[iheartjacques]

Current T says all contact is through the office of the practice.
Every other person I've had in the past has given me an email or mobile number I can text them if I'm in a really bad place, or for scheduling appointments.
I feel a lot of resentment against current T for not giving me that. Especially when I was sick and needed to ask a question about my meds.

[secretgalaxy]

My old T gave an email and my new T only gives her working cell which is for after hours too. I have never used it. I hate talking on the phone so even if I need to I probably won't.

I'm sorry that your current T has such strict boundaries I know how it feels when meds aren't right and there's nothing you can do about it. My psychiatrist was the same way.

[SoupDragon]

Yes I have both, but rarely use. Only on the odd occasion when I am running late. Can you discuss with T so you know what you can do if you are in a difficult place?

No, neither my T nor my Pdoc give out emails. All contact is done by phone.

[acceptance]

Email n phone both. I have emailed..never phoned

[lunatic soul]

Of course.
I can't imagine that T wouldn't give his/her phone, sometimes client need to change time or date of session etc.
He gave me his email when I asked but anyway his phone and email is available on google
I call him very rarely only if it's something serious, I don;t call him in every crisis. I try not to email him but sometimes I do it, he always says that we need to talk about it at session not email.

Sad that your T doesn't give you his number, maybe he had bad experiences with ex clients calling him too much or at night so he decided tnot to give his number.

My t doesn't have an office, she's self employed, so ive got her number and email. I don't really contact her outside session though. I used to.

[Crescent Moon]

Originally Posted by iheartjacques

Current T says all contact is through the office of the practice.
Every other person I've had in the past has given me an email or mobile number I can text them if I'm in a really bad place, or for scheduling appointments.
I feel a lot of resentment against current T for not giving me that. Especially when I was sick and needed to ask a question about my meds.

I'd find another therapist. I have my therapist's cell and email.. but she did warn me not to abuse it. Your therapist prescribes meds? If so.. then there should be an emergency number of some sort to call for that.

[Soccer mom]

My T. is self employed and I have her cell phone. She didn't necessarily "give" it to me - I think she called me from it to set up an appt and it's listed as an emergency number on her work voicemail. So, I now text the cell for appts but nothing else. Well, sometimes I'll find something funny and text her but I never expect a response and rarely get one. She doesn't give out email although I know it due to other people I know at her second job.

She has strict boundaries and isn't the greatest at responding anyway. BUT, I know if I called and left a message that an emergency happened, she would call me back.

[Seeking_Peace]

My T is self-employed and does not have a receptionist. I have his cell and e-mail.

Originally Posted by iheartjacques

Current T says all contact is through the office of the practice. I feel a lot of resentment against current T for not giving me that. Especially when I was sick and needed to ask a question about my meds.

Is her office good about giving messages and does she have a after-hours service that answers and forwards messages? Did you ask T what she would want you to do during a emergency/crisis?

[Lauliza]

I have the same set up for my pdoc and T, who are both out of the same practice. This is not unusual for T's/ pdocs that work out of a group practice. Is your t a psychiatrist? That would be another reason. I think in group practices clinicians have larger case loads and could end up with too many voicemails or emails to keep track of. This would be especially true of a pdoc. If a T works solo it's different and they'd need to provide you with a direct contact method. Is the staff good about relaying messages so you get a timely response? I don't care about having a direct number or email so long as I can get in touch in an emergency, but I do understand outside contact is important to some people. If you get a reply are you ok with the arrangement? If not then you might try to find someone with a different set up.

[stopdog]

I have email and cell phone for one and home and cell phone for the other. But it is often just as useful, if not more, for me to write an actual letter and mail it if I want to rail at the therapist about something they have screwed up.
Why are you not calling md who prescribed the medicine?

My T has a private practice. I have his office number and his email - no cell number. I am very thankful that he is open to communicating between sessions through email. At times, emailing makes it is easier for me to say what I'm really thinking and feeling.

[NowhereUSA]

I have his work email and work phone - contact is within his office hours. Which is fine by me. My clinic does offer a dbt coaching line but I never got set up with it and haven't needed to be set up for it.

[BlessedRhiannon]

Both my current T and pdoc have given me their cell phone numbers and email addresses. My T is very big on texting for quick communication and she likes it when I email her my thoughts in between sessions, but I struggle to reach out, so this helps me to be able to when I need it. My pdoc likes emails for quick questions, because he can respond to them in between appointments, and it's faster than listening to voicemails and returning calls. Plus, he charges for calls but not emails.

However, neither of my previous two T's gave out any personal contact information - the only way to contact them was through their office phones.

The difference might be in part that my current T and pdoc are in private, solo practices. My previous two T's were part of a larger practice.

[brillskep]

I have my therapist's email address and cell phone number, but that's the norm in my country. In fact, the information is quite public. Then again, my therapist works in private practice, so he had to give me his own contact info; I'm sure that might be different for therapists who work in clinics etc. I do some volunteer work at an NGO working with people with various mental health issues, and I don't know the policy for employees but volunteers are forbidden from giving out phone numbers to the clients. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the policy for employees as well.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear you are so upset about your therapist's boundary around contact. It may be due to any number of reasons, ranging from personal need for space to office policies which aren't up to him. If this is a new therapist, perhaps it may be an option for you to consider seeing someone else. If you're attached or want to work with this one for any reason, perhaps talking to your current therapist about your feelings and needs and see if you can find any other way to fulfill those needs.

I have both her cell phone number and her email address.

[divine1966]

Mine gave me her own cell phone number. I said if I need to cancel I call the office (and I do) she said call my cell any time of you want to share or talk. I don't. But I might

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I have both. Never phoned but do email.
My T works privately, so perhaps that allows for more autonomy.

I have office phone and email. if you want a response you have to let her know or she says it's her call and it depends on what is happening in her life whether she responds or not. I'm a okay with this.

[musinglizzy]

My T also does not have office staff. I have her Email and cell phone number. I've only ever spoken on the phone with her once, and that was when she called me when I was trying to deal with a family emergency, but we do Email and text.

[JustShakey]

I have email, cell phone and office phone. All three are on his business card.

[junkDNA]

i have my Ts office phone , other phone, and email. i text the most. then email. then rarely we talk on the phone. 1 time we talkd on skype

With my x therapist, I had her cell phone and email. I never called but I did occasionally email "after-thoughts" regarding therapy; I never called because I hate using the phone. When I moved away and looked for a new therapist, it took me about 9 or 10 tries before I got a therapist I felt I could work with effectively. Of those 9 or 10 therapists, their boundaries were all different. Some offered their cell phone numbers, a few just had an office phone, one stated in the first session that she did absolutely no out-of-session contact, one offered email, cell phone, office phone and texting and a few offered office phone for emergencies only and then they specified what they considered an emergency to be and even that varied LOL. In none of those cases, did I ask for out-of-session contact, they just offered what they felt was appropriate for them. I guess they were all pretty good at setting out their boundaries in the first session and that's a good thing. Everything was clear from the on-set.

The therapist I decided to work with gave me a business card with her cell phone number and office number. It did not have her email on it . . . although I had that because I contacted her through Psychology Today therapist directory and when she responded back it had her email on it. I've only used the office phone to call regarding scheduling. I feel as though that's all I need but I sure do understand someone who needs something more in regard to out-of-session contact.

[Coco3]

I have his mobile number and email adress. I can call and email him anytime. He usually responds within 24 hours during office hours.