[awkwardlyyours]

Am curious if folks smile, say hello etc if they run into any other clients of the therapist (if you run into them of course.....if not, I totally envy you!)?

My awkwardness is on full display during these encounters because I'm never sure about the proper etiquette -- what if someone is super upset and there I am displaying my megawatt smile? Or, what if someone sees me looking my usual down-in-the-dumps self and they interpret it as my being rude specifically towards them? etc.

(Clearly, it's all about me.)

[atisketatasket]

Usually we both give embarrassed half-smiles while looking in each other's general direction in a vaguely unfocused way, if we even acknowledge each other. Only time any of them said anything to me was a brief muttered apology when his session ran late into mine.

Maybe your strategy should be to look worse than the other guy so they'll feel better about themselves? Your own special therapy chaser for them.

My therapist is in an office with about 8 different therapists and pdocs, so there are almost always other people in the waiting room. Sometimes I greet others; sometimes not. Sort of depends on the person I guess. I have no idea when someone comes out the door if they were my therapist's client or someone else's. Doesn't really matter one way or the other to me anyway. I take my cues about who to greet or not depending on the vibe I get from that person (just like I would with any other stranger anywhere).

[junkDNA]

If I don't know them I just go into the other room without acknowledging them. If I do.know them I just say hi ,how are you...stuff like that

[Miss Laura]

I go to a day centre where there are lots of people coming in and out of there so you never know who, is who. I mean who is going in there to see a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, CPN, Occupational Therapist, Peer Support Worker, Community Worker or anyone else. So no I never need to worry about seeing someone going into see my Psychologist

It just never happens. He is somewhere else right before my appointment (i know this because he asked if we could change my session time by 15 mins because he was rushing to get there) and it's lunchtime directly after I've seen him. I'm pretty pleased about that to be honest.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I don't see any of her other clients. They're gone by the time I get there.

[nottrustin]

It rarely happens but when it has I take a cue from them whether to acknowledge them or not.

I once waited in the waiting room. A person I work with walled I'm jealous sat down as he was seeing the other therapist in the building. He started talking to me

It was horrible. I talked to T. Now I go in right as my appointment starts. If her door is open she wants me to go in.

[awkwardlyyours]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Only time any of them said anything to me was a brief muttered apology when his session ran late into mine.

Maybe your strategy should be to look worse than the other guy so they'll feel better about themselves? Your own special therapy chaser for them.

You got an apology? That's sweet.

There's a teenaged dude whose session is right before mine on Sundays. Apparently, it only occurs to him to go out and bring in each member of his family to see current T -- a new family member for each session, it seems -- right as his session is about to end and mine is about to begin.

Invariably then, his session would run well over into mine and while current T would be apologetic, she wouldn't make up my full time (although, to be fair, on other occasions, she has gone way way over time with me) -- that led to my 5-year-old self, perfecting the Death Stare to use on him the next time around, except that he appeared to be so fully engaged in heaven-knows-what, that he'd bounce away blissfully unaware of my hate rays aimed at him.

Thankfully, after a while, either current T shut down the therapy show-and-tell with family members, or the size of his family drastically got reduced overnight -- either way, his sessions are now ending on time (or he's now in a different slot).

I will attempt looking ultra-woeful next time around -- my little random act of kindness

[Myrto]

With my ex T, I rarely saw her other clients: I was the first of the day at 8am and there was usually nobody after me. But it did happen a few times that I saw another client. I was super attached so any reminder that I wasn't the only one was painful. I would never say hello, would barely look at them and always walk past them. I don't care if it's rude, I didn't owe these other clients anything. They themselves never said hello either. With my new therapist, I don't see her other clients as they exit by another entrance. My new T shares the waiting room with a doctor in the same building so I've seen the doctor's clients there and said hello because they're not "rivals" if that makes sense.

[Myrto]

Originally Posted by awkwardlyyours

You got an apology? That's sweet.

There's a teenaged dude whose session is right before mine on Sundays. Apparently, it only occurs to him to go out and bring in each member of his family to see current T -- a new family member for each session, it seems -- right as his session is about to end and mine is about to begin.

Invariably then, his session would run well over into mine and while current T would be apologetic, she wouldn't make up my full time (although, to be fair, on other occasions, she has gone way way over time with me) -- that led to my 5-year-old self, perfecting the Death Stare to use on him the next time around, except that he appeared to be so fully engaged in heaven-knows-what, that he'd bounce away blissfully unaware of my hate rays aimed at him.

