[lifelesstraveled]

And T has been on the phone for almost 30 minutes. What a waste of a 90 min drive.

[gayleggg]

I don't blame you for being upset. How rude that is. Hope he gets off soon.
Gayle

Really? That is rude unless it is a total emergency! As soon as he or she gets off, I would clarify that I expect those 30 minutes to be added on to the end of the session. As in, "so now we end 30 minutes later than normal, right?"

[unaluna]

Wtf? If the person is suicidal, he should have called emergency. Have you been listening in??

[lifelesstraveled]

Originally Posted by gayleggg

I don't blame you for being upset. How rude that is. Hope he gets off soon.
Gayle

My session is over now and she's still on the phone. And I have some place to be after this. Smh.

[lifelesstraveled]

Originally Posted by hankster

Wtf? If the person is suicidal, he should have called emergency. Have you been listening in??

It sounds like a business call to me. They are talking about contracts and money.

Seriously, I would write a note that I expect at least two free sessions to compensate me for my driving time, put it on her desk and leave. Man. This is just UNACCEPTABLE. I am so sorry it happened to you.

[growlycat]

So rude!!!! I am so sorry. T should not do this!!!!

Discuss right away if you can.

[lifelesstraveled]

I feel like I'm in dream lol!! Like is this really happening lol. I don't even know what to say or how to react. I just left

Did she say anything or react when you left? WTH is her problem?

[unaluna]

What a douche. Well im sorry you missed your session. Maybe theres a chance she can make it up later today before you drive back? Im sure you wont have to pay for it, and if you mention your drive, maybe another session too? It's all about repairing the rupture, ya know!!

Lol - mkac jinx you owe me a coke!!

[lifelesstraveled]

I left. She was still on the phone when I left. I have some place else to be

[lifelesstraveled]

She did interrupt the call to apologize Before I left.

Originally Posted by lifelesstraveled

She did interrupt the call to apologize Before I left.

Big of her...

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by lifelesstraveled

And T has been on the phone for almost 30 minutes. What a waste of a 90 min drive.

I agree for some people the T on the phone while client is doing something else can be seen as being inappropriate...

that said this has and does sometimes happen to me....

sometimes my therapist would get up, go to her desk and use her time more wisely by getting other things done. While I sat there twiddling my thumbs, looking around the room, texting, she would take/make phone calls during my sessions too..

how rude right..

finally one day I got angry and asked her what she was doing, I pay for this session why was she over there and not with me.

her response was...you're right. this is your time but this is also my time. when you come in here non responsive, non talkative or one word answers that get us no where, not participating, dodging my questions, and other deflecting/negative behaviors that show me you either dont want to be here/dont want to work on your problems or just need a place to be quiet and think...thats a waste of my time. you have choices and so do I. therapy isnt a one way dead end street. it takes two to travel this journey, but if you dont need me then I am not going to waste my time. Im not going to sit here and poke, pry, bribe, beg ....to get you to engage in therapy. how and what you use your time in therapy for is up to you, but I wont be wasting my time. you are free to tell me any time that you need my help with something and I will be willing to come back to the therapy session with you.

then she went back to making scheduling calls/doing her paper work/organizing files. then let me know our session was over.

After that I understood she wasnt abandoning me or being rude. She was making a point and she was just using her part of the therapy session wisely if I did not need her.

Im not saying this is what is going on in your session but just a suggestion...maybe this is what your therapist was trying to do with you....make a point that its ok for you to come in sit, say nothing, talk about anything, do anything you want and if you didnt need her at that moment she can give you some privacy and alone time while she takes care of other things.

my suggestion...maybe you can ask your therapist why she did that, maybe she had a reason that didnt get clearly communicated to you.

[iGottaBme]

Did she call you to offer an explanation or to set up another appointment? I hope that she does something to make it right.

[tinyrabbit]

That is appalling. I am so sorry.

[sweepy62]

Wow that would put me In a tail spin of doubts but hope u work it out with her

[BlessedRhiannon]

I would be furious! So sorry your T did that to you. Personally, I'd be expecting T to contact me and set up a free session as soon as possible.

[Hope-Full]

T best not be charging you for that, and on top of it, she should make it up to you with a session for no charge. That is unacceptable, even if it WAS an emergency. If that was the case, T could have apologised and sent you on your way with a reschedule so you didn't waste your time sitting there. I'm frustrated for you!

Has she called you yet to apologize? I would STILL be steaming. LOL.

There would be no next time for me!

And God help her if she tried to bill it!

[A Red Panda]

How unprofessional!! You don't ignore an APPOINTMENT that someone has made with you! And if it's a huge emergency, then you go "Hold on one second" to the person on the phone and then explain to you that it needs rescheduled... and that the next session is free since you had to waste your driving time and they gave NO notice. Like, if you just didn't show up YOU would be charged right? So you should in turn be getting one free.

[lifelesstraveled]

Originally Posted by growlycat

So rude!!!! I am so sorry. T should not do this!!!!

Discuss right away if you can.

Phew I have been running around all day! I am exhausted.

ANYWAYS - When I was in session and 30 minutes had gone by I literally was thinking "is this really happening? am I dreaming?" I didn't know what to do. I was scared to move bc I didn't want to interrupt her call, and I didn't want to stay even if she got off the call bc I knew she'd likely be too distracted or worried about whatever it was she was trying to resolve. If she had gotten off the phone at 30 or 40 min there was likely not enough time to talk about anything because I literally had some place else to be that was back on my side of the world (1.5 hours away).

I haven't been able to discuss it with her in person/on the phone yet. She did eventually call me, but I was not in a place or position to chat with her so I ignored the calls. She sent an email, and when I received it I was still out running around. She told me it was some work stuff with her other job that she needed to resolve by the end of business today. She was very apologetic, acknowledged that is was very unprofessional to take that call and didn't think it would last that long. She offered a phone call, but the urge to talk about what I wanted to talk about is/was gone by the time she reached out to me.

My thing is, is that drive is RIDICULOUSLY long, and I feel like she could have waited 50 minutes to call that person back. Instead she literally used my entire session to talk to whoever it was about whatever contracts and such she had pending. At about the 50 min mark she turned around and apologized and I was walking out and told her that I had some place else to be.

I'm not necessarily thinking that she doesn't care about me or that I'm not important to her (or that what I had to talk about wasn't important) because I honestly don't care. I'm the type of person who literally doesn't expect much from anyone or depend on anyone for anything EVER, even T. To me this was a simple annoyance---I could have stayed at home and slept in a little longer and then went on about the other business I had to take care of, or saved some gas from that drive, ya know?

Thanks for the responses everyone! I feel like I should be angry on some level, but I'm not sure if I am. Is annoyance considered an "angry" feeling...?

[Freewilled]

I'm very angry for you! Did she even offer a free session or anything? Honestly, I'd be looking for a new T but I don't know your history with her. Has she been helpful to you up to this point? I can't believe a T would do that!