Reposting – after 12 years of work

I have decided this cancellation from my therapist (see below) was all for the best. Rather than panic about not having a therapy visit for 8 weeks, I was able to talk myself through a period of not having a regular session with my therapist. When we did get in touch I learned s/he had a very painful illness but was not at a serious risk level. I feel proud of myself, if I can say so, about managing through this period. It has made me realize that in the 12 years of working with my therapist I have grown into a person who can handle a temporary lapse in therapy time if that occurs and/or as it occurs.

Here is the original post from a week or two ago:

After 12 years of work with my therapist with no interruptions and no cancellations, I got a call today cancelling/postponing our session for this month. In all the 12 years of work, my therapist has never missed or changed an appointment.

Funny how you rely on someone being there and expect there to be no gaps. Rationally, I know at some point people do get sick and have to call in sick, but it worries me when my therapist does/did this.

I guess you could say I am confronting my dependency on her. Should I have a back-up plan for when she is ill? She is into her 70’s as is my psyche doctor. Should I be thinking about someone younger just because?

When I got the news today about the cancellation I got somewhat anxious, so I called my psyche doctor and shared the news. We agreed I would go up on my meds if things felt too stressful.

Just out of curiosity, what do you do if your therapist is sick and cannot make a session? Does it stress you out? Do you move to Plan B? What is your Plan B?

2 thoughts on “Reposting – after 12 years of work

  1. I’m not really qualified to say, as I can never stick with one very long due to some massive trust issues. I admire that you’ve stuck it out. So maybe that’s what I can offer here – a different perspective for you. You’ve done this for a long time and you have a leg up over people who can’t stick with a therapist because they can’t find the right one. I bet you’ve learned some things.

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  2. I have not had therapy for that long, mine has only bren months, but I can understand that reliance on someone who has been your support that long.
    I was scared, when I chose it was to end my support, which I was ready when I was ready to do it for some weeks prior. I was scared should I not cope, even though I know I can contact her anytime and have further sessions should I want to.

    I never had a plan b, than just focusing on what was helpful to me for my ptsd and anxiety. But I somehow got through each day.

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