[lrt1978]

So just had my therapy session and we were talking about the times I become in a high distressed state, my T then goes, how about I do a voice recording on your phone, as I can't leave you in these high distressed states, so then when you become distressed, you may find it helps to calm you, I've done this for other people and they said it really helps. Its up to you.

So I agreed and we worked out a message and she recorded it onto my phone. We had a discussion afterwards about it and she also wrote the message out to, so I have it to read if I prefer.

I feel a bit weird about that, as it's not something that has happened before in therapy. T did say that if I felt uncomfortable then just delete it but it was up to me what I did.

Has anyone else done this with their T and did you feel a little weird to begin with but did this feeling go and if it did, did you find having your T voice to listen to when distressed helpful ?

[Parley]

I have not had this experience in therapy but my therapist left a message on my phone one time and I have listened to it when I was sickened with emotions. I heard about therapist making voice recordings and I thought it was odd and I didn't see how it could work but it does. And my message wasn't even on a personal level.

I have not told her that I listen to it and I don't think I will. I'm not there yet.

I hope it helps and you find comfort in her voice as well as her words.

[doyoutrustme]

Sometimes I record my sessions on my phone, and replay them later. It isn't necessarily calming, it just helps me listen more objectively, and hear things I missed when I was in session.

[HazelGirl]

I have heard of others on here doing that. I am doing well enough to not need it, but if I was struggling, I could see how it might help.

[purplemystery]

My T left me a voicemail once saying that I could actually come to the appointment she thought she had to cancel. I saved that message for months and listened to it over the summer when I couldn't see her. I did find it calming and reassuring during tough times because it's hard for me to conjure up the sound of her voice in my head. It was like she was talking to me. Then it got deleted somehow from my phone, which is one of the "possessions" I most regret losing in life. I have asked my T to leave me a message before I graduate, so hopefully she will! I understand feeling weird about it-- it is a little awkward since it's not spontaneous and it's a planned thing. But that doesn't mean it isn't authentic. Maybe after you listen to it a few times you'll like it, but if not, no harm.

[Mike_J]

I agree with purplemystery

My therapist left me a voice-mail message that I used to playback when I was feeling down, and it was just about an appointment, just hearing her voice helped.

I've thought about recording a session, but then I'm always paranoid something could go wrong, and it might "play" by accident. I'm sure I could figure it out though. I'd feel weird about recording without his permission; if I did, it would just be to process the session all over again, when outside the office. Different perspective, I guess?

I would love to have a personal voice recording that he made just for me, but knowing our current issues together, he wouldn't be into doing that. The man won't even give me his e-mail address, for god's sake. (but texting is okay? hah, what gives?)

[JustShakey]

I have a session with previous T recorded on my phone. Didn't ask, and feel sorta bad about that, but I *couldn't* ask.
I've never listened to it - I want to but I don't want to... Yeah, ambivalent chick is ambivalent:-P I like knowing it's there though.

[Wren_]

I really wish mine would do something like that ... both the recorded message and the written one ... it sounds helpful to me, what is making it feel weird for you ... anything other than it being something new?

[Leah123]

I've been tempted to ask my therapist to do this for me lately, because sometimes I really just want to hear some reassuring words from her without the expense of an extra session or the risk of having a difficult conversation. For example, she did a guided grounding exercise with me the other day, maybe 5 or 10 minutes of working through muscle groups and breathing, or another time, she's read to me for a little while. I would love to have those types of things to replay, I am considering asking her if she'd mind me recording them while we have our phone sessions. (We do online therapy, so it's either chat or phone.)

She has already written to me as we do email sessions, and I definitely find it revealing and reassuring to be able to reread those sessions. I've also collected some of my favorite snippets from conversations and reread them from time to time.

So, yes it might seem weird, but I think it can be very helpful!

[lrt1978]

Originally Posted by tigergirl

I really wish mine would do something like that ... both the recorded message and the written one ... it sounds helpful to me, what is making it feel weird for you ... anything other than it being something new?

I think it's because it's a supportive message and I'm not used to people being supportive, so it seems weird that someone would want to be supportive. I think it's also because I now have her voice on my phone outside the therapy room.

I am hoping once I get used to it it helps x

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chartres]

I have a few voicemails my T left on my phone in response to calls I made when I was having a particularly hard time. I have replayed them over and over when I needed extra support, both for the content of T's words and the sound of his voice. This really helped me pull through some difficult moments.

[Aloneandafraid]

Originally Posted by lrt1978

So just had my therapy session and we were talking about the times I become in a high distressed state, my T then goes, how about I do a voice recording on your phone, as I can't leave you in these high distressed states, so then when you become distressed, you may find it helps to calm you, I've done this for other people and they said it really helps. Its up to you.

So I agreed and we worked out a message and she recorded it onto my phone. We had a discussion afterwards about it and she also wrote the message out to, so I have it to read if I prefer.

I feel a bit weird about that, as it's not something that has happened before in therapy. T did say that if I felt uncomfortable then just delete it but it was up to me what I did.

Has anyone else done this with their T and did you feel a little weird to begin with but did this feeling go and if it did, did you find having your T voice to listen to when distressed helpful ?

I would just love thus and find this very helpful.

[Wren_]

Originally Posted by lrt1978

I think it's because it's a supportive message and I'm not used to people being supportive, so it seems weird that someone would want to be supportive. I think it's also because I now have her voice on my phone outside the therapy room.

I am hoping once I get used to it it helps x

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Be good if it helps you transfer that sense of being supported from the therapy room into other parts of your life

[lrt1978]

I had a Uni tutorial today, as it end of year we are coming up to an exam and have one more essay to write. I came out feeling stressed, not highly distressed, but stressed, so thought it might be a good idea to listen to the voice recording my T did and I must say, it did feel supportive esp the end couple of lines and I did feel a sense of calming down, it didn't feel weird to be listening to it all.

Now I'm going along the lines of when I am in a highly distressed state, maybe it will have the calming down effect and bring me out of a distressed state but a worry I do have, when I'm in a highly distressed state, will I he thinking clearly enough to pick up my phone and listen to it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I asked my former therapist for this once and he said no. He said it would cause me to be dependent on him in an unhealthy way. The funny thing is I would call and leave him a voice mail asking a question and he would call back and leave me a voice mail answering sometimes talking for several minutes or as long as the voice mail would allow. So I could have had voice mails to listen to if I had wanted. Weird. He was weird.

[JustShakey]

Originally Posted by lrt1978

I had a Uni tutorial today, as it end of year we are coming up to an exam and have one more essay to write. I came out feeling stressed, not highly distressed, but stressed, so thought it might be a good idea to listen to the voice recording my T did and I must say, it did feel supportive esp the end couple of lines and I did feel a sense of calming down, it didn't feel weird to be listening to it all.

Now I'm going along the lines of when I am in a highly distressed state, maybe it will have the calming down effect and bring me out of a distressed state but a worry I do have, when I'm in a highly distressed state, will I he thinking clearly enough to pick up my phone and listen to it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I suppose the best way to go about it, if at all possible, would be to listen to it before you get too distressed, like you did today:-)

[JustShakey]

Originally Posted by puzzle_bug1987

Weird. He was weird.

Lmao! Honestly, I have yet to meet anybody in the psych field who isn't.