hearing other clients

Do you ever hear clients in other offices while in your therapy appointment? What if anything does your T do?

Adjacent to the office T and I are in there is another office. a few times now the person in the office has been user and loud. We can't hear what the person is saying but it can be quite distracting for me. At my last appointment we were in a pretty deep and painful discussion. We mentioned it but moved on. I know there is nothing T can do but it was horrible

I have had that happen to me. It was so triggering and disturbing to me that we completely shut down during those sessions. It happened quite often when I first started seeing my T.
Now T schedules me for a time when the other offices are usually empty. It still happens from time to time when one group or another are using the room next to us, and it is still very hard for me and my system to find safety.

Yes I used to hear another client crying really loudly. It was awful, especially as I've always struggled with expressing emotions in therapy. There wasn't much my T could do apart from try to carry on as best we can. Like Amyjay, it used to cause me to shut down.

Yup, pretty regularly, which I don't like because I'm afraid I can be heard too. :/

For me it is coming in and seeing the blanket all crumpled with pillows and the tissue box on top of the blanket from the last client have some crying emotional session. T can't you fix the couch up before the next client!? I know other people see you with emotional issues as we all have them but I do not want that to fill up space in my head imagining what was going on and you taking care of them and me being jealous.

Currently, my session's on Friday in the afternoon. Most of the time we're the only ones that are there as far as I'm aware. Sometimes I can hear somebody else's client come in, but I don't usually hear them talk while I'm there. It's possible to hear people talk while waiting, but there's rarely anyone around on Friday.

Last year I also had sessions on Wednesday, the place was much more busy on that day. That bothered me a bit, especially hearing people enter and leave, as well as the fact that they probably heard me yell and cry a few times. I'd never hear them talk during my sessions though (except for maybe a 'hi' before they went to their room).

My T seems to schedule quite a bit of time around each client, at least I've never run into any of his clients, heard him talk to anyone besides other therapists and his room never looks or smells like anyone has been there recently.

There is only one other T in the building when I see T. Typically she takes her lunch while I am with T so nothing to hear. Occasionally she will have a client the same time I see T but I never hear anything. Had to sit with one of her clients in the waiting area once and oh how they got on my nerve! T’s voice carries a lot so if he has a client before me I can sometimes hear T depending on where they are but never the client. T is very OCD and you can rarely tell anyone else has been in the room since you were there last although I have seen people leave and the next person waiting for him. Hearing someone else and their client through the wall during my session would bother me a great deal.

No it's pretty sound proof. I know there are other clients, the waiting room is full sometimes. All i hear are doors open and shut, so they have done a good job in making it sound proof.

Yes. It has happened to me occasionally with former T. It bothered me a lot and affected my session.

I have seen other clients in the waiting room both clients of my Ts or from other Ts. That has never bothered nor has it bothered me if I am in the waiting room and I could hear that T ot their client were talking. I have never been able to hear what they said.

What bothers me is when I am in an appointment and hear other clients in their appointments. I know I am not loud enough for others to hear me. I guess it runs my train of though and maybe I feel less safe...like there is somebody else I'm that room.

I have been seeing my T for over 30 years. She uses hearing aids these days, but she doesn't always remember to wear them. So, on those days, I am sometimes self-conscious that my raised voice might be heard by other people. But, really, it doesn't bother me. If they hear a sentence or two, that's all they've heard, and it doesn't characterize me or T.

I see my T at a busy behavioural health practice. There are always other people in the waiting room.


I don't think I've ever heard other clients in session, but there have been a couple of times where people were talking loudly in the hallway. When that happens, she steps out and asks them to be quieter. I'm sensitive to sound and easily distracted by it, so I do appreciate that. T also has a white noise machine going to muffle the sounds of normal conversation in the hall.

Yes I have heard and seen my therapist interact with many of his other clients

I've told him that I feel jealous. I told him I feel like grabbing him and shouting "mine!!!!"

Its still hard for me TBh

I've never heard other clients during my session, only before, when I was sitting in the waiting room. The latter didn't bother me at all but I am sure I would have found that during the session very distracting and annoying because I am very noise-sensitive. I'm pretty sure if it happened more than once, I would mention to the T that it bothers me and if there is anything we could do about it. If someone complained about me being heard, I am sure I would make an effort to tune down my voice and would be glad that I was told, again, because I am so sensitive myself and hate when people are loud around me.

My T’s office is the last down a long hallway , I might hear a word or 2 as I walk if someone is being loud, but nothing major.

I have heard people out right yelling at the front desk. Regina and Patricia who run the front office do have glass around them but if My T hears someone yelling he jumps up and is out the door and getting the situation under control no matter if it’s a male or female causing a ruckus.

The first time it happened he apologized profusely and I was like oh no no no need to apologize, you are ensuring your co workers are safe. It happens a few times a week according to Regina and Patricia. There is always a male T working for such cases. My T only works 3 days a week now.

I know who sees my T before and after me. I personally do not get jealous at all.. the woman after me has been dealing with some form of cancer for at least 4-5 years now off and on.... she often looks physically and mentally exhausted and I’m so grateful she is going to see Richard, I know he certainly helps her if only for that hour. .... she once got my attention as I was leaving and asked me what perfume I was wearing, she said she always enjoys the lingering scent during her sessions. We once have given each other a brief hug.

My therapists were all in group practices, but I almost never heard anyone (good insulation?). Now, when my last therapist moved to their new building, they started piping classical music quietly in the halls. I'm guessing they were having some issues with noise/talking bleeding through the walls but I hadn't been aware of it. The irony was that I hated the piped music because it distracted me. I'm a musician and it's hard for me to block it out. Can't please them all I guess. LOL!

T is in private practice. She rents a room in a building that has multiple private practice therapists. So there isn't any office staff. The way the waiting room is set up we are quite a distance from the seating area.

What I hear is the client in the adjacent room. We discussed it once a while ago. He mentioned she suspected we could occasionally hear because there is a locked door connecting the two rooms. She mentions that she has had clients who on occasion holler when really frustrated. So on occasion she checks in with the other T to see if they heard anything. I told her she didnt have to worry about me I don't holler.

It occurred to me yesterday, after my session was over and I was on my way home, that perhaps other clients heard me when I yelled a few times. At first it bothered me, but then I put a positive spin on it, thinking that maybe those clients were amazed at what I shouted, and wondered if THEY could ever shout it, too. So, maybe, in a sort of twisted way, I helped someone.

No because the office generally very quiet and also each office has a white noise machine outside.

I’ve heard the rumblings of other clients when my T was not in private practise but I could never actually make out distinct words. I tried not to listen but it’s hard not to.