[This is crazy]

Has anyone every become friends with their T on facebook AFTER termination?Do you think most T's would welcome it or not? I'm too scared to ask, but can't imagine my life without T, and at least having some minimal contact.

[ThisWayOut]

No. None of my t's were open to non-professional contact after termination, though one does have a professional fb site that I follow him through.

[precaryous]

No, my previous T will not accept post therapy patients on her FB. She reserves FB for family, collegues, her special interest, inc. Just my opinion but I don't think many T's would allow FB contact for post therapy patients to preserve their family's privacy.

PrevT and I do keep in touch in other ways. She will reply to my email, for example. But she rarely initiates contact. I imagine she would allow snail mail contact, if I asked her.

There are other ways to keep in contact post therapy besides friending on FB.

Good luck to you.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Does an ex-mental health counselor count? She requested to add me to Facebook.

I do have email contact with an ex-T, but it's only once a year.

Current T has all sorts of professional sites and personal sites. I don't want to follow her professional sites. And right now, I have no desire to follow her personal sites....though I do look her up on Facebook every once in awhile to see new pics of her baby. My T knows though, and doesn't mind.

[JustShakey]

Some do, some don't. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

[musinglizzy]

I actually talked to my T about this....not FB, but when therapy is "over." After my first couple/few sessions, I realized I really was going to enjoy working with her, she was easy to talk to, caught on to things I didn't tell her on her own immediately, is just supportive, and gives great hugs. But not long after I started, I felt like ending it, because I didn't want to get attached. She assured me that just because therapy is over, contact doesn't have to be, that she's kept in touch with people for decades. So....I guess we'll see, but there is no end in sight for me now, I'm only beginning. My T has flat out said she doesn't have FB, but if we were done working together, and she did, I'm not sure what I'd do......I doubt it though. That's a bit personal.

[NowhereUSA]

I talked with my t about it. we have a long term relationship and when i move, i expressed that i wouldn't want to lose touch and he expressed a similar sentiment. FB was one way mentioned so some ts are open to it.

[lilypup]

This might sound weird but I never get that close to my T's. We become friends and they help me a lot, but it seems like a professional deal. I would not ask them about FB, but that is just me.

[Leah123]

Originally Posted by This is crazy

Has anyone every become friends with their T on facebook AFTER termination?Do you think most T's would welcome it or not? I'm too scared to ask, but can't imagine my life without T, and at least having some minimal contact.

I had a high school counselor who meant the world to me. We only had about six months together before she relocated- this was prior to FaceBook. I recently found her profile and added her. I sent her a message telling me how much I'd appreciated her and giving her a brief update about myself. She added me as a friend and sent me a lovely message. I don't think she minded at all.

Of course, I'm not engaging in therapy with her, just knowing she's there is very nice.

I think it depends on how the T uses facebook and their policies, that mine is more an exception to common practice though. My former counselor's page isn't too family-centric, it's more about her personal interests and activities, inspirational content, etc., and there'd been so long between our termination and the contact that I think the concern about wanting too much from her was a lot less than if we'd just terminated.

I hope your T will offer some type of contact though. My current one, for example, writes a blog she's given me access to and also is happy to take calls at any point subsequent to ending formal therapy, but that time is paid for, which I love, so it maintains the balance.

My t and i are friends on facebook already. She invited me on her page.
It cant hurt to ask.

[Depletion]

I don't think that there should be facebook contact unless the two year waiting period is over.

[ombrétwilight]

I've been searching for my T like crazy on social media and Google but the only results were a report she had contributed to, and that only had a mention of her name in the credits. I've even searched through her colleagues' friend lists but it seems like she's not there either. If I do find her I might send her a request, but I don't think she will accept it since she's so principled she hasn't even told me whether she's married.

[feralkittymom]

I don't friend students/former students on my FB, even though I am happy to keep contact with them via e-mail and, for some, LinkedIn. But I also don't have anyone on my FB who isn't a RL friend. I know I can create lists and lock posts, etc--but I just don't want to have to bother. So I think it does depend somewhat on how your T uses FB. My former T isn't on FB at all, but we do keep in touch via e-mail, snail mail, phone occasionally. I would ask more about general contact, rather than specifically about FB to keep the options open.

[Debbie07]

I have seen over 30 therapists in my lifetime (I stopped counting) and I have 1 ex-therapist as Friends on Facebook. I saw her for a very short period of time though (I went for ED and she was self-pay and I tried to but couldn't afford it so I went back to insurance-therapists, I was sad to leave as I really wanted to stay).

I sent her a request I think 6-7 years later introducing myself as an ex-client but semi-joking that the status of limitation on types of contact had probably passed. She accepted.

We have common interests so we talk about that. I haven't ever brought up anything we said in session. I treat her as someone I met through the hobby we share. She's just another one of my "Facebook Buddies," that weird friend-but-not-friend category that has emerged through social media ha

[wheeler]

My current T and I are FB friends. I've seen her for nearly 5 years and we just friended each other about 6 months ago. We talked about it before hand and it was totally my decision, and I thought it over for about 6 months before I sent her a friend request.
In some ways it has helped me see her as just a 'regular' person, but in other ways it's been difficult too.

[AncientMelody]

I would theoretically like to do such a thing, especially as I am in the medical field myself, so in that my psychiatrist and I have common ground. but I have a tendency to put people on pedestals and I think it would make me over-attach to be honest. One reason I went to a psychiatrist in the first place is because my primary care doc and I have a somewhat personal relationship (we worked at the same office for a couple years and her daughter has babysat my kids on a few occasions) and it became very difficult for me to see her for mental health issues because I wanted to project a "Good image" It's better now that I see her just for physical health and I don't work at that office anymore, but any type of "friend" connection would make it hard to be fully independant.

[lunatic soul]

My current T isn't on FB or if he is then he has fake name
My psychologist who I saw for three times is my friend on facebook and if I need consultation I text her there.