[precaryous]

My T says, "Email anytime." "Call anytime."

While I love this freedom, it does have a price:
Along with this she has explained she will answer the phone during therapy if she thinks the person calling is at risk of hurting themselves.

I know this is a "no-no" with many other therapists. PrevT would never interrupt therapy to answer the phone.

T got a new phone for Christmas and she doesn't know how to turn it off yet. It rang three times during the last session. The phone ringing does interrupt my thought/emotional flow. I wondered how common it is for Ts to answer the phone during therapy.

Ala Stopdog, "So, a poll."

[StillIRise]

My T puts his phone on silent unless he is the on call consultant that day. He's only once had to answer it.

[brillskep]

No, my therapist hasn't answered his phone during any individual or group session in the five years I've been seeing him. He has a strict policy never to answer his phone during session unless he knows there might be an emergency and lets me know beforehand (but this has never happened). I can call anytime too, but if he's in session he will just call me back when he can. I guess your therapist's policy may be understandable if she is seeing some particularly at risk clients. Otherwise I think it's just unprofessional.

[OliverB]

My old psychiatrist turned it off. Once she forgot about it. It rang and she hanged up.

[precaryous]

Brillskep, I think many are going to agree with you. I have seen many therapists but never one with this policy.

You know what I think it is? My T is an older lady.. She might be retiring in a very few years..I think she does this so she won't worry.
She's had a patient die before. Maybe it has something to do with that.
Otherwise, she is professional. Hopefully this is just a glitch because of her new phone and the interruptions won't continue.

No! And I don't believe she would. She checks her voicemail throughout the day when not with a client. If someone is in that much of an emergency, we're to go to the ER or call someone identified in a crisis plan, and she'll follow up as soon as she checks her messages. Since she has time between sessions to check and make a call, it wouldn't be a huge wait.

It makes the most sense to me, really, because if it's life or death, there's very little a therapist can do other than call 9-1-1. And if it's a therapy-related crisis, waiting an hour or less is usually doable if the therapist has been reliable.

[TwoPointOh]

My T has a cell phone only and it has always been on silent or off during our sessions. He used to handle it as we talked, like putting it on his leg or spinning it around, but I complained so now he puts it away.

[Xenon]

Originally Posted by licketysplit

It makes the most sense to me, really, because if it's life or death, there's very little a therapist can do other than call 9-1-1. And if it's a therapy-related crisis, waiting an hour or less is usually doable if the therapist has been reliable.

I agree.

I've never heard a telephone go off in session with my current therapist, and of the four I've seen it's only happened once, and it was the worst of the four Ts. He seemed to expect the call when it happened, but made no mention of it beforehand. There was just suddenly a ring, he said, "I have to get this," and he then got up and proceeded to talk very loudly on the phone at his desk just a few feet from where I was sitting. The exchange had something to do with whether the person on the other end should go to the hospital or not. He didn't sound all that sympathetic, either; he sounded a little like a stressed, exasperated parent. When it was over, he just came back and said, "Now, where were we?" or something, and started acting like nothing happened. It felt really wrong and didn't know quite what to say. He then awkwardly assured me it "wasn't that serious." I was thinking, well, geez, if it "wasn't that serious," maybe you shouldn't be answering. I didn't go back after that. (I already disliked him for other reasons, but that was the thing that sealed it for me).

And yes, if all they can do in an emergency anyway is advise someone to seek, well, emergency care, I don't see why they must be involved right that second.

[healed84]

My T will answer his office phone when it is a call from his office manager or receptionist because that usually means there is something happening that is important (T is the boss at the practice). He has only answered his cell phone when his child was sick and it was an emergency. He warned me ahead of time though.

[WrkNPrgress]

I answered "rarely" because I had one session when my T said she might need to answer the phone because of an expected emergency with her house. She apologized profusely in advance. I didn't mind because I know what that's like and I suspect she might be a single Mom and wouldn't have done this if there was any other recourse.

