Are you able to text/call your T?

My T knows that I can get suicidal and therefore ahe says that I can text or call when it's really bad. I do like that. It's a comfort that I know that I can text someone and tell them my pain and I know they will see it. Like today, she was unsure if I came in today. I texted that I couldn't. She called me, I guess she wanted to hear my voice and how I was doing. Because of phone anxiety I didn't pick up and she kept calling, and wrote that if I didn't pick up she 'would act on it'. Then I finally picked up and said I was okay. She told me she became worried.

I just wonder how normal this is for others? Do you text or call your T?

I don't text hardly anyone and have no reason at all to text a therapist even thought I do have their cell phone numbers.

I also could call (I have no idea how they could stop me) but I rarely wish to speak to them

My T only texts for scheduling. I do email her once a week minimum. We just switched to sessions once every 4 weeks, and I really struggle when I hit the 3rd week. So she scheduled a phone conversation at the 3 week point to help me get through it.

I just checked my phone as I thought that I knew my T's cell number but I don't have it in my phone. I am really not a phone person and feel like texting her would be kind of intrusive BUT, I do email her if I need support in-between sessions and she always responds with something insightful. If I were suicidal I do think that my T would allow me to text her and I would take her up on it if I were suicidal so it's a good thing that you have that option. Don't be afraid to use it, sounds like she really cares about you!

I text him way too much. He doesn't even read half of them,, maybe more

I am sure that I could call or text, but I only email. Depending on how I'm feeling, I may email just one time between session, or 5 (I'm on fortnightly sessions): for me, without the email option, we would make zero progress in session. I can't talk about negative things with any ease, so to be able to write them out and email is a big help. At the same time, I feel like this option also helps me avoid actually talking in person, which is not a good thing. But I think the benefits outweigh this at the moment. I think I would go mad between session if I didn't have this option.

It really does sound like you T cares a lot about you! I think it is great that they persist if you don't answer, shows her commitment to helping you through the toughest times

I can either call or email. In the very beginning I called a couple of times. I felt like I was intruding on her personal time I frequently email and for the most part she responds. If it were an emergency I would call her.. I did once a couple of years ago.

My therapist and pdoc do not text or email. If I need to speak to them between appointments, I call and they get back to me that day. We can actually have a conversation. They can hear my voice. I can hear theirs. We can ask immediate questions of each other and not have to wait for that return text or email. Personally, if something is going on as serious as being suicidal, that isn't email or text material; that needs a phone call. Sounds like you therapist handles contact well and appropriately.

Sometimes I hold myself back from texting thinking I'm being too dramatic and the feeling will pass.

T and I live in different countries right now, so we dont have in person sessions. So we call each other and text each other all time.

i have her cell and am allowed to call and or text if i need to but i have only texted a few times in return to her text about scheduling

I don't have his cell number, but I guess if I really needed to have a conversation with him between sessions I could probably call the office he works for and they'd contact him for me. I'm not sure, I've never tried or asked and he's never said. I have his email though.
All my previous Ts gave me their cell and said to call or text if I needed anything

I email my T on average twice per week. On e after each session. This started because I knew progress would be soooo slow if I didn't have this option, and asked her if she would/could in the initial session. She considered it and spoke to her supervisor about it and decided that she could maintain this consistently and so said yes. I text when I email and she used to text back when she had replied to my email, but that stopped fairly recently. It still bothers me that she stopped this without talking to me about it, but hey ho, she is awesome in so many ways I forgive her this.

In addition to this I text or she texts the day before session to co firm the time. I had serious issues entering the gate to her garden before we did this. I would rung the bell and wait, but she never heard it if she wasn't in the therapy shed, which she often wasn't. She used yo say, just ring and come in, and I was like "what is the point of having a bell if I just ring and come in. That isn't how bells work. What if you haven't heard it and I have the wrong time and walk in on you and another client or you and your family. I can't get past the bell, physically, but you don't hear it so I just end up there waiting and waiting."

I was OK waiting, but she kept insisting that I come right in, even though I couldn't physically do it, so she said that we could text to confirm the day before and we have done that nearly every time ever since. It really helps. I now ring the bell and walk straight into the garden, where she is often in the greenhouse or pottering in the garden or coming out from the therapy shed.

