[redxovelvet]

Hello.

Am I just oversensitive, or are therapy waiting rooms the worst? I know that in an ideal world there would be no stigma, but stigma is totally a thing and I can't help but feel like the other people in the waiting room are thinking "Wonder what's wrong with that one..." Plus, mental health is such a private thing that you should be able to keep to yourself. By sitting in a public waiting room with a bunch of clients, you're basically shouting, "Hey guys! Check this out! I have emotional problems!"

The office I go to sees a lot of military people, and I almost feel guilty when I see a man in uniform step out of a session. Guys who are used to having a more macho persona probably don't want people to know they're in therapy, and I'm intruding on their privacy.

It's also a probably well known clinic in my area since it's one of the first results when I Google "psychotherapy + my area." Seeing someone I know there would epitomize awkwardness!

I know there's not much an office can do to shield clients from seeing one another, but there has to be some kind of better model...Maybe?

[JustShakey]

The waiting room where my T is is absolutely tiny. In fact, it's more of a hallway-come-coat-closet affair. At first I used to hate it. So much so I used to actually think it was dark gray with dim lighting instead of soft yellow with a decent window (for its size) and some nice artwork. It is tiny though. If you don't get the seat by the door you wind up stepping over people's legs. Like I say, I used to hate it and kept my eyes on the floor as much as possible. These days though I find myself having random conversations about things I would normally never talk about in real life. Things I would never *get* to talk about in real life, because of that whole therapy stigma.

[UnderRugSwept]

I hate them...and I have had the weirdest things happen in them.

I saw a teacher I had in high school...I sat there for so long right across from her that I finally said something. (My mistake.) Then she started telling me about how her daughter was in therapy for relationship issues. OK, TMI!!

Another time this guy started talking to me and told me that he really liked my pink running shoes because they "brightened up the day." Thank god my T came out right then.

I see two Ts now and one of them piggybacks his appts, which drives me nuts. I am always a few minutes late, partly because I want him to take a few minutes before my appt. and partly because his waiting room is so tiny that I don't want to trip over the client before me on his or her way out. But I still end up tripping over the one after me. Ugh.

I sort of wish my T had a waiting room. His therapy room is part of his residence, which is fine except I like to get to my appt really early because lateness makes me anxious, but I hate sitting outside his house in my car for 20 minutes before the appt.
I told him not to feel like he has to see me early so I don't worry about that anymore, but I feel exposed for anyone who happens to be in his house or his neighbours' houses to see.
I once saw his wife (who is also a T) arriving home when I was sat in my car. I was having a really hard day and it freaked me out.

[Yoda]

My T used to have a really comfy couch in her waiting room. One time I was spending the day with one of my girlfriends but I had a T appt. No big deal, she said, and she waited in the waiting room for me and took a nap on the couch. LOVED that couch!

But my T redid her waiting area and decided the couch was not professional enough and replaced it with a bunch of hard back uncomfortable chairs. I told her I missed the couch but she wanted it to look more professional so the couch got tossed. I was bummed.

[someone321]

I think now I do not care so much about the waiting room anymore. My previous T had two doors from his office, one to the waiting room and one directly to the staircase, so that the client could come from the waiting room and go out from his office without meeting previous/next client. There was also another T using the same waiting room but they had slightly different time schedules so I met another T's client maybe twice - I think it was very thoughtful but I really hated clients who were leaving their jackets in the waiting room so after the session they were always coming back instead of going out directly - I just hated them for it...

Current T also shares the waiting room with another T but as she sees me over-hours I do not meet clients from another T. From my T's office it is also possible to go out without passing the waiting room but of course the previous client always leave her jacket in the waiting room, so I meet her almost every week. And of course all clients always say hello to each other but I've already learned this word in this funny language so it's okay. My only thought about another client is that it's a pity that she has to see T because she's so young and looks so nice and my T is a trauma T...

On the other hand I like waiting rooms because when I come just after work, I like having few minutes just for my own, to relax, think what to talk about etc...

My T has no waiting room. I have to leave my coat and shoes on the landing outside his office door, and wait there until he buzzes me in. My bus gets me into town 20-25 minutes early, so I usually get a coffee and wait at the coffeeshop in order for me to get to T about five minutes before my session. I like that there is almost no risk at all of meeting anybody else (it has happened, but it's rare) but on the other hand it would be good to be able to get there ten minutes early and sit down and get into therapy mind.

[healed84]

I have a love hate relationship with the waiting room.. T's old office, the waiting room was tiny and their practice was expanding and sometimes it was unbearable to be in there. Now, that they are in their new office, there is tons of room..

I used to freak when I saw people that I know, but T's office is well known in our area, especially well known in the circle that I run in. I have seen tons of students/parents from my small private school I work at there. It used to freak me out, but then I realized they all have issues that is why we are there. So, we really can't judge each other.

I still do get freaked out about people getting too close to me while I am sitting down.. So, I sit against the wall and put my stuff in the seat next to me so that won't happen. If it is really busy in there I won't do that, but usually it is not.

[HazelGirl]

My T shares her building with a bunch of different therapists, so although it's interesting at times (a lot of kids and families), it's also uncomfortable. It's not my favorite place to wait.

