

My T is now taking a four week break. He won't be back until mid June. He has taken off a week here and there. This month long vacation is going to be interesting, I have no clue how I am going to feel throughout. He told me I could text him, but I would rather deal with things on my own.

[retro_chic]

My T has just returned this week from a two or three week break. She is also taking 6 months maternity leave at the end of July or something like that. I'm pretty annoyed with her about this whole "leave" situation even though I know that is really selfish with me. I think it because my Pdoc is also on some sort of leave at the moment and has been for two or three months. This past month I have had no support from either of them so yeah... getting kind of sick of everyone leaving. My last T also took 6 months maternity leave and then never returned. Seems to be a running theme.

[BonnieJean]

My t's probably adds up to three weeks spread throughout the whole year.

[Tamster]

Really it seems like an awful lot! Between vacations and speaking engagements and being ill it is probably 6 weeks a year. It seemed like every other week the secretary would call and tell me she had to reschedule, they all would be terribly sorry but in the long run it was one of the reasons I left their office and one of the reasons I havent gone back into therapy. I am going to start next month to find that elusive dr. that wants to see his patients at least everyweek. good luck!

[tinyrabbit]

Interesting to see the variety. My T's vacations are very spread out - a week here, two weeks there - and I have a list of them all for the year plus a couple of conference dates that don't actually affect me. I'm very glad he doesn't take longer than two weeks at a time as I don't think I would be able to cope. But I'm glad he takes some time out to recharge!

My heart goes out to those of you whose Ts go on maternity leave. That must be really hard.

[stopdog]

The one I see takes off a week (I guess - she may just cancel on certain days) about every two or three months and then sometimes 2-3 weeks in a row. I usually cancel too so they end up in two week blocks mostly. The woman only works 3 days a week so I do not know if she cancels the whole week or not. There is usually no rescheduling because I will not go to an appointment when her dog is at her office and there are not many different days or times to begin with.
I hate how the woman tells me a couple of weeks in advance, like if she tells me just the week before I won't be able to handle it or anything. But then she will write me the day of the appointment and tell me her dog is going to be there but will be picked up in the middle of the appointment. So that cancellation becomes blamed on me for being unwilling to have the dog and interruption. I don't mind her not being there, I do mind being manipulated.

[photostotake]

My T just took 9 days off for vacation and said that it was the first time he had done so in years. Said he felt guilty taking the time off as he knows his patients count on him being there week after week. When I told him I didn't think he should and that him and his family deserved it, he told me I was his only patient to tell him that. Don't get me wrong, I missed him and our session, but I knew he needed it and he seemingly came back quite refreshed afterwards too.

Not quite sure I could handle some of the longer breaks that the other Ts seem to take. Especially with my Ts no contact rules in between sessions.

[WikidPissah]

Usually 3-4 weeks per year. Sometimes more, but not too often.

[harvest moon]

Interesting question! Though I think that mine will win
He takes 2 weeks for Christmas, another two for Easter and a shocking two months during the summer (July and August). Nice huh?
Plus, he has no cell phone, e-mail, etc etc!

[content30]

My T takes 3 weeks, I believe. However, she will also occasionally change her schedule for certain events. For instance, she wasn't on vacation but had another engagement and could not see me during my usual, evening time slot last week. She worked that day but not that evening. So, she takes vacation and occasionally rearranges her schedule for various reasons (not very often).

[sugahorse1]

I don't think mine takes a lot of leave - only 2 or so weeks over Christmas and New Years. Her maternity leave was only 6 weeks and she even made a plan to see me the day she was going to be admitted to have her baby!!! Wow

Originally Posted by harvest moon

Interesting question! Though I think that mine will win
He takes 2 weeks for Christmas, another two for Easter and a shocking two months during the summer (July and August). Nice huh?
Plus, he has no cell phone, e-mail, etc etc!

That's a lot like my T. It's hard, it really is.

[unaluna]

Seems like my t never goes on vacation. It's like I'm on an effin t treadmill. I would love a month off!! He takes off a couple of weeks every year or so, a long weekend here and there. Maybe answering this question will have a magic effect and he'll take a break, as long as he doesn't get sick hock-ptooey (ward off the evil eye!).

[growlycat]

usually 2-3 weeks in August plus a few days during the year, sometimes the holiday week because patients are away.

He should go on vacation now for all the good he is doing me lol

[wotchermuggle]

My T takes the statutory holidays off, occasional single days off, and then a couple of weeks in the summer.

[BlessedRhiannon]

My T has a school aged child, so she tends to take time off in line with that. She usually takes the week of Spring Break off, a week in the summer (usually in July), and a week around Christmas time. Sometimes, she'll take long weekends, but that doesn't usually affect me, since I meet with her on Thursdays. Otherwise, she just takes off the US national holidays. If my appointment happens to fall on one, we just reschedule for earlier in the week (which means we always have to reschedule the week of Thanksgiving).

So, that's what - 3 weeks a year overall, with a few extra days thrown in here and there. About the same amount of time as I get in vacation days from my own job. When my T takes long weekends, she is still available by cell phone, but not email. When she takes her full weeks off, she always has a backup T that can be contacted in emergency, but I never would. Now that I have my pdoc, I'd probably just call him.

Very little actually. I suspect he allows himself two weeks a year, maybe three, and he doesn't take it all at once.

My t doesn't go on extended vacations, but she has taken a week here and there especially in the months before she moved, she went to visit there quite a bit. We just rescheduled appointments around it, with the understanding that I could call if I needed to. She always say "I love the work. You can call me if you need to." I never did, not wanting to disturb her time away, but I wanted to more than once.

[velcro003]

my T seems to have been taking less time off as the years have passed. She takes a two week break in summer with her kids for vacation, a week at christmas and random days here and there.

Only been seeing my T since Feb and she has had 1 week off since then so I am not so sure how much time she has off yet.