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Posted On: December 23rd 2021, 10:04 am
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WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR THERAPIST IS AWAY
- Talk to your therapist before they leave about how you feel about the upcoming break. As ever, you can share with them all of your feelings, safe in the knowledge that you will not be judged for them. If you are angry, tell them. If you are sad, afraid or disappointed, let them know. It may be the case that these feelings reveal something deeper that might be beneficial to your work together. Understanding this and naming your feelings might also make it easier for you to deal with them in your therapist’s absence.
- It may be worth jotting down a plan of how you’ll look after yourself (physically and mentally) in advance - either alone or with the help of your therapist. Eating well, exercising and sleeping enough will certainly help put you on a good path. You can think about which other activities and exercises may (or may not) help you over the upcoming weeks. Try to consider what you’ll do if things feel like they’re becoming unmanageable - who you can turn to, perhaps a close friend or family member?
- Journal lots. Explore how you are feeling about taking a break from therapy. You could even write a letter to your therapist explaining this - whether you share it with them or not is up to you, of course. Likewise, whilst they’re away you could continue with this practice and see what feelings have been thrown up for you and how you’ve coped with the time off.
*Most importantly, if you reach a crisis point whilst your therapist is away, there are services and hotlines that can help you deal with this, 24/7.
If you are at risk of harming yourself or someone else, you can also head to your local emergency department who will take care of you.*
We've listed some additional thoughts and the details of several 24/7 emergency mental health hotlines in our latest blog post, by Alex Grunnill. You can find the article following the link in bio.
If you think that this article might be beneficial to someone you know, send it to them and perhaps invite them for a cup of tea or a cup of "digital" tea together.
- Talk to your therapist before they leave about how you feel about the upcoming break. As ever, you can share with them all of your feelings, safe in the knowledge that you will not be judged for them. If you are angry, tell them. If you are sad, afraid or disappointed, let them know. It may be the case that these feelings reveal something deeper that might be beneficial to your work together. Understanding this and naming your feelings might also make it easier for you to deal with them in your therapist’s absence.
- It may be worth jotting down a plan of how you’ll look after yourself (physically and mentally) in advance - either alone or with the help of your therapist. Eating well, exercising and sleeping enough will certainly help put you on a good path. You can think about which other activities and exercises may (or may not) help you over the upcoming weeks. Try to consider what you’ll do if things feel like they’re becoming unmanageable - who you can turn to, perhaps a close friend or family member?
- Journal lots. Explore how you are feeling about taking a break from therapy. You could even write a letter to your therapist explaining this - whether you share it with them or not is up to you, of course. Likewise, whilst they’re away you could continue with this practice and see what feelings have been thrown up for you and how you’ve coped with the time off.
*Most importantly, if you reach a crisis point whilst your therapist is away, there are services and hotlines that can help you deal with this, 24/7.
If you are at risk of harming yourself or someone else, you can also head to your local emergency department who will take care of you.*
We've listed some additional thoughts and the details of several 24/7 emergency mental health hotlines in our latest blog post, by Alex Grunnill. You can find the article following the link in bio.
If you think that this article might be beneficial to someone you know, send it to them and perhaps invite them for a cup of tea or a cup of "digital" tea together.
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