From UK Therapy Question

treloarbabe · Sep 22, 2019 at 05:44 AM

Hi,

Does anyone here from the UK have contact with their therapist between sessions and does anyone here from the UK see their therapist more than once a week?

Just wondering, and feeling bad about a couple of things, so wanting reassurance?

Thanks!

Lonelyinmyheart · Sep 22, 2019 at 05:50 AM

I'm in UK and have contact in between sessions but go once a week. However if I could afford twice a week I could do that, but I can't. If you see a private therapist they are more likely to be open to seeing you more often than weekly if they have availability. Contact in between sessions very much depends on the t....I've seen ones that don't allow it but current one does.

LostOnTheTrail · Sep 22, 2019 at 05:58 AM

Hi,

I am also in the UK, have appointments once a week, and my therapist is OK with email contact between sessions.

treloarbabe · Sep 22, 2019 at 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonelyinmyheart

I'm in UK and have contact in between sessions but go once a week. However if I could afford twice a week I could do that, but I can't. If you see a private therapist they are more likely to be open to seeing you more often than weekly if they have availability. Contact in between sessions very much depends on the t....I've seen ones that don't allow it but current one does.

Hi Thanks for this? Do you mind me asking what form the contact takes i.e email/text and how often it is? I don't normally contact but therapist trying to encourage me to reach out.

Lonelyinmyheart · Sep 22, 2019 at 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by treloarbabe

Hi Thanks for this? Do you mind me asking what form the contact takes i.e email/text and how often it is? I don't normally contact but therapist trying to encourage me to reach out.

No I don't mind. I have text contact twice a week if needed. She has said if I need to I can call her, but I never have as would feel worried about intruding on her. Obviously with texts I can't say much, but for me what is really needed is a consistent sense of her being around. She always replies but doesn't do 'therapy', it's more just a short response to what I've said and reassuring me things are okay etc. I think if your T is encouraging it then it might well be helpful to you to maintain the connection during the week. Some people have had bad experiences with Ts allowing contact and then withdrawing it when it gets too much but if you and T set boundaries around it from the start (as me and my T have done) that should hopefully avoid that scenario.

treloarbabe · Sep 22, 2019 at 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostOnTheTrail

Hi,

I am also in the UK, have appointments once a week, and my therapist is OK with email contact between sessions.

Do you mind me asking how often she or he lets you email?

LostOnTheTrail · Sep 22, 2019 at 06:35 AM

She's OK with it on an as-needed basis. We don't have an agreement on frequency, but I tend to email only once or twice a month.

Sep 22, 2019 at 07:59 AM

I did see her twice a, week for 15yrs.have cut back to once now because I've moved a distance away.
She mentioned yrs ago whrn I was struggling "you can email me". She left it at that.
I didn't email for about a Yr after that offer. Then decided to risk it.
When I emailed back then, I was always in a bad place.
She found a balance between trying to let me know she was there but also trying to keep me safe which is difficult, so she would reply but minimal, not wanting to escalate the state I was in.
Between us we found a way that worked.
I can email her whenever, she will reply. She never insisted I should email. She offered once and left it up to me.

KLL85 · Sep 22, 2019 at 08:20 AM

I see mine once a week and he has said that he thinks that is the best frequency for clients to get the most out of therapy. He allows email contact but there is strict boundaries. No more than a couple of emails in a week and his response is only to acknowledge the email and remind me that all our therapy work takes place face and face. He has made it clear that he is not a crisis support unless the crisis is taking place during the session and in the case of crisis in between sessions I must seek help from other sources.

treloarbabe · Sep 22, 2019 at 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The mouse

I did see her twice a, week for 15yrs.have cut back to once now because I've moved a distance away.
She mentioned yrs ago whrn I was struggling "you can email me". She left it at that.
I didn't email for about a Yr after that offer. Then decided to risk it.
When I emailed back then, I was always in a bad place.
She found a balance between trying to let me know she was there but also trying to keep me safe which is difficult, so she would reply but minimal, not wanting to escalate the state I was in.
Between us we found a way that worked.
I can email her whenever, she will reply. She never insisted I should email. She offered once and left it up to me.

