[piggy momma]

Mine doesn't, although if he did, it would significantly reduce what I send him.

Just curious what other's experiences are.

[InkyBooky]

I don't know if she charges because she pretty much prohibits e-mailing other than scheduling and she doesn't really offer phone calls either (maybe very brief ones if absolutely needed, but it seems discouraged so I've never called).

[nottrustin]

Neither of mine ever have.

[ElectricManatee]

No, she doesn't. She said we would talk about limits if she felt email and phone calls were causing a problem (there was some other slightly more delicate phrasing), but she has never mentioned charging for them. She seems to want me to reach out to her when I need to, and I think she knows that charging me would make me feel like even more of a burden to her than I already do.(i.e., I would interpret a charge as her saying "Don't call or email me.")

[Miss P]

No, mine doesn’t either.

[DP_2017]

Thankfully mine never did. I would have never reached out at all if he had

[piggy momma]

I also had to have an extra session a couple weeks ago for an emergency. I sent him an etransfer after to pay for it and he said he wasn't accepting it. When I asked why he said because it was a one-of, but if I needed extra sessions on a regular basis we'd talk about it more. I thought that was super kind of him.

[NP_Complete]

He doesn't charge for emails, but our arrangement around emailing has taken a long time to coalesce into something that seems to work for both of us.

We came to an agreement that he would charge his per minute rate for phone calls, meaning what I pay for my session divided by the session length. At one point he said he wasn't comfortable with this arrangement, and I'm not entirely sure what he was proposing, because I told him that I wanted to pay him. Lately, we have been having fairly regular phone calls on Sunday morning, usually lasting about 10 minutes. These are usually prearranged, but there have been instances where they weren't and I emailed to ask for one. He has said that he appreciates these phone calls because they help provide continuity and connection and I appreciate them because I start to feel a lot of despair on the weekends and it helps to have contact with him. Mostly I want to pay him for the calls, but there have been a few times when I wished he would just call me because he cares and isn't getting paid for it.

[JaneTennison1]

We dont email and the few calls we have had I insist I pay for.

[stopdog]

No I was not charged. I wrote but never wanted a response and in fact directed them not to respond. I called only a few times and was more concerned about them trying to keep talking to me longer than I wanted. They always acted over the top excited when I contacted them.

[growlycat]

No only if we are doing a scheduled phone session which is rare. I never get charged for emails, texts or quick calls.

[Seelenna1982]

I emailed my t right after I met her, about something big I wanted to work on but couldn’t ‘say’. I asked her to charge me for the email but she refused and always says she wants me to feel like I can email anytime I would want to.
I can’t email her though, many times I want to but I just can’t break a block I have to hit send.

[LonesomeTonight]

My T's policy is that if an email takes him less than 15 minutes to read and respond to, he doesn't charge. That's been the case for most of my emails. If it takes him longer, he charges it on 15-minute chunks of his hourly rate (so 15 minutes = $45, etc.). But when he writes a longer response, it's LONG, like 5 multiple-sentence paragraphs (most recent one being 650 words). He says he charges because he's devoting more time to it, like not dashing off a response while sitting and watching TV with his kid, but taking the time to sit and think about it. And he also says then I'm paying him for his time, so it's not like he's just doing me a favor, that could then be taken away. I've had issues with both ex-T and ex-MC, who didn't charge for emails--though they either didn't generally reply (ex-T) or sent just a couple sentences (ex-MC)--suddenly changing the boundaries on them (like "it's too much" or "You need to reduce the email"). So I appreciate that in a way.

With phone calls, he only allows them when prescheduled or else a few minutes in a crisis (like to determine if a client has to go to the hospital). I've had one prescheduled call with him, when I was out of town (and he was going to be out of town the next week) for a half hour, so was $90 (. Ex-T and ex-MC didn't charge for phone calls, which I really appreciated, particularly during a weekend when I was in crisis a couple years ago. I didn't talk to ex-T much on the phone, but with ex-MC, at one point, it was once every month or two, with a call lasting from 10 minutes to 45 minutes. But as ex-T said when she opted to limit email, many T's (including some in her practice) don't allow any outside contact at all, paid or not. She said how one T was like "I give them 50 minutes, that's enough!"

[InnerPeace111]

I don’t email or call between sessions (unless it’s a scheduling issue) so I really don’t know if she charges clients or not.

[RaineD]

I never called, except during scheduled phone sessions. He didn't charge for emails, but I rarely emailed him.

[velcro003]

no, though if she responds to emails, they are short. the rare times we talk on the phone, they are about 10 minutes long.

[starfishing]

Definitely not. Other types of doctors and clinicians don't charge for simple phone and email contact, why should my therapist?

[ScarletPimpernel]

She doesn't charge for emails, but she does charge for phone calls over 15mins.

[ArtleyWilkins]

We never emailed or texted. Any contact between session was by phone. He did not charge, but it wasn't like I called very often.

[kecanoe]

Some of my Ts have been No Contact between sessions. T1 does not charge for emails, although usually that is just scheduling. He doesn't charge for phone calls, although when one of us is out of town we will do a phone sessions, and he does charge for that.

[nottrustin]

Since June I have averaged one call a month. Typically they are around 10 minutes long. The day T passed away we talked for almost 20 minutes. Typically the only texting I do is to initiate those calls. I will text a brief message about what us going on and she will call me when she has a chance. She hasn't charged for any of it.

We have had a couple of video conference sessions due to travel conditions on my end. She does charge for those and is able to bill my insurance

[elisewin]

No charge if it is not a scheduled skype session.

[junkDNA]

no he does not and never has

[CharlieStarDust]

I’ve never called - but she has offered a check in call a couple of times and didn’t mention a fee. As for emails - only if the reply/reading takes over a certain amount of time. So far, she’s never charged me - and I email a couple of short emails a month.

Mine never did but I would completely understand it and would have almost preferred it. It just gave me a very uncomfortable ambivalence and dissonance how I took advantage of all the free emails and acted out my compulsions. I never called them or even felt like it other than arranged, paid phone sessions or when they asked me to call back.