[NowhereUSA]

i guess i don't really mind the waiting room. i don't really wonder about other people and i bring a book or i have my phone. the only time it drove me crazy was when there was this one lady that was overly talkative and it was hard to get out of a conversation with her. so i just put in my earbuds and ignored her. she stopped talking to me. that was like a period of a month when i had my appt at a certain time. then i moved to another day for other reasons and it was all good again.

[kororain]

Typically, people keep to themselves in the waiting room. But last time, this seemingly nice older lady decided to chat me up. I feel like she was one of those people who can be nice for about 2 minutes and then she starts getting really judgey. I was in a wacky mood, so I was fine talking to her. Sometimes I'm near tears, thinking about bolting, and not the best person to chat up. This time, it was fine.

[ThisWayOut]

I don't mind waiting rooms, especially with comfy couches. I also have no issues seeing other clients, my t's or of other t's. I used to worry about the stigma, but realized we are all there to see therapists, so we all have something that bothers us. I have also mostly seen therapists in a clinic or large practice, so for the last 17 years, I've encountered others in waiting rooms. I've become desensitized to it. I also don't mind chatting if anyone else there is up for it. My current t is in a pretty busy clinic, and people are always coming and going. They don't really have a waiting room though, just a few chairs and a couch placed in off, out of the way spots. It's a half hour drive to get to the office (more with traffic), so I try to get there early enough to get to the coffee shop in the plaza next door. It's a nice chance to distract or compose my thoughts before therapy.

[stopdog]

I do not use the waiting room. i go in exactly on time and I chose therapists who work alone. If the therapist's office door is shut, I go back outside and come in again in a few minutes or leave if it is shut too long. I see no reason for me to wait on a therapist.

[Amandasmom]

I wait in my car until 3 minutes before my appt. There is never anyone in the waiting room as I'm always the first appt. Sometimes someone is waiting when I leave.

[JustShakey]

Originally Posted by Echos Myron

I sort of wish my T had a waiting room. His therapy room is part of his residence, which is fine except I like to get to my appt really early because lateness makes me anxious, but I hate sitting outside his house in my car for 20 minutes before the appt.

I told him not to feel like he has to see me early so I don't worry about that anymore, but I feel exposed for anyone who happens to be in his house or his neighbours' houses to see.

I once saw his wife (who is also a T) arriving home when I was sat in my car. I was having a really hard day and it freaked me out.

I think it would freak me out to see a T who worked out of their home...
And I hate waiting in my car - it makes me really anxious. I used to do it with previous T because as much as I hated it, I hated that tiny waiting area more. But then of course that lousy b- would regularly make me sit waiting for 10 minutes or so anyway.

[BlessedRhiannon]

I hate all waiting rooms in general. I hate when people want to try and strike up conversations with me...I'm rarely in the mood to talk to strangers. I dislike the noise, amount of people, and constant "busy-ness" of waiting rooms.

My T is in a high rise office building, which houses all kinds of different businesses. Yes, a lot of therapists use her building, but there are other businesses there too. So, sitting in the waiting area, you really don't know why people are there - they could be waiting to meet with someone in some other business.

[Lauliza]

It doesn't bother me at all. My pdoc and T have fairly quiet waiting rooms, so it;s not bustling with people. Someone once started talking to me but I didn't mind. Most of the time people are on their phones and it is dead silent.

My pdoc's office is actually on Foursquare, and 35 people have checked in! I thought that was hilarious- doing check in's at your psychiatrists' office for the internet world to see. I think that give's hope that there's a little less of a stigma than there once was.

[roimata]

The stigma thing doesn't concern me at all. I'm not important enough for a stranger to take more than 4-5 seconds to focus on what could possibly be my issue that warrants me seeing a therapist. Then they'll forget all about me and go about their day. If it's someone I know chances are they already know I go to counseling (I'm pretty much bankrupt in the friendship stock market lol) and it wouldn't be unusual.

The waiting room is typically empty by the time I roll up to my appointment, maybe one or two people sitting around but their therapist/whatever retrieves them shortly after I arrive and we don't pay attention to eachother.

I have offered gum to someone once just so he didn't feel awkward with me sitting all up in his grill. Just doing my civic duty.

My therapist and I meet through Skype, so my waiting room is my home. I log in, then wait for him to contact me. I get excited when I see him appear online..

Before that, I didn't have issues because he is very careful with his scheduling so that normally, I don't have to run into another client. He works to ensure things are on time, although sometimes it's not preventable.

Psychiatrists can't usually do that b/c scheduling doesn't involve that level of precision due to patients in crises and other factors. Last T was a psychiatrist, so I always had to be in the waiting room with others. One of his patients raged to me, using me as a sounding board. I didn't like that b/c my mother did that all the time!

ONe of the psychiatrists I saw, when I was searching for a new therapist, had me wait in a closet! It was literally==a small closet! It had a chair and a white noise maker. There was a large waiting room outside because he shared an office suite with some others, but he insisted I wait in the closet so that i would not run into his other clients! I'm not even claustrophobic, but it was very anxiety-provoking!.

[unaluna]

The drama in the waiting room might make a better tv show than the consulting room.