Do Therapists Think about Their Clients Between Sessions?
Have you ever wondered if therapists think about their clients between sessions? If so, let me just cut to the chase and let you know that the answer is a resounding yes!! Does that surprise you?
If you are surprised, I can kind of understand. A few years ago, a friend of mine who works in a completely different profession disclosed that he too worries about his clients and thinks about them between appointments. This completely caught me by surprise as I had never considered that people in his line of work would be thinking about their clients after hours. For whatever reason, my brain had automatically assumed that therapists were the only ones engaging in this behavior.
As therapists, we are taught strategies for making sure that we are not taking our work home (emotionally) for the sake of our own well-being. There are times, however, when we are thinking about our clients in ways that are very normal and appropriate. Here are some common ways that therapists think about their clients.
1. We’re thinking about you when we’re learning.
Licensed mental health providers are all about continued education. Between sessions, you can find us listening to podcasts, reading books, and attending continuing education courses, all so that we can better support you in our role as a therapist. When we’re taking in new content, we’re definitely thinking about our clients, and how we can use this new information to support them.
2. We’re thinking about our clients even when we’re not trying to think about our clients.
When we (people) have down time and our brains are free to roam, it’s not uncommon for us to be processing things that we’re not even trying to think about. The same thing happens to therapists. When we’re just relaxing, we might have thoughts or new insights that come up about our sessions, simply because our brain is still processing.
3. We’re thinking about you when we see something that reminds us of you.
Listen, it’s not called a therapeutic relationship for no reason! Therapists and their clients get to form real relationships with one another, so there are times when we see something funny, and it makes us think of one of our clients. There are times when we see a social media post, a show, or some other random thing that makes us think about one of our clients. And, in some instances, you’ll get to hear about the social media post, podcast, or poem that we saved on our phone, so we could share it with you.
These are just some examples to show just how often therapists are thinking about their clients. We’re thinking about our clients and working on their behalf, even when they’re not in front of us for an appointment. Therapists think about their clients because they truly do care and want to do a good job in supporting them.
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Written by: Melissa Wesner, LCPC
Melissa Wesner is the Founder of LifeSpring Counseling Services. She’s a Certified Brainspotter and Brainspotting Consultant who loves working with clients and offering Brainspotting Intensives.
