T gone, angry!

[RunForever]

My t went away and didn't give me a backup plan other than to email her. I did and she told me we would talk about it next time she saw me...
How is that helpful?
Am I just over reacting?

 

[Deleted member 37474]

My t went away and didn't give me a backup plan other than to email her. I did and she told me we wo...

When did she say she would be back?

 

[Suzetig]

What help were you hoping for? If she’s away, there’s very little she can do to help you tbh. What did you say in your email - if it’s therapy type stuff as opposed to “I think I’m going to kill myself right now”, then waiting til next session to talk about it sounds appropriate. If it was more being in immediate crisis (ie not able to keep yourself safe) then I guess she’d direct you to a crisis service or call emergency services for you.

What was your agreement about emailing her, what did she say about how or when she might respond?

 

[Friday]

I’d chalk this up to a learning experience, to be honest. Can’t imagine either of you knew that you’d be this hard up without setting up a plan, otherwise. Learning experiences suck, but next time you’ll be prepared. Silver linings.

 

[Emotional girl]

I have this kind of discussion with my psychologist every time he takes some kind of break.I tell him that I see at as some kind of abandonment and that he should help me with this, but then he turns around and helps me see that he has a life and has a right to time off and in truth there is nothing he could do to help me during the time he is away.
I think it is one of those things that you have deal with in therapy and that you have to try to learn from.I personally write down thoughts that are going through my head in the time that I do not see him and then I discuss it in our next session.

 

[PeppermintTea]

I really struggle when my T leaves too. It’s an awful feeling and I’m sorry you’re in this place right now.

My T doesn’t email back (he has his admin text me to let me know he got it). He makes sure I have crisis hotline numbers in advance, so I “can’t” even contact him in an emergency (I mean I can contact him, but I’m betting he would direct me to one of those hotlines).

Apart from it being a safeguard for him to maintain his own work-life balance, I think he also knows I’d read into ANY email response he’d send back and it would only go downhill. As much as it sucks, he encourages me to view it as an opportunity to show myself I’m stronger than I think I am. Of course I want to punch him when he says this, but he’s right.

It really is the pits though and I’m sorry.

 

[blackemerald1]

I am given notice & if I go bad while he's away I can email. He responds & I know he's up to speed when he returns.
This seems to be ok for me.

 

[recoveringfromptsd]

That's a bad way to be left, if it were me, that alone would have me in crisis. I can relate because just had a crisis where I had no one for my aftercare.

 

[blackemerald1]

just had a crisis where I had no one for my aftercare.

But what really happened is you survived the crisis even though your t was away. Ok I get that it wasn't pleasant or was even bloody awful but you did survive. That is the main thing.

Therapists and psydoc's must have time away from their clients and practices or they would end up even more unwell than we think we are. Imagine that? I have been 'on-call' in former jobs and there are positive's to it but there are a load of responsibilities and restrictions because being 'available' means very much that you cannot really let down your hair and just enjoy being a person...and do anything spontaneous or make commitments to be elsewhere.

What help were you hoping for? If she’s away, there’s very little she can do to help you tbh

I agree with @Suzetig ^^