Don't T's know they are suppose to stay out of the public? I ran into my new T today at the chiro . She walked right past me and I didn't realize it was her until she was going out the door which was right by me. I looked at her, and I could tell she was somewhat flustered. We didn't make eye contact because she rushed out the door. lol This is especially awkward since I told her I have had enough of T's and their stuff and that I needed a break from therapy. lol Now I have to worry about seeing her because I am taking my son 3x a week for physical therapy there. aaauuuuggghhhhh!

I have had only 3 T's over the past 3 years and I have seen everyone now in the public, and our city isn't that small. I am jinxed indeed.

[searchingmysoul]

(((((((exoticflower)))))))

Sometimes I wonder if I will run into my T but it has never happened...I often wonder what she or I would do...I can see it as being very awkward.

[lifelesstraveled]

OMG...how awkward that must have been....sheeeeesh.

I dont know what i would do if i saw my T in public...i have a tendency to notice everything going on around me so if i happened to see her somewhere I'd see her b4 she sees me and then RUN like my life depended on it LOL

I was reading a magazine and just waiting for my son to finish, so I really wasn't paying attention. But you know how you kinda glance up when someone goes by, that is what I did. She was near inches from me, lol But the fact this has happened with everyone of my T's makes me jinxed or something. I am laughing about it now, of all the clients she has to run into, it had to be me, I bet she was thinking. haha!

[sunrise]

exoticflower, that would be very awkward to finally make up your mind not to see your T anymore and then run into her like that. Like, what's to be said?

I ran into my daughter's T last week. She actually came up to me and I was really pleased to see her, so I spontaneously gave her a little sideways hug. She didn't seem to reciprocate. Should I not have done that? Whoops.

[madisgram]

(((EF))) i'm curious about why you felt uncomfortable seeing your t in public? i know many ppl protect the fact that they see a t but your t would never violate that confidentiality...or at least it goes against their ethics. i've run into my t in public and said hi, he siad hi, and that was about the gist of the conversation. nothing revealed or anything. so i was wondering why this made you feel the way you do? have u had an unpleasant situation seeing another t in public that maakes u feel this way?

[mightaswelllive]

I don't know how I'd feel about seeing current T in public? I'm a psych student so I'm actually a little surprised I've never seen her out of practice before? I did once see one of my professors at her practice and THAT was awkward.

I've seen other T's from the practice in public before and it's weird. Once I saw one with his children at the movies. Another time I saw one at my university and that gave me a panic attack - I didn't make it to class. What the hell was that about?

My old T knew my parents in high school and they still run into each other and my parents try to talk to her about me. She doesn't give them any information but it really bothers me that they go up to her - even if they did know her first.

[deliquesce]

aaah, it's weird isn't it?

my old T - one day i thought i saw him in our uni library (he's an associate of my uni, and his practice is just down the road). i had a panic attack and hid between the book shelves.

my pdoc - i've never seen him, but i think if i were to see him, i'd probably run up and say hello. i call him "dr", too, so it'd be apparent to anyone who was with him that i was a px.

i think the difference between my 2 docs is that one i felt really vulnerable with and the other one i just feel so comfortable with, like he is always radiating positive regard.

[googley]

When I was in high school I used to often see my T in public because it appeared that she had a break right before my session. I would always be there early as I would come straight from school so was always around the little store area around her office. As I was totally uncomfortable with the idea of being in T (as a neurotic teenager). I would try and hide so she wouldn't see me. (which probably made me look even weirder.) Since I have been out of high school I haven't actually seen any of my T or PDoc.

I have had a kind of different problem though that keeps throwing me for a loop. My Pdoc works in an office with another Pdoc. The other pDoc also works in the Psych department that I work in. I have run into her at both places on the same day before. (And since my Pdoc and T are in the same building have also run into my Pdoc's office mate when I have been there to see my T.) I have even ended up being in meetings at work with the office mate. I'm not sure if she recognizes me but I always feel weird when I run into her (at either of her offices). I hope some of that made sense, I'm a little tired.

[velcro003]

I work at a health club, and my T comes in and works out there! I was freaked out a little the first day, but she just said hi, checked in...and that was it. I got over it, thankfully.

[Simcha]

Originally Posted by mightaswelllive

I don't know how I'd feel about seeing current T in public? I'm a psych student so I'm actually a little surprised I've never seen her out of practice before? I did once see one of my professors at her practice and THAT was awkward.

I've seen other T's from the practice in public before and it's weird. Once I saw one with his children at the movies. Another time I saw one at my university and that gave me a panic attack - I didn't make it to class. What the hell was that about?

