[stopdog]

What sorts of things do you contact the therapist for outside of appointments?

I basically only call in emergencies. Scheduling is done through his secretary. Being upset is not really enough of a reason by itself: being upset compounded by a marked slip in my mood or functioning IS a reason -- but I file that under the emergency column as a marked slip in my mood and functioning can quickly turn into an emergency requiring intervention from my pdoc and/or hospitalization. Everything else can generally wait until the next session. I can handle being really upset 90% of the time by using the skills I have learned and putting them into practice; it's that other 10% that ends up falling into the emergency category.

[atisketatasket]

Nothing - why spend more time on them?

[stopdog]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Nothing - why spend more time on them?

And that is why I made it an option

Only scheduling.

scheduling, and if I am really upset.

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Nothing - why spend more time on them?

It isn't really about spending time on them though. When I've had to call, trust me, it was all about me and needing help for myself. But I agree that I don't understand the need to call them just to see if they still exist or something; that's a foreign concept to me.

[junkDNA]

Whatever I feel like

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[luvnola]

I don't have a need to ever call. Scheduling is online and I can make an appt or cancel an appt myself. If I'm upset, have good or bad news, major life event, I call a friend or two. I've taken myself to the er when si got out of hand. I use the t for appointment time only.

[Pennster]

My therapist does coaching between appointments, so he encouraged me to ring anytime I was feeling overwhelmed or in need of help. For maybe a year or so I rang him probably on average twice a month, and we would go over ways I could pull myself forward. Then I just kept getting better at handling things on my own. Now I might ring him once every couple of months. The coaching really worked for me in helping me develop the ability to overcome my depression and avoid falling into the grip of post-traumatic distress.

I sometimes drop him an email now as a tool to keep myself accountable if I feel like I need to give myself a push to keep taking care of myself, or if I want to report on something that I had been anticipating as stressful.

Outside contact has been such a valuable tool in my therapy. I have just gotten so much better at keeping myself stable through being able to access support when I have been overwhelmed. In contrast, in my first round of therapy my therapist did not allow outside contact and I became deeply retraumatized. We dredged up a lot of traumatic material and I had nowhere to go with it, and absolutely no idea how to handle it. I developed a very deep sense of isolation, despite having many friends and a supportive family.

[BayBrony]

I only call if I have to cancel last minute or if I am really really upset. Sometimes I leave a voicemail message but indicate not to call me back, ie I just needed to get something out.

I text my T a lot. I text to share news if my T asked to be updated about something. I also text a lot asking for virtual affection, hugs etc. We have an entire emoticon language for that sort of thing. She usually answers at least once in a day. I have learned to specifically state what I need which greatly increases the likelihood of a response

I email to share insights or spiritual work I am doing. I usually do not expect an answer. We usually go over these in session.

[velcro003]

I put other. I have great shame about e-mailing my T close to every week. I sort of hate it, but another part of me feels a tiny bit better e-mailing her my thoughts. It usually is processing a session. I think better through words than verbally, which she understands and is ok with, though I am waiting for her to be sick of it.

I have called, but much less than e-mailing, and that is only if I am feeling really bad, or need to hear her voice as an encouragement to get off my arse and do something that I know will be good for me. She is also ok with that.

[feralkittymom]

Other than scheduling, I doubt I called (never e-mail or text) more than half a dozen times in 11 years. He wanted me to reach out more. I would call only if very deeply upset in a way that I thought might escalate into harm. We'd talk for a few minutes and usually it would lead to an emergency appt within 48 hrs.

[Cinnamon_Stick]

I call her for emergency and if I am really upset and need to talk about something right then. I email more often than calling and I can express myself better in email.

[awkwardlyyours]

I've only contacted her about scheduling -- she had me sign a policy early on of no outside contact other than scheduling.

But, when I told her I needed to take a break from therapy because things were getting too painful and I haven't been able to cope very well, she suddenly offered phone check-ins and additional sessions.

I haven't taken her up on either of those though and doubt I ever will either.

[Argonautomobile]

I only once called for something other than scheduling and immediately felt completely ridiculous.What the **** was he supposed to do about my panic attack?

[clairelisbeth]

I contact my T for lots of reasons-(primarily via text)-good news, bad news, a thought I want to share. Sometimes it's to let her know that I followed up on something we talked about, like eating dinner, if I'm struggling with food that day, or to hold myself accountable to not using eating disorder behaviors. Like BayBrony, my T and I have s whole emoji language that we use to communicate. If things are really bad, I'll text to ask if we can touch base via phone.

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[AnxiousGirl]

The only way my T and I can make progress is if I email major things when I'm upset. I have such a hard time opening up since from a young age I've always kept my feelings to myself. My T encourages contact but I only email long details when I'm feeling extremely low. I haven't emailed much but broke down 4 days ago and sent one. Have a session tomorrow so we'll see how that plays out.

I also email or get emails from my T for scheduling or cancelling sessions too. Sometimes my T emails me about articles that remind her of me too.

[heda]

I've emailed her after I had a panic attack the first time. And when I forgot about something we discussed in session. She usually answers within the business day.

I checked all boxes that didn't have only. As far as contacting her, I did less phone and more emailing. Over 1200 emails in 18 months. She responded to ~ 2/3 of my emails. She helped me see I needed what I needed or wanted at the time, and it did not make me needy or greedy. I was filling unmet needs from my past, and she was willing to help me. My phone calls to her were probably more than most clients here, but in my eyes it was minimal compared to my emails and sessions.

[annielovesbacon]

I put "nothing, I have no urge to contact" but just to clarify, I would be open to emailing my T outside of session, but it's not something she's brought up and I'm not going to bring it up so we don't.

[ejayy78]

Scheduling mostly. But I checked "if I'm really upset" also. I would have checked the emergency option, but the reasons i call other than for scheduling don't really constitute as emergencies, they're just big life events (for lack of a better word) that I push off until I realize i actually can't handle theming my own and then I reach out to my t. But those times are rare. I actually just contacted her this week about something, but the last time I called her for anything other than scheduling was in December. I hate calling t in between sessions for actual therapy related stuff and try to avoid it at all costs.

[Yoda]

Only scheduling but sometimes I'd call to see if there was an appt sooner than what I had if I felt the need. My T did not accept calls if in crisis; written office policy was to go to the emergency dept if in crisis but my pdoc was always available to me when I was actually in crisis.

Occasionally I have sent her angry texts after sessions where I felt her behaviour was inappropriate. She always answers in under an hour.
Otherwise, she has rang and text me about scheduling, bereavements, asked me if I wanted her to get a book for me or other things! I have text t in an emergency about three times over my 2.5 years seeing her. I told her I was coping and she rang back to see her that day. T always takes me seriously when I say I am not doing so good. I have had ts who completely ignored those kind of texts or told me to ring a helpline which felt like a kick in the teeth.

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[rainbow8]

I have called my T about 3 times in 6 years, and that was because I was very upset. I prefer email. I usually email the night or next day after my session to talk about my feelings, which are particularly strong then. Sometimes I email a second time in the week to update how I feel, or to tell her good things that I've done. I often send her photos I've taken of my grandchildren or of scenic places, or of a painting I'm working on. She welcomes my photos and usually responds back about them. I also use email for scheduling.