[qwertykeyboard]

Anyone else find it weird to text T? She says I can text her when I am having issues so she can help me to work them out, but I just feel like this sets blurry boundaries and that I'd rely on it too much.

Anyone else have experience texting/calling T after hours to practice working through issues?

I used to feel weird about it. But t and i text each other often now. I dont have a problem with it anymore. We dont get to see each other in person so we have to rely a lot on social media to communicate.

[Pennster]

My therapist does coaching in between sessions- I find it very useful. He prefers to talk by phone, but we do occasionally email if one of us is traveling outside of the country. It's particularly useful if I'm getting too caught up in my own anxiety or depression to think straight, and then we generally work out together how I can take care of myself and how I can start to feel better. I felt a bit weird about it in the beginning, but I have found it so consistently useful that it doesn't bother me anymore - and I'm getting much better at pulling myself out of whatever I'm mired in, so for me it's been really positive. It's helped me to internalize the idea that help is accessible, both from other people and from within myself.

Would you consider trying it as an experiment a few times and seeing how it works out for you?

[ScarletPimpernel]

I can call or email my T. With calls though, they have to be less than 15 mins otherwise she charges me. So I save my calls for crises. But I usually email her once a week. Most of the time, I just want reassurance or encouragement. It really helps.

[ThisWayOut]

I am allowed to text current t, but it's still a bit weird to me. I worry a lot about boundaries and being a bother, so she has reiterated that she is ok with it. I think one big thing with out of hours contact is not only knowing t's boundaries, but understanding your own as well. If it makes you feel uncomfortable to text t, then maybe another conversation (or several more) would be good to have around it.

My t seems to allow texting with a few of her clients. She offered a few "levels" of "ok" texting, but I wasn't comfortable with the openness of it. We talked, and agreed where the boundaries stand with it. One level is simply checking to see if t is "still there". It helps with my panic around thinking t hates me, or that she resents having me as a client. While this one really bothered me at first, it's the level I'm most comfortable with. I'm also allowed to text if I need help working through things (and my usual coping isn't working so well). I think I've only done this one or twice. It helped being reminded in the moment that someone else is aware I'm struggling,and there if I need her. I'm not sure I would be comfortable trying to work through too much by text though. I tend to read into things or misread the intent, which causes a lot of anxiety for me. If there's anything requiring more than a few exchanges, I'd be more apt to call. T is generally open about letting me know if there's a time she will not be available, or a more inconvenient time to try to reach out. I think that heLPS a lot. It's certainly always an open dialogue.

[junkDNA]

when i was in and out of psychotic episodes i would text my T and he would support me. i had trouble with the voices not letting me take my meds and my T would call me every night to talk me through it and be with me during the moments after when the voices would panic.

[AnxiousGirl]

I feel the same way but with emails. My T let me use texting only once for something specific and that was it. With emails my T tells me to email anytime I need no matter what it's about but I try to limit it because I have a huge fear of judgement and I'm just afraid to annoy/bother my T. Over the course of the year that I've seen my T I would say I've sent about 6-7 emails about issues and the rest were just to schedule appointments.

[Sarah1985]

I used to find it weird and uncomfortable, but now it's been a huge value to me, our relationship, and the work I do in therapy

[Chummy]

I can't text my T. At the practise she works now, they have one number for all the T's and it's only available during workhours. At the practise she worked before this one, she did had a work mobilephone. But she told me she only answered it during workhours. She told me this when I was doing really bad and had really bad si thoughts. She told me if I would ever had the urge to do it, I could call her, but she would only answer her Phone during workhours. So outside those hours I would need to call my gp or emergency line.
I can email my T whenever I want, but again, she only answers emails during workhours.

It was the same with previous T's, but from previous T's I didn't even had an emailaddress. So with them I could only have contact during sessions.

I think I would find it weird to text a T. I probably wouldn't do it. I'm kind of used to dealing with everything on my own and T's are only there for you during your session.

[Ellahmae]

My T has me text her. At first I never did, then I started slowly with non-important things. Testing the waters so to speak. She always responds, to everything. Reassures me that she wants them. Tells me to text her. I fluctuate between a lot of emotions and other things regularly so she wants to know 'where I am/how I am doing'. Now it seems odd if I don't text her for a day. I find it very helpful but I also believe it depends on T's consistency, trust you have in your T to keep it going over how ever long you may need it.

Anyone else find it weird to text T? At first, yes. After building up the things I feel safe texting to her over time it's become part of my day and it's extremely helpful and reassuring to know that she is there like she said she would be.

I just feel like this sets blurry boundaries and that I'd rely on it too much. That's how I felt at first, of course she's my first T and I didn't know about boundaries, etc - just that it was odd and I didn't want to become dependent on it. Some days I text 1,000 things other days it's just 1 quick note to let her know where my head is. I go through waves of relying on it and needing to know she's there and at times, moreso now, I feel less dependent on it and more like it is just a way to communicate.

Anyone else have experience texting/calling T after hours to practice working through issues? Obviously from my novel above, yes. Just wanted to answer the 'hours'. I text her all hours. Sometimes it's 5am. Sometimes it's noon. Other times it's 2 or 3 in the morning and I have thoughts that won't stop and need to send them away. Usually between 11pm and 7am she won't answer until the following morning but sometimes she will depending on if she's awake or not. I do respect the time in between responses as I know I'm not her only client and she has a busy family.

Anyway, long story long - it works for me after I trusted her and started doing it. I still believe it has a lot to do with consistency and trust on the T's end of things, almost more so than that of the client. If you're still reading this let me know and I'll bake you cookies. Sorry I got a little carried away...

[LonesomeTonight]

I've been seeing my T for 4 years and have only texted her a couple times, both within the past couple months. The first time, I was having really bad panic attacks riding back from vacation, and she gave me some advice on dealing with it, plus had me check in a couple times to see how I was doing. The other time was when she was going to talk to my p-doc about something, and I asked her to let me know she'd done it.

I've talked on the phone to her a few times outside of work hours as well if I was really upset. I've left a few messages on her work voicemail, and she's called me back to talk. Then another time recently, I was in a really bad place at midnight and called her cell (she'd given me permission to do so). Woke her up, but she still talked to me for about 10 minutes to make sure I was OK and that I was safe.

I also texted my marriage counselor once fairly recently, but it was at 3 a.m. on vacation when I was feeling very lonely (which is basically what I said in the text--I have some transference for him, which he's aware of, as is my husband). That wasn't the most appropriate use of texting, but he was very kind and caring about it when responding the next day and talking about it later in session. I occasionally e-mail him as well. And I've left him a few voicemails on his office phone when I've been upset with something he said to me or that happened in session. He usually took a day to get back to me, but he's talked to me for up to a half hour before.

To answer your question, I feel OK with both e-mailing and calling office voice mail, but I feel like I need to reserve texting or calling cell phone for more urgent/crisis-type situations. And I often need reassurance that it's OK that I contacted them if it's something more than an e-mail (or even if it's just an e-mail for MC).

[BlessedRhiannon]

I struggle most on weekends, so my T has asked me to text her an update every Sunday evening. That way, if I need another session or a phone call on Monday, we can schedule it. At first, it felt very weird to text her, but now I've gotten used to it. Just yesterday, I texted her because the front desk hadn't called her to let her know I was there and it was already 5 minutes past the hour.

I'm more comfortable texting her than I used to be, but I still try to use it sparingly. I don't think it blurs boundaries if your T says it's okay and if you use it as a quick update or quick message. If you expect therapy by text, I think that might be asking a bit much. Text is really designed for short exchanged of information, and that's how my T and I use it.