[emmaleemochizuki]

I am usually very punctual, and I show up practically on the minute. With my current T we usually finish on time too. I actually find this more stabilising, and collaborative, and structured, and it works well for me.

However when I was with CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services in the UK), my team, both my therapist and the psychotherapist routinely overruns the session, I am usually their last patient, as I dropped by after school, I was a very disturbed teenager, and I had a lot of problems. Abuse at home, abuse in foster care, sexual abuse, physical abuse you name it I have had it. Our sessions were meant to be an hour long but sometimes it becomes an hour and a half or even two hours. I actually didn't find it helpful at all, and I was threaten with the mental health act so often, it was counterproductive. But yeah I had a lot of problems, anorexia, self harm.

I'm 21 now, and the last three years changed my life forever.

[Travelinglady]

Mine always runs late in starting sessions, but she gives me the appropriate amount of time once the session starts.

[childofchaos831]

She may run a few minutes late but usually give us to the top of the hour instead of ten till. We are also her last client of the day in case EMDR doesn't go well and we *need* more time.

[RosyC]

Yes, always! With NHS it was varied - often longer, sometimes shorter.

[nottrustin]

The two Ts I have worked with pretty much start right on time. We rarely finish on time. I have mostly been thr last appointment of the day. Even when I was not long term T billed for 50 minutes but we always went a full hour if not more.

For me it is helpful because it often takes me a little bit to settle in and warm up. Often we don't really get started until 10 -15 minutes late because I need the time to connect. Also I often need a few minutes of transition in order to be ready to leave. Sometimes that transition can be just a couple of minutes other times it take quite a bit longer depending on how intense the session was.

[KLL85]

With private T always on time and sometimes goes 5 minutes or so over. When I was under CMHT with the NHS, appts were always at least 15 mins late and never last longer than 40 mins.

[ArtleyWilkins]

My therapist tended to start about 5-10 minutes after the hour and run to the hour, for a session of about 50 minutes. He was pretty consistent with that.

I tended to be the last client because of my work schedule, so he must have been pretty good about staying on schedule because my sessions were consistent about start time. He was comfortable going long if my needs required it, however, and sometimes that was the case. In my 10 years of seeing him, he was only significantly late in starting twice. Both times were quite unusual, and he stepped out and let me know what was going on; I was fine with waiting under the circumstances.

I am not much of a clock watcher (outside of my work), so I don't get hung up about a few minutes give or take. I appreciated his ability to have some flexibility and knew that even if a session ran a few minutes short one time, he more than made up for it in longer sessions at other times.

[Lonelyinmyheart]

I have an hour but sometimes the session goes a few minutes over. In the past it has gone ten or fifteen minutes over but less often now.

[MissUdy]

I find it helpful if the session runs over for good reason, like if we are in the middle of something or if I’m extra messed up. Also it doesn’t feel like he’s trying to get rid of me then. I usually end it on time if I can see a clock so I don’t feel rejected. Of course other people might be in right after me and then I know I have to go on time no matter what. I think it’s great you are able to heal from your experiences while you are so young, and that your T is so helpful and punctual.

[Salmon77]

Always on time, more or less (maybe 2-3 minutes early or late but close enough). I also prefer having a stable and predictable schedule.

[LonesomeTonight]

Mine starts within a minute or two of start time generally. He does 50-minute slots, but is OK with going slightly beyond that at times, like up to 5 minutes. I generally keep track of the time and will say, "OK, I know we need to stop in a minute." Though sometimes then I keep going a bit, and he tends to let me. I think there have only been a couple occasions where he's finally said, "We do need to stop."


Ex-marriage counselor usually got us late--up to a half-hour late sometimes, usually more like 15 minutes. Sessions were technically 45-50 minutes, but he'd often keep us for an hour or more, sometimes more like an hour and 15 minutes. It was difficult at times, if he kept us long one session, then had us leave on time the next. As much as I liked having longer sessions at times, I think I generally prefer my T's approach of consistency (certainly the starting on time part!).

[SlumberKitty]

My T isn't great about starting on time, but she makes sure I get the full time that I'm paying for which I appreciate! Although, one phone call with her she was about 30 minutes late in calling me and I thought she forgot about me!

[MobiusPsyche]

My T is sometimes a minute or 2 late but does end on time. If she is more than a minute or two late, she does extend the session but that is very rare.

[stopdog]

I never left it up to the woman - I knew how much time I was buying for the space - I would see time was up, toss money down, and walk out

[daisydid]

My T usually starts a few minutes late, but he usually keeps me about 55 minutes.

LOL, No. I have DID and so tons of inside people come to talk to her, so even if we try to finish at a certain time, we go past it by an hour...or two 🙄 The other day we had a 10 hour session because some trauma s*** came up. I was exhausted by the end. Our normal session times are about 4 hours. But the past two months we average abouT 8 hours. The good thing is, we are making a ton of progress. Also, she is ALWAYs late. It we say we are meeting at 11, you can bet she wont show til 11:30

[Omers]

98% of the time I am at least 10 minutes early to the parking lot. I go into the building 5 min before session to relax and gather myself (he has a super quiet relaxing waiting area). T usually comes out to get me at about 5 after the hour but has been as much as 25 min late before. I usually get to my car right at the hour but if he ran more than 5 min after the hour he will make up the time. So, usually sessions are 50-55 min. I don’t stress too much as he is very generous when it comes to reading my emails between sessions or returning calls between sessions. He has only ever initiated the end of one call but he had asked me to call him that time as he was worried for my safety.

[*Beth*]

I was always early and she always ran about 10 minutes late, which annoyed me. She'd let me stay for 50 minutes exactly.

Interestingly, now that we're doing teletherapy she is exactly on time and our sessions are exactly 50 minutes long. I much prefer that she is on time.

[nottrustin]

Originally Posted by Starry_Night

LOL, No. I have DID and so tons of inside people come to talk to her, so even if we try to finish at a certain time, we go past it by an hour...or two 🙄 The other day we had a 10 hour session because some trauma s*** came up. I was exhausted by the end. Our normal session times are about 4 hours. But the past two months we average abouT 8 hours. The good thing is, we are making a ton of progress. Also, she is ALWAYs late. It we say we are meeting at 11, you can bet she wont show til 11:30

I cant imagine how exhausting your sessions must be. A few years ago, I was going through a very difficult time and had to make some difficult decisions. T intentionally left the slot after me available so we could go as late as needed because I at that time was not her last appointment of the day. We utilized the two hours. We accomplished so much that day. We went deeper than I ever have in therapy. Yet O was SOOO incredibly exhausted. I couldnt imagine doing that on a regular basis.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Mine is always at least 5mins late and the. Stop at exactly ten minutes til the hour.

Thank you, NotTrustin.

[feileacan]

My T is incredibly exact. I have 45 minute sessions and they always start exactly on time and end exactly on time. The T has sessions back to back and thus, he hasn't even planned a buffer between two people. It works.

[Bill3]

Exactly 45 minutes, on time.