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My T works at her house so no receptionist or waiting room. I did tell T if she had a waiting room I would be sitting in it all day 
Lucina,
My T's receptionist is very personable but she's also very protective of him and there's been some issues. She has interfered some (just a little) in my developing a relationship with my T. I bypass her now and go directly to him. I used to hate to call for anything because I had to talk to her on the phone. She was like a fortress.
But she is always smiling and friendly and calls everyone babe. I know my T likes her a lot. I'd probably really like her a lot if we didn't have the issues we've had.
Good question.
Liese
My T's receptionist is very personable but she's also very protective of him and there's been some issues. She has interfered some (just a little) in my developing a relationship with my T. I bypass her now and go directly to him. I used to hate to call for anything because I had to talk to her on the phone. She was like a fortress.
But she is always smiling and friendly and calls everyone babe. I know my T likes her a lot. I'd probably really like her a lot if we didn't have the issues we've had.
Good question.
Liese
Your old t's receptionist sounds so lovely, Echo! Sounds like she really went above and beyond. And it's very thoughtful of you to stil bring flowers and cards.
My T works at a clinic, so there are usually two receptionists for all the Ts/Ps that work there. They're mainly just professional and don't forge any kind of relationship with the clients (which is to be expected; there must be hundreds coming through!). They've always been nice though.
My T works at a clinic, so there are usually two receptionists for all the Ts/Ps that work there. They're mainly just professional and don't forge any kind of relationship with the clients (which is to be expected; there must be hundreds coming through!). They've always been nice though.
No receptionist here, but I get to see T's officemate constantly walking around in her very loud shoes :-P
I have a similar situation to Joie. I like one receptionist better than the other though. I think maybe cos the one I like looks like she can be Ts sister and she's so sweet and very welcoming. She already knows my usual time and day and jus tells me to wai in the waiting area whenever I go. I feel like the other receptionist thinks I'm crazy lol. One time I had like an emotional breakdown and ran to the clinic in a flood of emotion and kind of demanded to the other receptionist that I see T. Except it was more of blah blah blah incoherent emotional babble I need to see T now! She just looked at me and afterwards when T had calmed me down and everything was fine realized how crazy I was and how that particular receptionist must think I'm a kook! T and I joke about that all the time lol. But yeah Ts look a like receptionist is the one I prefer 
There used to be a lovely receptionist who had a really kind manner and always made me a coffee as I walked in the door. I appreciated her kindness and welcome smile, it felt helpful when I was nervous about walking in.
starfish
starfish
Neither of my T's had/have receptionists. My current T has a reception desk in his small waiting area but he told me he no longer has a receptionist. Guess it was not really needed. I'm sort of glad about that as I'd rather deal directly with my T and would hate having to see someone when I run out upset or crying.
TN
TN
Ditto. No receptionist. Both of my T's offices have other therapists seeing clients, so I will see other clients in the lobby and other Ts coming to pick them up sometimes. But, that doesn't bother me as I don't have to interact 95% of the time. I'm glad to interact with my T directly. If he had a receptionist, I would probably just project he was using him/her to avoid me or else I would be terrified about having to interact with someone before/after hard sessions. Though, he is so crap with his schedule, that is one thing I wish he had a receptionist for.
There's a receptionist lady (usually the same one) on the centre where I attend the sessions so it's not a personal receptionist. After asking my name everytime I went there she finally memorized it. She's alright I guess. She looks a bit stuck up though, and I've occasionally dreamt about seeing my T and she is always an evil witch in those :P
T1 has no receptionist.. my P has a receptionist but I never have seen her because I think her sole function is to use the phone to remind people of appointments otherwise her phone system is robust and I've never left a message and had anyone but my P call me back.
T2 does have a receptionist and I really like her, she has to be a lot like a T
and deal with a lot of people's crap. She has caused me some frustration at times with billing. I don't go through her to contact T, just if I have a scheduling thing. My T has mentioned she does like having someone else who handles the $ - both my Ts have talked about how it is hard and uncomfortable to accept $ for their work in one way or another (not that they don't want to be paid just that it is a humbling/hard thing to talk about - money makes a lot of people uncomfortable I know both of them would do their job for free if they could). I enjoy seeing my T2's receptionist because I'll chit chat with her a little, she's very sweet.
