I would probably freak out for a few minutes after getting the text, but from what you say about T1, I would imagine that yes, it was meant to bring about a smile

I know my T always reminds me "we have plenty of time." And when I'm freaking out about something, she'll joke about running out of plenty of time. Always makes me smile

Glad you got the confirmation

A smile-inducing joke is always a nice thing - laughter is even better!

I love laughter, and I make it a point to try and make my T laugh at least once a session. I've now managed to evoke a big, deep, belly laugh at two different sessions, too. Therapy is the only place I don't mind being laughed at, cause I know it's a good laugh, not the mean one.

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I do notice that sometimes she tries really hard not to smile as I am telling a story (I used humor in almost every story I tell, no matter how painful the event was). She tries to remain serious while I tell these stories (I think because she wants to discourage me from resorting to humor so much) but I see her struggle sometimes to hide a smile and it brings me IMMENSE satisfaction seeing her twist and contort her face as she tries unsuccessfully to bury the smile.

Love this!

Yeah, I would have been pretty sure it was a joke, but an exchange like that over texts, you can never be 100% sure the person "got" that you were joking and is responding accordingly. I end up not joking too much with T if I can't actually see his reaction, because otherwise I am paranoid. Glad she confirmed!

Yeah, T occasionally says something in session that he has been thinking about something he really wanted to bring up to me. Like yesterday's phone session, he said, "I have a few things that have come up with you a few times that I have been feeling like it's really important to address." The way he talked about it, he had obviously put a lot of "outside" thought into how to address it with me...in this case, it was my perception that he thinks I am lying, exaggerating, etc. The whole way he talked about it made me know that he not only heard how painful those thoughts were, but it has also "never, not even once, occurred to him that I might do that." He said that whenever he reads it, he pauses and as he described it, has a confused-dog-cocking-its-head "huh" sensation come over him. There was one other thing in the same conversation where he said he had been thinking about something for a while. It made me feel very warm that, beyond my texting and emails and all the offering me phone conversations, he STILL spends more time thinking about me outside of session. This guy is a saint or something! I know he can't be doing this with all of his clients, so I feel kind of guilty (but secretly happy) for taking up so much of his "brain time."

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Do any of you ever feel that way? Like you feel this warmth fill your heart when you know your actually thought about you while they were maybe in line at the grocery store or on the treadmill at the gym?

Most definitely LG! My T went on a trip to Europe once (his wife teaches at a private high school and was the advisor for the trip and he went along to help chaperone) and was totally out of touch which felt kind of scary because he's always available even on vacation. But since he was in Europe he had no phone and really intermittent web access. When he came back, we were talking about some stuff I was struggling with and he told me about seeing a statue in a park in Madrid of Don Quixote which reminded him of Aldonza's song which perfectly described the way I was feeling at the time. It was a very intense connected moment and it wasn't until later than I actually realized he was thinking of me while in Europe. I think I grinned for a week.

My T NEVER intiates contact unless he needs to cancel or reschedule an appointment. Last year when we were on vacation in CA, my husband ended up in the hospital for four days. I emailed my in what was the middle of the night for him and forgot I had my auto response on for my email address. The next morning there was a response from him first thing which I really appreciated but I didn't respond to that because I didn't want to bother him and time was tight. Later that day when I was at the hospital, I actually got a text to my phone (the only time he's ever texted me, we always use either email or phone). He told me that he got the auto response and he wasn't sure if I got his email so he wanted to check in on me and if I needed a call don't hesitate. I was pretty stressed being alone so far away from home and trying to stay calm for my husband and it helped immensely to know he cared enough to reach out that way. I must confess I still have the texts on my cell phone.

I asked him once if he ever thought of me when he wasn't in the office, or when he was on vacation and he told me absolutely, that these are real relationships so of course he thinks of his clients at different times. Knowing that he thought of me outside of "our" time, really helped me trust the relationship was actually real.

AG

Turns out T does not go home at all until Friday morning! So, I actually have no idea where he drives to in the evenings...probably to wherever his other practices are. This week's session, I took a 7:00 pm. I prefer to have the last session, but I didn't want to wait all the way until Tuesday night considering how things have been going, so I did Monday instead. I hope I don't regret it! I really should have told him, "I want both!!!" Maybe if Monday goes really bad, I will beg him to give me Tuesday 9:00 pm. I don't he would, though.

my sweet P said often says that he was thinking about some comment I said, or something I wrote, or that he was talking to his supervisor about it, and of course I think "gosh, he was thinking about me OUTSIDE of a session!" It is nice to be thought about. I like it when they reveal something like that.