[Ellahmae]

Has anyone every asked their t's how many they have on their caseload? I don't know why this intrigues me so. I wonder how she would take to my inquiry?

I bet she wouldn't have any problem answering that question
I kind of know my T's caseload just from being with him a while and knowing when I can and can't get an appointment with him. It's a good question though. You should ask!

[stopdog]

The ones I see are each semi-retired. One works at the beginning of the week and one at the end. The first one usually has openings in the schedule during the 3 days she works.
Plus some people do not go to a therapist weekly so a therapist could technically think they have more clients than they regularly see.

[ScarletPimpernel]

My T's would vary depending on if she's teaching, and her clientele (she sees a lot of clients who are court-ordered). I could easily figure out her schedule since I know when she wakes up, when she sleeps, when she teaches, etc. But I have no interest in actually knowing.

I haven't the foggiest. Technically, he has room in schedule to see 40 people a week, but I don't remember him ever staying completely booked every hour of every day of every week. Some people he probably sees weekly, but others he may not see but once every other week or so. He might see a client more than once a week in an emergency. So figuring out what is his total caseload on the books vs. how many active clients is he really dealing with regularly are two completely different things, and then, what do we define as "active"?

[Ellahmae]

Originally Posted by lolagrace

I haven't the foggiest. Technically, he has room in schedule to see 40 people a week, but I don't remember him ever staying completely booked every hour of every day of every week. Some people he probably sees weekly, but others he may not see but once every other week or so. He might see a client more than once a week in an emergency. So figuring out what is his total caseload on the books vs. how many active clients is he really dealing with regularly are two completely different things, and then, what do we define as "active"?

Exactly. My mind doesn't have anything else to think about and I know her schedule is always VERY full. I used to have to keep my appts 4-6 weeks out with her when I first started now I'm just a standing. It's almost impossible to get an emergency session with her but she will move someone or cancel someone if it's an emergency. I know she has room for 30 during the week but some are repeats, some are sparingly, etc. I don't know why I'm interested in this perhaps I should bring it up at my next regular appt

[The_little_didgee]

My therapist has a small caseload since she does assertive community treatment. It gives me easy access to her. She always gets back to me sometimes within minutes. If she can she will deal with the situation right away rather than wait days. Her small caseload permits her to do this.

I've always had prompt replies and attention even with a larger caseload. Even my pdoc, who I suspect has a huge caseload, always gets back to me the same day.

[rainbow8]

I once asked and I think she said around 20 clients, but now she works more so its probably more like 30 a week. That's just a guess.

[Jordy]

I know me T sees patients 3 days a week for up to 9 hours on those days. But as she's also a Pdoc she doesn't see everyone for an hour. I'm usually scheduled for an hour, but she asked me to come by at any time today as I've had a crisis last week and she wanted to check up on me. When I got there she had just started with one and had another one waiting, but saw each of them for 15-20 minutes

[AncientMelody]

I know that as a psychiatrist she has a higher caseload than the average therapist since she doesn't do psychotherapy with everyone. I think she said that she had somewhere in the range of about ten patients a day....I don't remember for sure though.

I'm curious about my T's caseload too. I read somewhere that a full caseload for a T is 20. I don't think they should have a lot. My guess is my T has about 13, I don't think she has a lot.

[roimata]

Probably a lot less than I'm imagining. I think she's probably a bit of a revolving door. I want to say 30+ but really I have no idea

[junkDNA]

i asked him once he said 25 ppl a week.

[Lauliza]

Psychiatrists do have larger caseloads usually since most that take insurance don't do as much psychotherapy. I asked him something along the lines of client success once and he said that he couldn't give a good answer because so many patients don't come back. So my guess is a lot of pdocs and Ts don't have smaller regular caseloads larger ones that come and go.

I am the only person she talks to regularly at this point. Other clients she might talk to once or twice a year.

[Ellahmae]

Originally Posted by roimata

Probably a lot less than I'm imagining. I think she's probably a bit of a revolving door. I want to say 30+ but really I have no idea

That's what I picture is 40+ people in and out - it's refreshing to hear that my number could be way off - if I get around to it or enough courage I'll ask her. She's usually really open with me about anything I ask.

Thanks for the input everyone!

[BonnieJean]

I have no idea how many my t has. She sees clients only 2.5 days of the week to my knowledge. She sees them back to back which I don't like because unless I'm the last appointment I see the person before and after me.

I was talking to a psychologist socially this weekend (not mine) and she said that she keeps her private practice at 18 hours a week maximum. She teaches too, though.

[Ellahmae]

Originally Posted by BonnieJean

She sees them back to back which I don't like because unless I'm the last appointment I see the person before and after me.

Mine does this too. I hate it. I try to get there 1 minute late so I don't see the person before me but I always see the person after me.

[jaynedough]

My T recently told me he doesn't have many clients. His private practice isn't his day job, though

It doesn't bother me to see his other clients.

[BonnieJean]

I wonder how t can make the transition so quickly and be present for the next person in the time it takes to open and close a door!! And remember the last clients issues.

[Ellahmae]

Originally Posted by BonnieJean

I wonder how t can make the transition so quickly and be present for the next person in the time it takes to open and close a door!! And remember the last clients issues.

I've never thought about it that way - but she's really good at it. I feel like I'm her only client. Even when she has to walk someone down it seems she acknowledges me better than the person she's saying goodbye to (not sure if that made any sense). I know the lady before me is a standing as well so I think she just knows us not sure about the people after they always seem to be different.

[Restin]

I'll admit I'm curious because I'm DID with a little who is jealous. T even said my inner child is regressed to about 3 and 3 yr. olds don't like to share, don't really know how to. My T works for a big hospital clinic and probably sees around 30 clients a week, every one of which I wish would disappear.
But my adult self has found that other patients are the only people I really can talk to. I'll even go so far as to admit that the psych clinic and hospital are my real family, the staff being the only people in the world who really know me, even if some of them have been stupid at times.
BTW I would like to ask if anyone besides me thinks of the hospital staff as being the only real family they had.

Originally Posted by BonnieJean

I wonder how t can make the transition so quickly and be present for the next person in the time it takes to open and close a door!! And remember the last clients issues.

Mine has 10 minutes between clients, so she probably looks at her notes from the week before to refresh her memory. If I were a therapist, I'd also get to the office early and look over the day's schedule to orient myself. Their memories aren't going to be perfect anyway, but the decent ones will at least make an effort to prepare, I think.

For those with literally no time between sessions? It's hard to imagine how they make that shift. I wouldn't want one who had such a tight schedule.

[Ellahmae]

Originally Posted by licketysplit

Mine has 10 minutes between clients, so she probably looks at her notes from the week before to refresh her memory. If I were a therapist, I'd also get to the office early and look over the day's schedule to orient myself. Their memories aren't going to be perfect anyway, but the decent ones will at least make an effort to prepare, I think.

For those with literally no time between sessions? It's hard to imagine how they make that shift. I wouldn't want one who had such a tight schedule.

I know she gets to the office an hour or so before her clients start arriving to go over notes.