It never rang anyway.

[ThisWayOut]

I've had one t answer a call, but she had gotten a page first telling her it was an emergency.
One T forgot to set her ringer to silent, but did not answer it when it rang. She turned the ringer off as soon as it started ringing. She said the only time she would answer the phone during session was if someone inside the building was calling because then it was likely an emergency.
One PDoc constantly answered his phone and would send me out of the office to take the call. It would range from personal calls to work calls (I could hear him from the hallway). I didn't stick long with him...
most recent previous T used her phone to keep time during sessions. Sometimes she forgot to set it to silent, but she never answered it when it rang.
It's pretty distracting when there's a noise interrupting session, but not as bad as the t answering the phone...

[cosmic.yiana]

My T will not answer the phone, but his office phone has gone off before on a couple of occasions.

[Seeking_Peace]

My T doesn't have his phone in front of him during sessions. His policy specifically states that he does not answer his phone when he's with clients.

[pbutton]

Only for his own family, in an emergency, with an explanation and sincere apology.

[stopdog]

It is a very rare thing and the woman has said at the outset of the appointment that it might be a possibility. I have had to do the same thing - once I was waiting for a vet to call and told her if the phone rang and it was the vet I would answer it. If it was regular - I would not tolerate it.

[TheWell]

My group T will glance at texts or send text responses very occasionally. My one-on-one T never answers the phone or looks at his phone.

[Purpledaze]

She has answered it a couple of times - I think because she forgot to switch to voicemail. It was something straightforward that she dealt with quickly. I find it less annoying if she answers it than if she lets it ring out, tbh. Normally if I call I leave a message and she calls back.

I had a Pdoc who took a call from a client in my session; it was obv an emergency and she was telling the person to calm down, asking where they were, telling them to go to hospital. It was her mobile and I thought she should have left the room to finish the call. She's not my Pdoc any more.

[harvest moon]

My T always answers the phone during sessions. BUT, that is because, by choice, he has no mobile, no secretary, no voice mail. Just a very old desk phone, which does not have a caller ID

[RTerroni]

On occasion, but not too often

When I saw her in person, there was not a phone in her office. And I never once even saw her cell phone, let alone heard it ring. She is insistent upon the "sacred space" of the therapy time.

[ScarletPimpernel]

My T has her phone on silence and her laptop shut. It's just me and her.

[Arha]

Originally Posted by stopdog

It is a very rare thing and the woman has said at the outset of the appointment that it might be a possibility. I have had to do the same thing - once I was waiting for a vet to call and told her if the phone rang and it was the vet I would answer it. If it was regular - I would not tolerate it.

Exactly the same for me.

[msxyz]

I wouldn't want to pay for my therapist to talk to someone else.

So no, he doesn't use the phone during session, the ringer is off.

On a rare occasion, yes, but he usually lets me know ahead of time it might happen. It's not like he's answering random phone calls from every client that calls in. That's what the answering machine is for, but occasionally something is going on with his family (like when his father was dying or when his daughter had a car accident during our session) when I totally get the need to answer the phone. I also know his receptionist put calls through as quickly as possible when my son collapsed in a seizure at school and had to be transported to the hospital. He was on the phone with me pretty quickly when I called.

My pdoc is the head of the psychiatric floor at the hospital, so it is semi-common that he gets calls. That doesn't bother me in the least because it isn't like we are doing therapy. Usually he'll step out for a minute to address whatever issue it is and comes right back. I suspect it is more common for pdocs to have to pick up calls because they can be dealing with actual medical emergencies. I know when I called my husband's pdoc when he became so ill, the receptionist put my call through because it was clear it was a medical emergency and needed to be address immediately. Sure enough, she sent us to the emergency room and my husband was going into kidney failure due to meds.

These aren't common emergencies, but emergencies do happen and I completely understand the need to address them in the moment.