[ChickenNoodleSoup]

I have been seeing my therapist for about 8 months now. I am rather content with how it's structured, I get along well with him, and I feel like it is helping a great deal, but there's still a lot to work on, and currently I still need his support pretty often (I usually get at least one extra appointment a month, and he even notices if I need less extra ones).

Now, I will be living a bit further away for 3 months, I am doing an internship in a city about 2 hours away. My T has offered having a phone call once a week. I can also always schedule a session in case I could leave work early or similar. A lot of my anxiety concerning this job actually stems from not being able to go to therapy once a week, it is bothering me quite a bit, but I am positive that I will get through the 3 month period fine.

So, I have two questions for you guys:

1) Have any of you ever had to take a break from therapy for a while? Were there any things that have helped you through that time?

2) This is my first real job, and I'm not very experienced with the proper etiquette: I feel like it might be a good idea to inform my employers or supervisors that I am seeing a therapist and would like to ask whether it's possible from time to time to go see him. My supervisors seemed to be rather nice when I met them, they also don't seem to expect that I work all the time (they for example asked whether I can work every day or will attend lectures at the same time). However, I'm unsure about whether I should ask about this, or rather try and make it work without going to a single session. Would you tell your employer if you are only working there for such a short time? Also, would it be better to inform my employer or my supervisors? The supervisors seemed nice and have the authority to tell me what to work on, how long to work and so on.

[Argonautomobile]

I've taken breaks (anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks) due to work. It was fine - one manages. I think talking to T on the phone would be a good idea.

Frankly, I wouldn't volunteer the fact that you're seeing a T. I tell them (in advance) that I'm seeing the dentist on X date and could I leave at X time.

Congrats on the job!

[feileacan]

Congratulations on the job!

I was relocating for a year due to work and the plan was to continue with skype sessions once or twice a week. In reality I started to see a new therapist in that location and continued the sessions with my T after I came back. I could not have imagined going completely without therapy all this time (either via skype or in person). I believe though that the decision to see someone in person was a good one. I was going really far from home tough and thus driving home to see the T was not an option.

I decided not to tell my boss that I'm seeing a T. I got one very early morning session time from the start and I was able to move the other session to earlier in the morning after some time. There were few occasions when my boss wanted to see me during the session time with short notice. These situations caused me quite bit of anxiety because I felt that I need to have my session in order to function more or less properly alone so far from home. Each of these times I told my boss that I would prefer to see him later and he never questioned anything.

Right now my workplace is 2.5 hours drive away from home and I go to my workplace for 1-2 days per week. In the beginning, when we discussed with my boss on which days I would be present, I had to explain him why these can't be just any random days but can be only particular days. I told him that I'm in psychoanalysis, which is my personal project that has lasted for a while and that I still expect to last for some time and I would like to arrange my schedule so that I could continue it. None of this is wrong because I am in psychoanalysis. However, I deliberately did not use the term psychotherapy because I figured that the term 'psychoanalysis' could have a slightly different meaning as 'psychotherapy' for someone not too informed. Anyway, we have never talked about it again and I've had no problems. Few times I've made an exception and gone to my workplace on other times when really needed. At least once I've had to skip my session. If it happens once or twice per year then I don't see it as a problem.

[1978dd]

Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup

I have been seeing my therapist for about 8 months now. I am rather content with how it's structured, I get along well with him, and I feel like it is helping a great deal, but there's still a lot to work on, and currently I still need his support pretty often (I usually get at least one extra appointment a month, and he even notices if I need less extra ones).

Now, I will be living a bit further away for 3 months, I am doing an internship in a city about 2 hours away. My T has offered having a phone call once a week. I can also always schedule a session in case I could leave work early or similar. A lot of my anxiety concerning this job actually stems from not being able to go to therapy once a week, it is bothering me quite a bit, but I am positive that I will get through the 3 month period fine.

So, I have two questions for you guys:

1) Have any of you ever had to take a break from therapy for a while? Were there any things that have helped you through that time?