Thankfully, after a while, either current T shut down the therapy show-and-tell with family members, or the size of his family drastically got reduced overnight -- either way, his sessions are now ending on time (or he's now in a different slot).

I will attempt looking ultra-woeful next time around -- my little random act of kindness

LOL I can totally imagine the hate rays at another client I can't stand lateness either so I fully support you.

[BlessedRhiannon]

I picked other, because I simply don't see other clients and if I do, I don't know that they are clients. My T is in a big office building, so the lobby area is for all the people on the floor. Anyone waiting in there could be waiting for anyone else on that floor, not just my T. She times her appointments so that she is not walking one person out and picking up the next at the same time. I walk out to the elevator and leave and don't usually interact with anyone else.

[hopealwayz]

I always smile and say hi and then go back to what I was doing (mostly, messing with my phone).

I never ran into other clients frequently but when I do, I never mind or feel it's awkward or in any way uncomfortable for me. I usually look at them because I am curious but don't stare. If they also look into my eyes, I smile and say a modest 'hi' but nothing else. If they don't seem to want to acknowledge me, I don't say anything. I voted 'yes' because that would be my own default but I don't force it.

[SummerTime12]

With my new T I haven't seen any other clients yet, but with my previous Ts I'd sometimes see other clients as I was arriving or leaving, and always said hi in passing. It's just my personality to greet people if we cross paths so I guess that just carried over into therapy, I never really thought much of it

[ruh roh]

No!

I have strong feelings about this. If I see them, it's because they ran late. This always happens with couples and it pisses me off to no end because they act like they deserve that because there are two of them, and it's just rubs into my face that people who partner get more of everything--status, time, etc. This happened again the other day, so I just said to my therapist, couples take more time, don't they. And she said yes they do, in such a way that it felt supportive and not defensive.

when t and i still lived in the same country and she had an office, i waited in a room behind the waiting room because i couldnt stand to see other people there. so she would cime find me. i did not ever greet or say goodbye to others coming or going.
now we are on opposite sides of the world so i dont have to worry about that, we just talk on the phone

[Out There]

I said no , my EMDR T works in a clinic so sometimes if I use the bathroom before I leave I see him coming with his next client. I guess I figure probably subconsciously that it's my private space so it's theirs as well and would feel a little intrusive.

[atisketatasket]

Originally Posted by awkwardlyyours

Thankfully, after a while, either current T shut down the therapy show-and-tell with family members, or the size of his family drastically got reduced overnight -- either way, his sessions are now ending on time (or he's now in a different slot).

Either that or he ran into someone whose death rays could penetrate his adolescent armor (after it was weakened by yours, of course).

By the way rr's post reminds me: couples do act differently when I run into them. They pretend I'm not there, not even a glance. If it's a parent-child, they either ignore me, or the parent gives the half-smile while the kid ignores me.

[awkwardlyyours]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Either that or he ran into someone whose death rays could penetrate his adolescent armor (after it was weakened by yours, of course).

By the way rr's post reminds me: couples do act differently when I run into them. They pretend I'm not there, not even a glance. If it's a parent-child, they either ignore me, or the parent gives the half-smile while the kid ignores me.

Me too. Current T sees a lot of teenagers with parents / guardians in tow -- the adults always give me a pitying smile while the kids pretend I don't exist.

I haven't seen the other type of couples, though -- maybe I should check out various time slots to see if I run into the species and observe what happens.

Always...

[brillskep]

I'm not there to socialize so I normally don't greet anyone. I'm usually super polite and feel like when I go to therapy, that's my time and space, and I don't feel like I have to worry about the feelings of strangers. Of course, if I met someone I actually knew, I would greet them, but thankfully that hasn't happened in a very long time.

[waterlogged]

Gosh I barely greet my T.

I have never seen one of my T's other clients, though I have seen the other T's clients briefly. I am often my T's first appointment, and she is very very punctual - like I've only gone 7 minutes over once in 3 years, and 3-4 minutes a handful of times, but usually we end exactly on time.

I said no because I have never seen one.

[rainboots87]

I don't often see others, but generally I'm awkward and try to avoid talking to random people. I used to always read a book, but since the smart phone days, I'm usually on facebook or instagram and avoiding all eye contact. The only time I had every talked to someone was when I was waiting for my T or dietitian and saw someone I had group therapy with in the waiting area, because it would have been weird to ignore them in that situation. That was my old T's office though.