Posted by coral on January 25, 2004, at 6:53:38
In reply to Therapist is in difficulty....., posted by Catmom on January 24, 2004, at 12:21:11
Dear Catmom,
Your situation sounds very uncomfortable. I'm sorry.
When you're working on standing up for yourself, it's hard to learn when that behavior is appropriate and only you can determine that. IMO, if the therapist said, "Hold on a sec. Have to take this call from my decorator," you're well within your rights to say, "No. Talk with your decorator on your time, not mine." (Additionally, I'd have serious doubts about a therapist that would interrupt a session for that type of personal calls.) On the other hand, I conduct training sessions and require people to turn off their cell phones. However, my mother is dying and I'm accessible 24/7 and a call concerning her does take precedence. (I also see that my sessions don't have the same importance as a session with a therapist . . .)
Yet, I can't see a neursurgeon interrupting brain surgery for a telephone call about ANYTHING.
This might be an interesting topic for discussion w/your therapist albeit fraught with potential difficulties.
In the final analysis, (no pun intended), the therapist is the professional and it's her responsibility to know when she can fully attend to a client or not. She knows when she is going to have time between clients for such calls. That may sound callous but if the situation with her mother requires instanteous decisions, perhaps she should be at the hospital and not providing therapy.
poster:coral
thread:304999
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040123/msgs/305263.html