T2 does have a receptionist and I really like her, she has to be a lot like a T
and deal with a lot of people's crap. She has caused me some frustration at times with billing. I don't go through her to contact T, just if I have a scheduling thing. My T has mentioned she does like having someone else who handles the $ - both my Ts have talked about how it is hard and uncomfortable to accept $ for their work in one way or another (not that they don't want to be paid just that it is a humbling/hard thing to talk about - money makes a lot of people uncomfortable I know both of them would do their job for free if they could). I enjoy seeing my T2's receptionist because I'll chit chat with her a little, she's very sweet.
My T's receptionist is very friendly; never had a problem with her. She calls me 24 hours before a session, takes my copay, and returns my calls (acts as the go-between between T and me if I call and leave a message and need a call back (T usually will not call me back)). She would also do scheduling, but I have a running appt. so I don't have to handle scheduling each week.
My T's receptionist is her daughter-in-law. Their relation hasn't really caused any problems for me, although I do have other issues with the receptionist. Most of the time she is very pleasant and cheerful and conversational, but that has been greatly overshadowed by two major rifts between us over the past 3 yrs -- one of them recent.
I was experiencing major frustrations over scheduling and having panic that there was no room for me in T's life because it was a constant battle to get the time slots I needed. Also, I felt the receptionist kept enlisting my help to take care of my T by frequently saying things to discourage me from setting appointments, like "I'm trying to get T to work less often" and "I don't want to schedule T at 5 if I don't have to" (even though the hours are supposed to be from 9 to 6, and whenever I didn't take the 5 spot, invariably someone else always got scheduled then anyway). I was afraid to be confrontational, so I took the time to craft a carefully-worded letter that used lots of "I" statements instead of "You" statements. And I gave her a copy and my T a copy (because I felt they were not on the same page together and I wanted them to cooperate to fix the problems). My T was not bothered by anything I wrote in the letter and said it was good I wrote it, and that she would talk to the receptionist and most likely be able to accommodate me. But the receptionist's reaction was different. She just lit into me. It was obvious I had hit a nerve. Of course spineless me backed down right away instead of standing up to her. Now am avoiding her as much as possible, and judging her body language and actions she seems to be doing the same to me. My T witnessed the confrontation between us and also appeared to be taken aback by the receptionist's reaction. T tried to smooth things over with me and assure me she wanted to accommodate me, but I refuse to fight for afternoon appointments anymore after what the receptionist said to me, which means I also can no longer do 2-hr appointments.
The good news is the receptionist plans to quit as soon as her house sells. It's already been up for sale for months. Please, springtime, bring buyers to this market! But then, who knows what the new receptionist will be like?
I was experiencing major frustrations over scheduling and having panic that there was no room for me in T's life because it was a constant battle to get the time slots I needed. Also, I felt the receptionist kept enlisting my help to take care of my T by frequently saying things to discourage me from setting appointments, like "I'm trying to get T to work less often" and "I don't want to schedule T at 5 if I don't have to" (even though the hours are supposed to be from 9 to 6, and whenever I didn't take the 5 spot, invariably someone else always got scheduled then anyway). I was afraid to be confrontational, so I took the time to craft a carefully-worded letter that used lots of "I" statements instead of "You" statements. And I gave her a copy and my T a copy (because I felt they were not on the same page together and I wanted them to cooperate to fix the problems). My T was not bothered by anything I wrote in the letter and said it was good I wrote it, and that she would talk to the receptionist and most likely be able to accommodate me. But the receptionist's reaction was different. She just lit into me. It was obvious I had hit a nerve. Of course spineless me backed down right away instead of standing up to her. Now am avoiding her as much as possible, and judging her body language and actions she seems to be doing the same to me. My T witnessed the confrontation between us and also appeared to be taken aback by the receptionist's reaction. T tried to smooth things over with me and assure me she wanted to accommodate me, but I refuse to fight for afternoon appointments anymore after what the receptionist said to me, which means I also can no longer do 2-hr appointments.
The good news is the receptionist plans to quit as soon as her house sells. It's already been up for sale for months. Please, springtime, bring buyers to this market! But then, who knows what the new receptionist will be like?