My old T knew my parents in high school and they still run into each other and my parents try to talk to her about me. She doesn't give them any information but it really bothers me that they go up to her - even if they did know her first.

My T and I have no boundary issues whatsoever, but then boundary violation issues have never been my problem or something we needed to discuss. We are both on par at the same level on this issue.

Interesting in that while I haven't seen my T in public ever, we know a lot of the same people (NOT FRIENDS--professionals and acquaintances) and our lives intersect in a lot of ways like that. In my case, knowing a lot of the same people at various levels (once again, NOT FRIENDS as that would NOT be okay), has been VERY helpful to me. I wish I could go into the specifics of why it has been helpful, but suffice it to say that there are certain things I do not have to explain in detail, and when I seek advice on a certain complex situation that can be VERY HELPFUL when I don't have to spend time making him understand. It's all very strange because I've never known anybody in a situation like that where we cross-sect each other's lives on a level like this. It means a lot to me that I can be so lucky.

I don't know how I would feel if I saw my T in public. I don't think I would feel scared or embarrassed or whatever, but you never know. I would feel more like I needed to protect the T relationship, and I wouldn't want to make HIM feel uncomfortable (although I don't think he would feel uncomfortable). I don't think I would talk to him beyond to say HI or something simple, and definitely not if he didn't see me and had his family with him. I wouldn't go out of my way to say hi if he didn't see me. I think even if he had his family with him if he saw me and we locked eyes or something he would say "HI" briefly or acknowledge my presence, but that's not a violation of ethics if he does. He has very good boundaries, and is very polite and kind and respectful.

[Luce]

Uhhh, yeah, me too. I just saw my T at a music festival a few hours ago. I looked up to see her standing a few yards in front of me, quickly looking away. I just hurriedly disappeared into the crowd. This is a big yearly three-day music festival here... about 20,000 people attend. And I had just told my T last week that I would not be going, uh uh, no way, because I absolutely detest crowds and all that triggery loud noise. (D'oh - slaps forehead - I forgot that one alt LOVES it and always manages to scrounge tickets from somewhere.)

I have seen all my Ts in public at one time or another. Once I bumped into a T I hadn't seen for over 10 years at a concert... we both turned around and our respective late-pregnancy bellies almost slammed right on into eachother. AWKWARD. Another T and I crossed paths in the supermarket aisle, buying easter eggs for our kids. And another T called out to me across a sea of people in a crowded market place, catching me in a very confused and dissociated state of mind. That T and I used to see eachother in public quite often as we lived at the same beach (but different ends) and both used to use the walkway there.

Today's meeting threw me. I was so not expecting to see my T there. I knew there was a good chance she would be there (it's her kind of scene, I guess) but I thought the chances of us being in the same place at the same time in that venue were next to nil.

Ick. We're not suppsoed to see our Ts outside of the office. It just isn't right!

I guess what made this uncomfortable was that the day before I emailed her and told her I was tired of therapists crap and therapy and I wanted to quit.

Then to top it all, I used to see my 1st T at the health club where I worked out and it caused our relationship to become more common and real life and it let to him being unethical with me because he lost his objectivity. So I am a little sensitive with this.

I didn't expect any of my T's to be unethical, my first one definitely was, the 2nd one disclosed so much about himself that it also interfered with therapy, and now my 3rd one started to reveal more stuff about herself, and she promised she would keep big boundaries by not doing so. I did tell her I didn't like it when she did it. Then I run right into her in public, just makes me want to go ick ick ick. And the fact I might run into her more while being there, especially if I quit, will be really uncomfortable with me.

So for me it is just a personal thing, and the fact I have seen everyone of my T's in public now, and 3rd I have had a bad experience with my first T where seeing each other regulary outside of his office let to the catalyst of him being unetical with me. Thats all.

I am just keeping up my boundaries of wanting to see my T as only my therapist and know nothing about her, and running into her is messing up my plan.

[Xtree]

I have never run into my T in public yet. I live in a small town and it is bound to happen sooner or later. We take our children to the same orthodontist, our youngest is the same age and there is only one mall. I am very involved in my community and I m sure I know people in common.

We talk a talked about what to do if it happens. She said just let her know what I want. I told her I have no problem at all, just say, "Hey Xtree, hi".

I am helping myself proud to be there and do not care who finds out. It has not happen yet but I will not mind when it does, as a matter of fact I hope my daughter is with me when it does happen. My son has met my T, but my daughter has not.

Xtree