2) This is my first real job, and I'm not very experienced with the proper etiquette: I feel like it might be a good idea to inform my employers or supervisors that I am seeing a therapist and would like to ask whether it's possible from time to time to go see him. My supervisors seemed to be rather nice when I met them, they also don't seem to expect that I work all the time (they for example asked whether I can work every day or will attend lectures at the same time). However, I'm unsure about whether I should ask about this, or rather try and make it work without going to a single session. Would you tell your employer if you are only working there for such a short time? Also, would it be better to inform my employer or my supervisors? The supervisors seemed nice and have the authority to tell me what to work on, how long to work and so on.

I suggest you need time off for regular appointments and let it go with that.

[stopdog]

I have taken several long breaks - 3 months or so a few times. I just filled the time with things I find more fun or interesting than therapy (so the field is really large as I find almost everything to be more fun than therapy)

[chihirochild]

1. In med school I had to be out of town for 2wk-3mo at a time. I was always really nervous about being away from therapy but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Phone calls once or twice a week with t and/or pdoc definitely helped keep me afloat.

For me, at least, I found that it was too difficult to do, like, Real Therapeutic Work over the phone. Not totally sure why--I just felt too bad afterward and it felt scary to feel that when I was physically so far away. Sometimes when I was only 1-2h away I'd drive back once a month or so to see one of the other of them in person, and that usually felt pretty good.

2. Usually I tried to schedule therapy calls/visits outside of work hours or at lunch. When I couldn't do that and had to miss work... it varied a lot, what I'd tell my supervisors. If they were jerks, I'd tell them something like, "I have a chronic health condition and I have to go to a doctor's appointment/keep in touch with my doctors." Which is true, if not the whole truth. If they seemed like they'd be sympathetic, I'd say, "hey, I've got a bad depression and I hafta get on the phone with my shrink for an hour or so." And really no one can say no to that unless they're a real jerk. (Granted, I work in the medical field... so at least theoretically, there are a few compassionate people who understand about mental illness. Maybe like 10%.)

Something that I think helped a lot was that I was always really careful to make sure all my work was done before I left, and that someone was covering my pager if I was on a phone call that couldn't be interrupted, etc... even if it meant getting in early or trading for an extra shift or whatever.

Now I'm in residency and have to work ~60h/wk (sometimes closer to 80-90) so it's pretty much impossible to schedule therapy outside of work hours. My residency director and chief residents know that I'm sick in this way... and it's in their best interest to keep me healthy (also they're good people) so they grease the wheels for me

[CharlieStarDust]

When I started a new job, my regular appointments were interrupted, both because of time constraints and finances. It took several months to figure it out - I didn't fair well without therapy and when we resumed regular meetings it took a while to stabilize again. I haven't told my employer that I'm in therapy, but tell them I have pre-existing appointments and I'm lucky they accommodate my time requests. I chose not to tell my employer because:
1. It's none of their business.
2. It's a small company, and I don't feel like there's too much sympathy or understanding towards mental health.
3. I'm paranoid about any consequences - that this information can be used against me in some way.

[satsuma]

On the one hand, employers shouldn't discriminate against people struggling in any way with mental health, and contact with a T should be seen in just the same way as contact with any other healthcare provider.

On the other hand this is sadly often not the case, in society generally as well as in the workplace. So my advice would be not to speak about seeing T when you first arrive.

If it was a permenent job, you could spend time getting to know your colleagues and the workplace culture, and figuring out whether you would want to share something like that. Honestly in an internship I would advise simply not to share.

I have occasionally had a break from regular sessions due to work commitments. I think I always found it is easier if you are the one going away and doing something different, rather than it being T who is gone. I think the phone check-ins are a great idea. For me that has always helped a lot.

You have a difficult decision to make, given that it is an internship. If you are being paid and there are a x number of employees they may have to give you your request based on the family leave act, which includes dentist, doctor, parent-teacher conferences, etc to take care of business. You would have to look up the exact regulations. You can use the term medical appointment and they cannot ask for the specifics. As an intern, I would not use this bite the bullet and take the time away from therapy, find a temporary therapist, or Skype/phone my current therapist. There is just to much at stake.Not everyone in an organization is tolerant about time off for whatever the reasons maybe.

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Thanks for your replies everybody! I hope I can use at least some of it in the next couple of months and survive

[Shazerac]

I would be leery of telling your employer. As others have said. It's not their business. There is still a stigma about having mental issues. It's not fair. But it is what it is.