Texting with your therapist

[Emotional girl]

I live in the UK and see my T on the NHS and I am not allowed any contact with him at all during the week and if I am feeling really low I have to contact a crisis team instead.
Sometimes I find it difficult not having contact with him but I know the rules and boundaries and it is something I have to except.
If I have anything going on in my head I will write things down and take it with me to the next session and discuss it with him.

 

[anonymous]

Let’s just say I’ve been banned from texting more than one therapist as I get frustrated with the limitations and say too much. Really, I hate texting. It’s not conducive to helping me when I need help.

 

[BigBirdsSister]

Nope, in fact i text her boss if I need help with appointment organisation ( rescheduling and that). I had a therapist who did allow texting once, but that was only or changing appointments and stuff like that and this one time when she was driving home in the snow (3hour drive) and knew I was freaking worrying about her so she texted me when she got home to let me know she was home safe xD

 

[Beans]

Only appointments so far. She is available for crises or if I really need to talk over a break like when I won't be seeing her for a few weeks. I've never used it outside of appointments though.

 

[Muted]

I’ve texted some with past therapists and never had issues, but I can’t anymore with my current one. I burned that bridge when I was working through some super painful stuff and bugging her too much and when I sent an emoji without thinking it put her in a difficult spot. During that time period, I wasn’t in a good frame of mind...

 

[washedawayyears]

My precious therapist would have me text him during sessions- I would shut down and be completely unable to talk so texting was a means to get me to say something, anything, even if it was just a few words.

However, his name was in my phone right before one of my best friends which meant I sometimes texted the wrong person out of session. B did not need to know about all the dogs I saw. :p

Prior post should have been previous and not precious sorry! Dang phone.

 

[Deleted member 42665]

Prior post should have been previous and not precious sorry! Dang phone.

Its ok LOL. I laughed at the precious part and was like awww thats nice to say. I think everyone needs updates on dogs during the day hahaha

Very cool idea about texting during session when you struggle though

 

[Deleted member 12723]

No, I have the e mail option yet I have never needed it. I make appointments calling into one of the receptionists. If I have a emergency need I can call the receptionist and leave her a message and she will call me back or have her nurse call me back.

If there is a real need to talk to someone they have an assortment of hot line crises counselors to call. I have done this several times and most of the time have found them very helpful

 

[Suzetig]

I text for scheduling only, if I need to contact her between sessions she'll book me in at very short notice but it all happens in session.

 

[Briellewannabe]

I text my T about scheduling mostly. She checks in with me sometimes via text (though she usually calls instead). She also sends me resources via text. During particularly bad weeks she might have me send her my mood on a daily basis.

I can also text her if I'm having a bad day and she'll usually call me pretty quickly. I've never abused this, even though I definitely utilized it more than usual as of late.

 

[Chosen]

I send prayer requests. that's about it

 

[Arebas]

Oh, it seems that I am the exception to the rule here... I do text my T and she encourages me to write emails to her also. As many as I need and as long as I need them to be. She takes the time to reply every time, some times with a few words, others a few paragraphs.
I think she lets me work this way because she knows I would never flood her inbox for no reason, text her just because or demand a reply. I often also offer to pay for the extra time but she never lets me.
I do a lot of processing by writing and when I email is cause I've hit something that really is necessary for her to know in order to move forward the next session. When I do all the thinking by myself and keep her off the loop, by the next session, I have jumped so far ahead of things that she has to work really hard to catch up with me and redirect me. So I think the emails actually save her time! :D