Posted by Annierose on July 31, 2010, at 14:32:20
Over the past 6 years I have seen my therapist, it seems our vacations never overlap. If I'm gone for two weeks, my t's vacations begins as I returns ... and so it goes.
This summer was the same, except broken up over 6 1/2 weeks of interruptions. She's gone, then back, then I am (now) gone for two weeks, I'm back, then she leaves, then returns, then I have a business trip ... I was dreading the summer and questioned if I should even try to see her for those few sessions we had while we were both in town.
So before the vacations began, my t proposed that while I was on vacation, if I would consider scheduling a session using skype to communicate. I was so surprised because my t is pretty much "by the book" type of therapist ... she doesn't encourage phone calls (you can call but the conversation will be extremely short), e-mails ... and I respect those boundaries. I don't know if she has tried this with other clients, but as much as I wanted to maintain some sort of connection, it also scared me. The more I thought about it, I decided it was time to not be so scared of trying new things ... and I could at least try it one time.
So I sent my family to the pool, and low and behold, my t appears on my laptop for my 45 minute session. It was awkward for me at first, but once I got over how ugly I looked on the computer screen, I remembered how much I looked forward to our sessions, how much she supports me, how much she "gets" me. She was more talkative than a normal session ... she didn't let the silent periods linger. She kept me focused and present. And more than anything, it was wonderful to speak to another adult besides my husband (who is driving me crazy on this vacation .... realized he doesn't unwind easily).
We scheduled one more skype session this week, but the wi-fi went down where I'm staying, so we just talked via cell phone (which wasn't the same but still nice).
I'm sharing this with my babble friends because I would have NEVER guessed that my therapist would even consider this. And I realize the circumstances of 6+ weeks of little contact prompted her to think of a solution. As awkward as I felt initially, I'm glad I tried something new.
poster:Annierose
thread:956577
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20100706/msgs/956577.html