Thank you The Mouse.......' Are you from central England/UK like me just out of interest? I find the your posts really valuable on here!

treloarbabe · Sep 22, 2019 at 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLL85

I see mine once a week and he has said that he thinks that is the best frequency for clients to get the most out of therapy. He allows email contact but there is strict boundaries. No more than a couple of emails in a week and his response is only to acknowledge the email and remind me that all our therapy work takes place face and face. He has made it clear that he is not a crisis support unless the crisis is taking place during the session and in the case of crisis in between sessions I must seek help from other sources.

Thank you! Are you from UK/England too? X.

KLL85 · Sep 22, 2019 at 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by treloarbabe

Thank you! Are you from UK/England too? X.

I am indeed

Echos Myron redux · Sep 22, 2019 at 10:12 AM

I am in UK. He doesnt limit my email but in practice I don't often email more than once or twice a week. I see him once a week, we talked about going to 2x recently when I was struggling, but he is too far for me to travel twice a week, so instead I saw him for 90 minutes for a while.

TeaVicar? · Sep 24, 2019 at 05:04 AM

I'm in the UK. I used to go 2 x weekly. No contact in between sessions unless it's an emergency. Depends on the therapist I think.

ExCore · Sep 24, 2019 at 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLL85

I see mine once a week and he has said that he thinks that is the best frequency for clients to get the most out of therapy. He allows email contact but there is strict boundaries. No more than a couple of emails in a week and his response is only to acknowledge the email and remind me that all our therapy work takes place face and face. He has made it clear that he is not a crisis support unless the crisis is taking place during the session and in the case of crisis in between sessions I must seek help from other sources.

Hi! I'm curious, how do you feel about such restrictions? To me, It seems a little bit frustrating.

KLL85 · Sep 24, 2019 at 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExCore

Hi! I'm curious, how do you feel about such restrictions? To me, It seems a little bit frustrating.

It is something that I struggle with. I totally get that it would be impossible to allow all his clients contact him whenever they are in crisis and expect him to deal it, but he also knows I have no family or friends to turn to and due to past trauma, have deep mistrust of NHS staff so going to GP or A&E is just not an option for me. I also have major anxieties about using the phone so calling support lines when in crisis is also not an option, so I am left to deal with a crisis by myself which is hard. I often feel allowing some flexibility in his boundaries to allow me to let him know when things are really bad and get some support when that is happening would be really helpful and also speed up the process of building trust as at the moment I am still struggling with that. But in sessions he’s great and open to any thoughts and ideas I have on how I want sessions to be conducted and willing to take constructive criticism on board and adapt as needed. It’s just his boundaries are the one thing he wont compromise on.

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treloarbabe Member Member Since Apr 2012 Posts: 74 12 35 hugs given	Sep 22, 2019 at 05:44 AM #1 Hi, Does anyone here from the UK have contact with their therapist between sessions and does anyone here from the UK see their therapist more than once a week? Just wondering, and feeling bad about a couple of things, so wanting reassurance?Thanks!
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Echos Myron redux Magnate Member Since Apr 2018 Location: UK Posts: 2,160 6 1,833 hugs given	Sep 22, 2019 at 10:12 AM #13 I am in UK. He doesnt limit my email but in practice I don't often email more than once or twice a week. I see him once a week, we talked about going to 2x recently when I was struggling, but he is too far for me to travel twice a week, so instead I saw him for 90 minutes for a while.
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TeaVicar? Member Member Since Apr 2015 Location: in the parlour. Posts: 353 9 99 hugs given	Sep 24, 2019 at 05:04 AM #14 I'm in the UK. I used to go 2 x weekly. No contact in between sessions unless it's an emergency. Depends on the therapist I think. __________________ "It is a joy to be hidden but a disaster not to be found." D.W. Winnicott
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