I hate it when my T goes on vaca. And I know what you mean about having more time to think. I don't know what helps me when she's been gone. I have asked her if she'd think about me and she says Yes. In fact she said she had more time to think on vaca than when not on vaca.

Maybe your T can give you something from their office for you to hold on to?

Anyway welcome to the psych cafe if you are new here.

I have two Ts and they handle vacations differently.

T1 is very open to outside communication. So if one of us goes on vacation, we stay in contact through text messaging. I can also call her if I need to, though I haven't done that. Texting is enough for me to stay connected. Recently when I was Europe I didn't have cell phone service but I did have access to email which she doesn't check often. However, she said that she would make it a point to check her email regularly while I was gone, so that was nice. She emailed me about once every day or so.

T2 doesn't really do much outside contact stuff. I do email her sometimes between sessions, but she is not a texter. Right now she is gone for one month and I have zero contact with her. I am actually doing okay with it. The first few days were the hardest. But I have T1 to fall back on which I think helps. If I didn't have T1, I think I would have to consider not working with T2 anymore because I don't think its okay for a therapist to leave for a month and not allow outside contact. It seems a little irresponsible given the field she is in.

Jo, thanks for the welcome, I am pretty new around here. I'm not sure what I could hold onto from their office, and I might feel a little silly asking, but that's a good idea maybe I'll bring that up.

LadyGrey, that would be very tough with no contact for a month. My T does allow email, but my T is gonna be out of the country so I don't have high hopes that my T will be able or willing to check it. We've never talked about texting, I don't think my T would allow it.

Thanks for the insight and ideas

Hi someone and welcome to the Board.

My oldT gave me a small stuffed animal that he had in his office when "I" was going on vacation and feeling scared.

My current T has given me his pen (he only ever uses one kind of special pen) to keep connection with him. Luckily he only takes one week vacation, but he does allow email and even phone calls if it's really important (not just to check in). It's nice to know the option is there for an emergency.

This is a great place to pass the time when you are w/o your T. Just writing about the feelings with people who understand is a big help.

TN

yeah i guess it is silly

Hi Someone,

My T is away now and it is really hard so your thread for me is very timely. Hope you can find a way to cope.

Liese

P.S. Welcome!!!

PPS LG, sorry about T2. I agree with you that a month is a long time for her to be away without any contact.

I seriously need to find courage to ask for something that will ease breaks with my T if he has any more coming up...if I am still with him. Sigh (every time I think about things I want T to do or change, I fall into the despair of the decision I'm going to have to make soon).

Anyway, my T allows texting during breaks if he has access to his phone, but his responses aren't consistent, so it almost makes things worse. Also, if I were unable to make it, I think he would do a phone call too...or at least that's what he said this time. I don't know if he would do anything a bit more tangible (like objects)...

Hi Someone
My T is currently away (week 1 of a 2 week break), and I was freaking out big time before hand so in the last session I read a letter I wrote about all the feelings about the break to her (addressed it to someone else, not her) but at least we got to the feelings, then out of the blue before we even started the letter she said she would like me to have something of hers to look after in her absence (she has a little stone heart) on one of her tables and handed it to me saying now I was holding 2 hearts in her absence(I had bought a little heart stone of mine along to the session to get me through reading my letter), its helped a bit in her absence as there is no outside session contact with her. Can you ask for something to look after ?