Why do so many therapists not work outside 9-5?

It seems sort of obnoxious to me fora therapists to only have appointments available between 10am and 4pm. I mean, a lot of us have jobs and are not available between those times. I feel like in a profession like counseling the work hours should be better tailored to what is most convenient for potential clients. I don't get it, are they basically saying they are looking to only treat school kids and stay at home moms? Is there an assumption that people with full time jobs aren't supposed to need therapy? What's the deal?

I see two ts who have extended hours, one works from1:30-10. But that is definitely unusual. I suspect that most ts just work "normal" working hours has to do with the fact that a) they want to be home when spouse/kids are home and b) they manage to stay pretty busy just being available those hours. It does stink for people with normal jobs.

Right. Many have a life outside of their passion of work

My long term t had after work hours. My last t would see me at seven am before work. New t has the unthinkable-- Saturday hours!!

When I was looking for my new t I had the same frustration. Lots of t's here have 9-4 hours. How do they stay in business?

Some T's where i live will see people out of hours. Some advertise it and others you have to ask. My T will work between 8 and 6 but i think it depends.

I had a therapist once who I saw as late as 7pm, and also saw her on Saturdays and even on a Sunday occasionally. She was a great therapist, but unfortunately moved away.

My therapist has appointments from 8-4, so his work day is over at 5. I asked him about it and he said he wants to be able to spend time with his family and there are a lot of tech workers here who can leave their office day time for appointments so he doesn't have to have extended hours.

My therapists had their own families and other activities and commitments beyond their job, so being home for supper and evenings for their family was a priority for them. I can respect that. They didn't seem to have any problem filling their appointment schedule.

My t thankfully does work outside the 9-5. I actually got to have Saturday appointments for a while there, going on a year I guess it was, but she just now is stopping those because she has other stuff she wants to do on saturdays. I'm a little sad about it, I really appreciated going on Saturday mornings. I had my first evening appointment in a long time today as a matter of fact, went straight from work (I work til 5) so it started at 6. I don't know if she works later than that, I didn't ask.

My T stays late on Mondays and Fridays and used to do Saturday morning appointments. And by stay late, I mean I am her last client at 6pm.

My new t works Tuesday - Saturday, with her last weekday appointment beginning at 6pm. There is more flexibility in private practice: sometimes she starts early and finishes late, but takes a 2 hour break in the middle of the day.

I like going on Saturdays because going after work is really stressful. I have a driving phobia and traffic is dreadful here at rush hour

None of the three I have seen in my life (more than a few times) have had usual 9-5 hours - they all had nights and/or weekends.
The two I see now are both semi-retired so their hours are not as often but they are not strictly 9-5.

Mine works at least three days a week until 8 or 9 o'clock. I didn't realise this was unusual.

My younger brother's T works on Saturday's from 9am to 1pm in the private practice clinic he goes too. I really appreciate Saturday appointments as I work 9am-7pm+ Monday to Friday.

I see my T at a hospital outpatient clinic and she works Monday to Friday 830am-530pm (meaning 430pm is the last appointment slot). I'm really lucky that my boss allows me to take time off work once a month for therapy.

Nos. 1 and 2 did keep normal business hours, but 3 had Saturday hours and appointments starting as late as 5:30 or 6. DBC has hours every day except Sunday.

What I don't understand is that my dentist keeps 9-5 hours. So do my doctors. So does my lawyer. The presumption is that you'll take time off from work if you need their services. I don't see why therapists should be different? Sure, it's convenient if they have some non-conventional hours, but the same applies to the professionals I just mentioned.

I only see my dr once or twice a year. I see my therapist every week. It wouldn't be possible for me to take time off work to do therapy without off hour appointments.

I would think it different for therapists because people have more than one or two appointments a year - I think it is somewhat usual for people to have weekly appointments with a therapist over a period of time. For me, as an attorney, people do not see me weekly for long periods of time. I don't see my dentist weekly either. So taking time off for those things is a rarer situation.
Plus I never worked just 9-5 as an attorney either.

In my county, mental health issues, going to counselling, or psychotherapy is seen as VERY shameful.

A doctor can issue a doctors note / sick leave, which jobs accept, but counsellors and therapists aren't doctors. Lawyers, most people use their paid vacation leave as the visits aren't as frequent as therapy.

My therapist is only in her office on tuesdays and Thursday's, from early afternoon until early evening. I see her in the evening due to my work schedule.

I've seen my T at 7:30pm a few times. I've also seen her on Saturday a couple of times.

In my country, most if not all therapists in private practice work evenings, at least some days of the week, for this exact reason. On the other hand, I am subscribed to a US-based practice building newsletter that teaches therapists to only accepts the clients they want, for the fees they want, at the hours they really want to work. I'm aware one newsletter doesn't represent a very big country, but the reason the author suggests this is because there are many potential clients and that the "whole reason" for being in private practice is to choose one's own working hours for a better work-life balance. Now, in my country, psychotherapists usually work in private practice because there are no mental health agencies, just some very low-paying jobs in NGOs and mostly psych clinics that require the therapists to have a private practice and pay their own taxes so the clinic won't have to take the responsibility of employing them. So then in a way it makes sense to me that therapists in private practice here where it's pretty much the way to go in this profession, will tailor hours to the clients needs more than therapists who had a choice and preferred private practice to set working hours at their own convenience. Still, I think there should usually be at least some flexibility. In my country, there are actually some therapists in private practice who still work at their day jobs and work as therapists from 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

My T only works Mondays and Wednesdays. I don't know her exact hours, but I think her latest appt is 5:30pm.

my t works tuesdays-saturdays. he goes from 8am to 6 or sometimes 7pm. im afraid he'll get burned out. he told me that he gets all kinds of calls for people to make new appointments but doesnt have the time to get back to them, or the time to have new clients. i told him the people calling who want an appointment might feel bad that he doesnt get back to them...=\

My T only works 9-6 (like last appointment is 5, I think) M-W, but I work from home, so I have flexibility. But if I start working outside the home with any sort of commute, I doubt I'd be able to keep seeing T (though she'll likely retire within the next couple years).

My marriage counselor has more flexible hours (or as T calls them, "weird hours,") staying till 8 or 9 two nights a week and occasionally working Saturdays (I think one Saturday he may have come in just for H and me, since we were in a really bad place and he was going to be on vacation the next week). Much of his practice focuses on teens, so he has to work around school schedules. My husband does work outside the home, but he works about 5 minutes from MC's (and T's) office, and his hours are pretty flexible, so we generally see MC during H's workday.