What do you do while in the waiting room?

The first thing I do is go to the bathroom, before every session, for 8 years! I get nervous. Then I go back to the waiting room and write my check to pay T. If there's any time left, I go on my phone or look through my purse. There's rarely anyone else in the waiting room.

Other, my mom drives me to t so I usually talk to her.

T usually gets me a couple min early if I’m a few early. Usually he waits for me as I make a cup of tea with the Keurig in the waiting room, which I like as a benefit. But if I wait I delete emails on my phone. I have chatted with others when I’ve waited for my kid and been there for 45 min or so. Once the other person and I discovered we shared a somewhat uncommon life experience and I found that connection meaningful. In the way that the book Love 2.0 documents, which isn’t necessarily what it sounds like from the title.

My car is my waiting room.
I Normally look out for the client who nicks the dam blanket.

Turn off the radio

Play Two Dots
That game is addictive

My T doesn't have a waiting room - I see him in his house. We have an arrangement to be fairly flexible with starting time, because I get the bus to his and often get there ten minutes early, and it's not nice to have to wait outside in the cold and/or rain! I imagine it'll be nice in the summer though, there's a 'recreational ground' right next to his house.

Last week I waited under the tree outside his front door (where the aggro bluetit lives) - it had blossomed wonderfully in the week since I'd last seen it:

I don't get there too early, so I never have to wait more than a couple minutes. I mostly stare aimlessly out the window. Sometimes I post a panicked status update on another forum I visit. I brace myself for the sound of T opening her door.

I took pics of the waiting area and then of my T's office from her doorway when she went to use the bathroom which is right next to her office and the waiting area. It's basically all in one place.

It's a clinic with a spartan waiting room for numerous people. I'm not in a densely populated area. There's a fair chance you'll recognize someone or find out they have some sort of connection to people you know. So people don't chat.

The reading material lying around is awful.

I can't afford a mobile phone.

If I'm doing okay, I think about what I want to do in session. Often review notes and such.

On a poor day, mostly I just zone out, or practice emotional regulation techniques.

Sometimes, I just try not to cry in front of everyone.

... that one's gotten better as I've practiced the ERTs and general self-care strategies.