[caseygirl]

I was thinking of this today, what is her availability? If something was bothering me to the extreme would I contact her and ask to see her right away, but what if it was a weekend thing? She doesn't have weekend hours, but she is in private practice and works out of her house. What happens if it is something which just needed some consoling?

Trying to avoid a 911 or visit to emerg at all costs, but do I put that to the therapist? I guess I should bring this up at the next session.

My T is always available in an emergency -- night or day, even on the weekends. The only time he is unavailable is if he is out of town on a vacation. In that case I can still contact my pdoc who is also always available (or one of his colleagues).

[unaluna]

Yeah this is definitely a conversation you want to have before you need it.

All emergencies eg I'm suicidal or severely depressed or manic I ring the Acute Care Team otherwise I have to sit with whatever is bothering me and only in extreme cases will he see me before a scheduled session owing to his full-time govt job.

[Rzay4]

My long term T is not reachable in a emergency but my second T has the option to be paged. Which I loved and even on a Saturday returned my call. I was stunned.

I too agree you should have that convo when you see them next.

[feralkittymom]

You have every right to have this info from your T. Policies are so individual that's it's impossible to predict without talking about it. I can't imagine any reasonable T being annoyed by your bringing up the topic.

My T was always available by phone for his private practice, and generally available at the University center. He wouldn't have extensive conversations over the phone, but enough to assess need and then arrange for an appointment asap as necessary.

[stopdog]

The one I see has a message on her voicemail that says to go to the ER if it is an emergency. But she has responded quickly in most cases to my request for a call back the couple of times I have made such a request.

[BlessedRhiannon]

My T is always available in an emergency. Her voicemail does say to call a crisis line, go to the ER, or call 911 if you feel that you're an immediate danger to yourself or others. However, she's always been available and willing to talk to me when I've called. The only time my T isn't available is when she's on vacation.

My pdoc is also available, but I would probably try to get a hold of my T first.

I do think it's important to ask your T what she would prefer you to do (contact her, call a crisis line, etc) so that you will have that information should the need arise.

I have never called my T in an emergency I do have her number but I have the mental health team, Pdoc and my CPN if I need them.

[photostotake]

I have 2 Ts and a pdoc. All 3 are not available in an emergency. Either I have to call the County Crisis line, 911 or go to the ER. My personal T is the only one I'd want in a real emergency if I really needed someone though. Recently, we've talked about this very issue. I've told him I'm going to have a very hard time reaching out to anyone but him, as he's the only one I truly trust. I understand the boundary issue, I just don't like it.

[elliemay]

Every therapist I have had has been available. It's one of the reasons I chose to see them.

They have been (and are) responsive to my phone calls, even though I don't call very often. Scheduling etc... They both gave me their personal cell #s. I've never used them, and likely won't.

HOWEVER, it's nice to know it's there.

[Lexi232]

none. *currently emotionally numb, or would be crying*, being that way would be "unprofessional" and "is something more considered a friendship type of relationship" and they "are here to help. and not to be my friend"....

but since shes her own private therapist, i would most def. ask her about it. growing up when i had private T's before and after the T's from cps(child advocacy center), they would give me their number to call anytime i wanted(granted they knew that i barely spoke, and texting wasn't an option back then, so they prolly knew i wouldn't be calling much lol..). lol, most of the time they would be the ones that would call me at random lol, but they knew "im okay" meant that my gma was nearby and i couldnt speak freely. so my T at that time (last one i had as a minor) would ask me questions that i could answer "yes" and "no" to... my gma caught on and got mad and i would get in to trouble for it after that. then i started telling my T "im okay" a second time around to mean "no, or im not good" and i would say "thats good" when i really meant "yeah" and "thats right". and "i dunno" would 97% of the time mean "id rather not say" or "i dont want to talk about it". we used to play connect 4 during therapy. and i would get bottlecaps candy at the end. id never heard of them prior to that. i saw her from around 15 until i was 18. i also learned that if i ended up making conversation while playing connect 4- that i would win because conversation distracted her(it worked on winning games later on with my bio mom too lol). but it could back fire, sometimes i would lose because i would be focusing on the convo and thoughts and trying to form words together to speak, that i wouldnt be paying attention.

sorry vyvanse kicked in, so i went on rambling before i knew it lol.

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[HealingTimes]

24/7 for a true emergency.
When I was going through a very hard time and was worried that i would revert back to my destructive behaviours, my T said that if i found myself doing anything silly I should drive to her house, no matter what time of the night.
I hope to never have to take her up on that offer, but it's nice to know it's available.

Yes, it does need to be a true emergency if I pick up that phone at night or on weekends. I rarely make those phone calls, so he knows if I do that I am truly in need of assistance. (And generally he gets me to call my pdoc in those instances because, as T says, at that point I need my pdoc to do his "magic".) Things that aren't true emergencies I save for office hours, if needed, or I just wait until my session.

[tinyrabbit]

I have called my T in a crisis, left voicemail and he got back to me quickly saying he was arranging a session for me. I don't like phone calls, but I also don't feel it would be personally helpful for me if I thought he was available to talk on the phone. It would create a need I don't currently have. At the start of T, I told him I'd called Samaritans a few times and we discussed that as a crisis management technique - if I thought T might be on the end of the phone whenever I needed, that would be really disruptive. That's just for me personally!

That said, I do know he has his phone on during the holidays, and when I've texted him in a crisis he's replied. I just don't want actual phone calls.

[Solepa]

My T did not set any rules beforehand so when the time of first crisis came I did not know what to do. I was affraid to mess up so I called the crisis line instead. I got really shy anyway and ended the call after 2 minutes. Then I emailed T if she can see me sooner then planed bc I had things on my mind and that if she couldn´t it is ok (I did not say I´m in crisis). She was able to see me sooner and that was great. I told her about what happened and described how I did not know what to do and who to call and I was hoping that she would say I could have called her but she did not . Either way I was happy she was willing to arrange the extra meeting for me.
Now she is on maternity leave for 5 months and she told me that I can write email to her (but I prohibit myself from doing so for some stupid self proving reason) or if necessary she will arrange somebody to see me. She also said that if I need emergency help I should call the crisis line and not her bc she is not available 24/7.

[Leah123]

Originally Posted by elliemay

Every therapist I have had has been available. It's one of the reasons I chose to see them.

I agree it's important to have a therapist I can rely on in crisis, and I believe trying to avoid the ER or other serious measures is an excellent barometer of reasons to call a therapist.

I am blessed, as someone who needed serious work on trusting and being not 110% self-reliant to a fault, that my therapist is always receptive to my emails and will call me as requested. She encourages me to write her anytime I'm struggling. What helps me is that I pay for the calls and emails, as they are in-depth, so I don't worry so much about her resenting the extra time or help, and she is semi-retired, so my struggling at a late-evening hour doesn't disrupt her next day the way it might if she had 10 clients to see.

I really feel lucky to have this arrangement.

[coleychi]

yeah, definitely bring it up. i totally understand your concern about not wanting to call 911 or go to an er when you're in crisis.

in the past, my therapist has been available through phone 24/7 (but i rarely called her unless i was really in a crisis)... sometimes it would take her an hour or two to get back to me and she'd talk me down. if i'm not really in a crisis but having a hard time, e-mailing her helps too... just writing it out and feeling like someone will actually read what i write helps me.