[wotchermuggle]

What would you do if your therapist moves 1.5 hours away? This is a therapist that you've been working together with for 2+ years.

[stopdog]

The woman I see has told me she has had clients willing to drive 2.5-3 hours away to come see her each week. I don't think driving 1.5 hours is necessarily too much, but I would probably try to find someone closer.

[Melody_Bells]

Hi Wotchermuggle,

My T also moved quite far, but I still keep seeing her, just less often.

Even if my T moved to another country, I would still find a way to see her....

I'd either find a new therapist or end therapy altogether, depending on whichever made more sense for my situation. There s no way I'd make that kind of commute that frequently. It just wouldn't be manageable for me personally.

It probably wouldn't be practical for me to commute that far. I don't drive, and even if my T were to move somewhere where I could easily travel in 1.5 h with public transport, it would probably be rather too expensive, and take up too much time and energy. The alternative then would be to finish with therapy completely, I think. Which doesn't really bear thinking about, right now.

[Perna]

My therapist was that far away for all nine years. Seeing her and her only was a priority for me in my life; I would have done anything I could to arrange things so I could see her.

[BobKatt]

I wonder how well Skype would work as a solution? Has anyone tried long distance therapy either over the phone or Skype?

[MoxieDoxie]

This is a opportunity to have a fresh pair of eyes/ears/technique/ideas to help you move further in your therapy. Things can get stagnant when you see a therapist for years. Your old T should have plenty of chart notes to send to new T and they should have a phone conversation to catch new T up on your case.

[growlycat]

I am at the opposite coast here in the US from my T so phone sessions are what we do. I'm back east once a year and I have a double session when I see him.

It isn't ideal--
I miss the coziness of his office, going for walks, get coffee together, the occasional pat on the back, sharing/swapping books, seeing his reaction etc. All those things are missing. We don't skype because of the time difference. I'm often still in pj's when I call!

One way i'm dealing with it is that I've found a T out here to deal with specific issues. He's sort of my back up if anything happens to my long term T.

[growlycat]

ps...

So I guess it depends on how attached you are to this T? If therapy has been stagnant or just so so--always a good reason to keep your options open.

[Asiablue]

I'd consider it if i could drive. But otherwise i'd maybe have to find another therapist, or maybe do 2 hour session every fortnight instead.

[wotchermuggle]

I don't even know if he can or would see me after the move. We haven't talked about it in person yet (just found out via email). I'm scared to ask, but we work so well together.

[Squirrel1983]

At first, I would probably ask if she would mind me making the longer drive to see her. I did that with my first pdoc when I moved 90 miles away from him and didn't want to find a new pdoc closer to home. I spent 2.5 years doing this as I was comfortable with him and thought I wouldn't be as comfortable with someone else. He didn't mind me driving that long to see him, so I did it.

Once I started T (as a choice of my own to try to get help in addition to my medications), she was even supportive of me driving that long to see him. She said I needed to be comfotable with who was giving me my meds, so it that meant driving 90 miles, that was okay. Finally though after 6 months of T, I decided that I was willing to try someone new and closer to home. At this point I trusted T, so I asked her for recommendations, so I could see if they were covered by my insurance. The one she suggested was, so I made an appointment with him and have been seeing him since (1.5 years).

Anyways, back to your question...if T told me she wouldn't "let" me drive that long to see her, I would probably try to finish T before she moved. If that didn't look possible, I would probably ask her for recommendations of other T who are like her and try to see if any of them would work for me.

[mandazzle]

If it were me, I would drive any distance (within reason) to continue to see my T. I already drive an hour to see her and I don't mind at all because it is worth it.

[ShaggyChic_1201]

- I also travel 65 miles each way to my T for once a week sessions. I've rearranged on a few occasions, but I don't skip it. Yes it's inconvenient, yes it's expensive since gas prices have gone up so much, but I love and trust T so much that it's totally worth it to me.

Good luck in whatever you decide. Maybe you could continue to see T in the beginning while searching for new one in your area....

[CantExplain]

If you'd asked me a year ago I might have said yes.

[ScrewedUpMe]

This is exactly what happened to me at the beginning of the year. I too found out via email at the end of last year and was devastated. T suggested phone or Skype sessions and said she would continue to support me. After talking about it in person, she said I could even come and see her if I wanted to (she was reluctant to say it as she didn't want to put pressure on me to make such a big journey) but I decided I would go every 2 weeks to see her. And that's what we've been doing for several months now. When I see her, we do a 2 hour session, so I get the same amount of therapy as I used to and it makes it more worth the travelling time. It is working for me so far. If I am having a bad time, then I may go weekly for a few weeks, but due to cost of petrol I try to only go once a fortnight. I can also email or do phone sessions in the weeks between if I want to.

[WikidPissah]

I'd probably make the drive, but maybe change therapy to just 2x/month, or even once a month and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, I would stop. I am not sure about you stopping altogether though, that really depends where you are at mentally.

[Victoria'smom]

Some insurance reimburse you for non-emergency medical travel, check your insurance. I traveled that distance weekly for my son for only 3 months. If it was bi weekly we would have continued it for longer. It woul add about $100 to your therapy bill a month but if you do longer sessions it would save you 2 co pays bringing it down to less then $100.

[pbutton]

I work full-time and go to school. That would be too much commute time for me. I'd have to find another T that was nearby.

[Perna]

If I might ask, how did you get an email notification your T was moving or something rather than hear and discuss it with T in person? My T changed her location in the middle of my therapy but we immediately discussed it and if/when I wanted to go to the new office, etc. I can't imagine being left in the air about whether I was "wanted" or not or "allowed" to go see her, etc.

[wotchermuggle]

Originally Posted by Perna

If I might ask, how did you get an email notification your T was moving or something rather than hear and discuss it with T in person? My T changed her location in the middle of my therapy but we immediately discussed it and if/when I wanted to go to the new office, etc. I can't imagine being left in the air about whether I was "wanted" or not or "allowed" to go see her, etc.

My T is at retirement age. Something happened in the previous session that spurred me to email my T to ask about his retirement and I found out about the planned move in the future. We had not spoken in person about it yet.

I'm glad to find out that I can continue to see T after the move if we are still working together by then. I think T just assumed that I wouldn't make the drive. Even if we finish work before T leaves, it just eases my mind that I can still contact him if necessary.

Thank you to everyone who posted a comment and voted.