How do you all address your T's?

Sometimes I say Dr. such and such but then sometimes i used his first name. He said he doesn't care, but sometimes that makes it harder to decide. Are there any theories out there that say it means something depending on how you address the if you have the choice?
Sorry for so many questions, I am just curious to how everyone does their therapy.

i've always been on a first name basis with my T at her insistence...she figures how can you be at ease with someone using a formal title all the time? my old counsellor was the same. i don't know if that's standard or just those two tho?

first name basis....she does not have a PhD, so I cant call her doctor

Mine goes by her first name (signs emails by first name, says only her first name in voice messages sometimes), but I avoid calling her anything directly.

Not sure why this is, it just seems awkward. Maybe something about using their name makes you focus on them as a separate person, and gets in the way of the transference relationship where you're trying to project other things on them, and that's why it feels awkward? Or maybe it has something to do with wanting to maintain a certain power hierarchy, and using her name seems too forward? Or maybe it feels too familiar to use their first name (like you're actually friends) and so I avoid it to maintain boundaries? I don't really know enough about the therapy process to understand this, but I would be curious to hear if anyone else has thought about why this happens. I've seen other threads about this, so it seems to come up for a lot of people.

what about pdoc?

I always call my T by her first name. When I first started seeing her she hadn't finished her PhD. so Dr. wasn't an option and I feel very relaxed with her. With my pdoc, I always call her Dr., it just seems more professional and she likes the title. With my addictions Dr., it's weird. She's kinda formal so I feel more comfortable calling her Dr., but whenever she calls me at home to cancel or reschedule an appointment or group she introduces herself as Bonnie, and I know other women in my addictions group call her by her first name - it's sort of weird.

--splitimage

I call my T by her name. Never have called her by her first and last name. I never really asked her, I guess it's just my past social worker went by her first name, so I transferred that into current therapy as well. It's more comfortable. It makes me feel equal, and not like a little kid addressing someone of authority.

T - by first name.
pdoc - I sometimes call him both.

T - First name (well, nickname because she just doesn't go by her actual first name at all). She does have a PhD, but Dr.? No. That's weird.

I never felt the need to use any name with my t's. Most times i know their first name only so i can tell the waiting room that "Defective here for SoAndSo". I think the only time i use peoples names is when im talking about them to someone else as in "SoAndSo went to the store yesterday". I guess it would feel awkward to me to say Hi Bob! instead of just Hi!.

I call my T by his first name and he calls me by mine. I am his client rather than his patient. I think of "patients" as being more apt to call their T's "doctor." (My T does not have his PhD, so I couldn't call him doctor anyway, it would have to be "Mister" and that would be weird! If he asked me to call him Mister I might ask him to call me Doctor since I do have a PhD. That will never happen, of course, but it's kind of amusing imagining it.)

I don't use names much, not with anyone at all, but when I leave a message I use the Dr. title and last name. Dr. Stevens-Guille and Dr. Spaner.

The T I loved by her first name...or mom

The T I hate by Dr......or ******

Does that tell you something?

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
sunrise said:
I call my T by his first name and he calls me by mine. I am his client rather than his patient. I think of "patients" as being more apt to call their T's "doctor."

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">
Both my T and I refer to people who go to therapy as "patients" (including myself)-- however, I do call him by the shortened version of his first name, which he seems to go by, mostly. He does not have a PhD or PsyD.

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
(My T does not have his PhD, so I couldn't call him doctor anyway, it would have to be "Mister" and that would be weird! If he asked me to call him Mister I might ask him to call me Doctor since I do have a PhD. That will never happen, of course, but it's kind of amusing imagining it.)

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">
It would be quite hilarious if when I complete my PsyD, I insist that my T call me Dr. lol

I usually don't address anyone by name. Many times it is because I can't remember their name. I do however rember my T and Pdoc's names. However, I have no idea how to pronounce my Pdoc's first name so I'd never call him by it.

When I leave messages for my T there is no reason to specify who he is because it is his own personal voice mail. If I called my Pdoc's I would get a receptionist and have to specify which Dr. so I would use the title Doc. but I have never adressed either doc with a name.

When I'm talking to my husband I'll say Dr., or first name, or sometimes I'll say T or Pdoc