I did ask her if I could call if it was ever really bad, but she didn't seem keen on that. I think that she thought I would do it more often. I never have had to, but we did agree that if it was an emergency then I could call, though to be honest, I would probably text and tell her that I needed to talk, and I think she would make time.

For 14 months T has been consistent with this. Nearly always she replies to my emails the same day, often near bedtime, but they nearly always settle me and inspire? me.

The times I have text, for more immediate response, when I font know what to sat or do or when I am in need of prompt reassurance, she does so quickly and well.

I am so grateful for all of this because it really had made such a difference to out therapy. I can express things that I couldn't in person, which has paved the way for face to face discussion. It had allowed me to realise that there is someone out there who cares about me, which has helped me to trust and open up. It has allowed me to feel close enough to her to allow her to access my world, and that is the major point here (Sorry it took a while).

My T has never emailed or text without me doing to first, and I don't think that she ever will, and that is mostly OK for me, but your T doing that shows that she is invested in you. She worried and cared and called to check on you, and I hope that this allows you to see that she is there for you, and that you can talk to her and trust her.

Go with it, it sounds positive to me, despite the hideous struggle that you are going through. A ray of light in a desperate time.

My exT and I text a lot. Emailed too. The more my attachment intensified the more I text her. She would almost always reply... Even after I told her how attached I was.

Looking back now I feel she enabled my attachment and dependancy for her own reasons and gratification - rather than the reason I was texting/emailing.
But that's a whole other thread...that I will write about at some point I'm sure!!

I'm honestly jealous of all the people on here who have so much extra contact with their Ts.

Mine is only in the office 3 days a week. On one of those we have an appt, on the other two days she does check in calls with me that usually only last a couple of minutes tops. I'm allowed to call and leave voicemails whenever I want but I'm pretty sure she only checks them on office days anyway. So basically for 4 days a week we have zero contact.

I can text, call, and email.. when I stable I rarely doing any. When I am having a hard time like now I generally email once a week.. I text t when things get really bad and he helps to keep me grounded and put things into perspective. On rare occasions he will text me first when I am not doing well to check in..

I can call my CPN and speak to him if he is busy he calls me back. But never text nor email my Psychologist. I think that would be weird. I use to text my Counsellor years ago this was allowed but I kept it short I was unfamiliar with the whole texting my Counsellor thing.

I have no filter regarding my T

THat is nice that your T does check-in calls with you, though!

I can call/text/email my T as well. If I am doing okay, I generally don't need to do any of those things. When I've had a rough session, or am not doing so well, I generally e-mail. Sometimes a couple times per week, sometimes only once.

I only text if I know that it needs to reach her faster, or I want a phone call. Or she asked me to text her last week when I was done with a hospital procedure, because I was so nervous.

Phone calls are if I am REALLY doing bad, and need to hear her voice to ground me.

If I am having a hard time, I call to schedule an extra appointment. I don't think T or I would be comfortable trying to talk me through anything on the phone. He also lets me email but I've only done it a couple of times, to clarify something we discussed that I have forgotten. I would feel uncomfortable discussing anything in any depth.

I can't call or text my T. I have his home phone, but the last time I used it his wife chewed me out. I've only emailed him once and that was for a link to a law firm I used for SSDI.

He expects me to use hot lines if I'm in trouble.

I get why you would feel that way but speaking from experience, I don't think outside contact is a good idea. Sure it feels good in the moment and you feel special and cared for. But it sets up all kinds of unrealistic expectations on the client's part because especially with texts clients expect an immediate response and when they don't get one they are hurt. It also encourages dependency and enmeshment. On the long term it's not healthy and you need to look no further than this forum to see that. I used to have outside contact with my ex T (emails and texts) and it increased my dependency on her which wasn't healthy at all. With my new T I don't have outside contact except for scheduling and it's much better.

I can call or email but no texting.

We haven't had a discussion about boundaries around txting and email but she has asked me to email her about things i didn't get to talk about in session and i have done that. i have emailed her out of the blue about some stuff and she has responded. i have only done it a couple of times I guess if i did it more often we would need to talk about it. She has texted me about changing ssession times and we have txted back and forth around those kinds of things but not for anything else.

Just because outside contact did not work for you or even a group of other people.. does not mean it is a bad idea overall. Different people have different therapeutic needs, and are able to handle situations with outside contact in better ways than others.