[stopdog]

I have read posts about others contacting or wanting to contact the therapist of another person. I do not tell most others I see a therapist (or two of them) and the three people who do know I have seen a therapist do not know their names or even if I still do go. I know some of my friends see therapists but I don't know the full name of their therapist - sometimes people say the first name but not the last. I did not give the therapist contact info for any either. I left the slot blank or I gave fictitious info - I just can't remember now which.
Is it common for people to tell others which therapist they see in enough detail that someone else could find that therapist if they wanted?

[WrkNPrgress]

I got my therapist's name from a coworker/friend.
We don't have a taboo about psychotherapy in our office. We consider this no different than if someone suggested a dentist or something.

I often recommend people I see to friends.

I have told two people. I signed a release for one friend to communicate back and forth with the therapist because it was a better option than signing a release with another mh professional. It served a specific purpose and was useful to me (as well as my therapist). Neither are nutcases, so I had no problem with it.

[Ellahmae]

I have often thought about giving the mister my T's information as a "just in case" but I don't believe I would ever have the need arise for someone else to contact her so I haven't.

[catonyx]

My husband would know how to contact T. I have not specifically used her name with him, but he knows where I file the receipts.

My parents and a couple friends know I see a T, but they don't know who or where.

[JaneTennison1]

I chose select few but really only my spouse knows their name and one other person I recommended T to. That's it.

[Mike_J]

People know who my therapist is, I am very open about who I see and recommend her to others, but contacting her would be difficult. She can't even acknowledge that I'm one of her patients (this is true for all therapists). My ex-wife (AKA "The Leach") tried calling her became furious when she wouldn't even return any of the numerous messages she left for her.

[stopdog]

I admit to surprise that people recommend the therapist they are seeing to someone else.
I don't think I would. I am not certain whether the woman is any good and I really do not know whether anyone would find her adequate or not. I don't want someone coming back to me to complain about the recommendation. Plus I cannot imagine anyone contacting her after I gave the description I know I would give "I know a therapist who may not completely suck that you could try if desperate. She is terrible at some things but will stay back if you are firm enough"

[scorpiosis37]

My good friends know that I see a therapist and they know her first name-- but they do not know her last name or how to contact her. Nor would they want or try to. I can't imagine why anyone would have any interest in doing so.

Eta: it just occurred to me that, if I died or were gravely injured, it would be nice if someone let my T know. I don't believe they would think to do that, though.

[JaneTennison1]

Oh and only a few people know I'm in therapy. I had some major life events last year and assume I go because of that. Actually therapy has turned into dealing with other things but that's no one's business.

[guilloche]

I voted other.

I tell several people that I'm seeing a therapist. It just comes up. It's really one of the biggest chunks of my life right now, so it's hard not to.

But only 2 know who it is. My sister (I sent her T's website) and my brother (in jail, knows my Ts name, but doesn't know how to contact). Both of them are in a different state.

Sometimes it's possible to figure out who a person's T is. There have been people here who had unusual enough experiences with their T, and then posted on other message boards with more details... that it wasn't hard to google and find their T. I knew someone years ago that also gave enough info to figure out who her T was, unintentionally iirc.

[junkDNA]

most all my friends know i see a therapist and they know who he is. i dont think they have his phone number/email though. i met my T in a residential treatment program and a lot of my friends are from that program as well. so they know who he is

[JaneTennison1]

Stopdog the reason I recommended her is someone I know in passing was looking for a gay friendly therapist. I said it may work out it may not but she's at least gay friendly.

My husband and kids know my therapist (of course they do, they've seen him to). There are a few other people who know I see a therapist, but they don't know details; we just never had reason to discuss it much.

[stopdog]

I do warn people away from one specific therapist if they say they are looking for one.

[Favorite Jeans]

I will occasionally mention in conversation that I'm in therapy if it seems relevant. Only my partner knows who my T is though. I know who hers is too. I can't imagine that i'd ever contact her T or that she'd contact mine without permission.

Originally Posted by stopdog

I admit to surprise that people recommend the therapist they are seeing to someone else.
I don't think I would. I am not certain whether the woman is any good and I really do not know whether anyone would find her adequate or not. I don't want someone coming back to me to complain about the recommendation. Plus I cannot imagine anyone contacting her after I gave the description I know I would give "I know a therapist who may not completely suck that you could try if desperate. She is terrible at some things but will stay back if you are firm enough"

I don't remember ever recommending my therapist to someone else; I may have, but at this moment I don't remember. I would if it came up. I have recommended by pdoc to someone who ended up using him and was forever grateful for the recommendation; her pdoc was awful.

Personally, I don't worry about whether it works out for them or not. I generally recommend people for services with some explanation of why I like them but also with a realistic viewpoint of the little quirks that may or may not be tolerable to others. I figure they'll have to decide for themselves one way or another anyway. I don't take it personally if they end up not using them. I've recommended babysitters, daycare centers, doctors, air conditioning companies, dog groomers, etc. That's pretty normal conversation amongst friends and acquaintances.

[Ellahmae]

I've only done it once - and I was overly repetitive that just because she may be great for me doesn't mean that she'll work for you. Too many variables with personality, etc.

Originally Posted by stopdog

I admit to surprise that people recommend the therapist they are seeing to someone else.
I don't think I would. I am not certain whether the woman is any good and I really do not know whether anyone would find her adequate or not. I don't want someone coming back to me to complain about the recommendation. Plus I cannot imagine anyone contacting her after I gave the description I know I would give "I know a therapist who may not completely suck that you could try if desperate. She is terrible at some things but will stay back if you are firm enough"

[BlessedRhiannon]

Several of my close friends know that I see a therapist, and I just recently told my parents. However, only two close friends know my therapist's name and contact information. Up until just a few weeks ago, no one knew my therapist's name or contact info. However, I've been going through a hypomanic or maybe even manic phase lately, and that's when I'm at the greatest risk for sui. My T directly asked me for the names and contact info of two friends that I would be willing to be with instead of being alone. She also directly asked me to make sure those friends have her contact information. This is maybe the second time in over 5 years that my therapist has directly asked me to do something, so I took it seriously and made sure my two closest friends had my T's contact info. Mostly, it's not so that my friends can contact my T but so that if my T contacts my friends on my behalf, they will not ignore the call because the number is unfamiliar to them.

[Ambra]

Very few people know I see a therapist. Maybe four? I don't give the name or anything, except my mother knows it because she looked in my diaries and medical stuff (without my permission).
I told her not to dare contacting my therapist and I don't think she would anyway.

[Middlemarcher]

Not many people know that I see a therapist, and I have only mentioned her name to two people. I have not given either of them her contact information, and it is not publicly listed anywhere that I know of. So no one else should be able to contact her.

I don't expect that I will ever be hospitalized for mental health reasons, but I have told my boyfriend her name and the hospital where she works (in addition to her private practice). I have told him that should I ever have a need to be hospitalized, to take me to that hospital, where she has admitting privileges. I told him this after a session in which I discussed it with her (basically reassuring myself that if the poop hit the fan, my T would have my back).

[catonyx]

Originally Posted by stopdog

I admit to surprise that people recommend the therapist they are seeing to someone else.
I don't think I would. I am not certain whether the woman is any good and I really do not know whether anyone would find her adequate or not. I don't want someone coming back to me to complain about the recommendation. Plus I cannot imagine anyone contacting her after I gave the description I know I would give "I know a therapist who may not completely suck that you could try if desperate. She is terrible at some things but will stay back if you are firm enough"

I would recommend the place I go to someone I know. There are many Ts working there so they get assigned based on intake information.

That said, I have nothing negative to say with regards to my T.

[ThisWayOut]

my wife knows the first name of my T, but even I don't know her last name other than what I can butcher from hearing it on her vm message. she knows that this T is at the same office as a previous T, but wouldn't exactly know how to contact her unless she went through my phone to find her contact info. My mom knows I go to a T, and I mention her first name, but she would not know how to contact T. Both my mom and wife have had contact with previous T's as it was helpful at the time. Nothing like that is set up with this T though.
A few select friends know I go to T, but no idea who or where or for what. Some really close friends know I have had really severe depression with suicide attempts, so they assume I go for things related to that. Only my wife and mom know there's more to it, and no one knows all of it, not even T.
my dogs know it all, but I'm pretty sure they are neither telling nor going to attempt to contact T, lol.

I do not recommend T's, though may point people in the general direction of a competant T I know and may work well with them. I worked in mental health for many years, so it's not really a tabboo thing to talk about in my circles.

my husband and my sister have my therapists name, email,& phone number,& my sister has the webpage and youtube pages also. t has talked to my sister and my sister just loves her. so they know how to get ahold of her if anything happens to me.

[brillskep]

I tell like-minded people that I see a therapist. In the school I trained in it is expected that therapists seek their own personal therapy, so I am quite open about it with many colleagues, but I do not give ,y therapist's name. I've told his first name to very close relatives and friends and if they really, really wanted to, they could put two and two together and find him, since his contact info is readily available online - but they'd need to figure out his last name for that.