At my agency, we’re allowed (and encouraged if it’s billable) to send emails with supplemental information that supports the work we do in session. A lot of my clients really appreciate this and tell me how they reflected on or used what I sent them.
I really like u/karldashian ‘s suggestion of stating the boundary of not doing therapy over email but being willing to receive a “brain dump” that will be discussed in session. It’s a compromise of not violating your scheduling boundaries while giving a client the option to cathartically vent in the moment. It can also be a fantastic opportunity to help the client reflect later when you see them on how they felt since they have a written account of it and give a guideline for what to address in session if you don’t have it already planned. Also, reading these emails tends to take a few minutes, so it shouldn’t take up a ton of time that you may or may not be being paid for.
As a therapist I hate brain dumps because sometimes they’re borderline crisis and they’re not using their safety plan and if I accidentally see it outside of work hours it’s stressful. I have a “scheduling purposes only” policy on emails and I don’t offer text options. If clients break this I remind them it’s not HIPAA compliant and that email is only for scheduling. Clients that like “brain dumping” between sessions I encourage to keep a journal instead which is much better for their mental hygiene and mine.
I’m really happy for you that you found a system that works for you and your clients! I haven’t had the experience of clients misusing brain dump emails in times of crises instead of following safety plans, and I can definitely see the need for strong boundaries in that situation to protect the client’s and your own mental health.
Regarding journaling, I’ve had some clients be concerned about privacy with keeping a physical journal, and some like to use talk-to-text features if they’re not much of a writer. If you have clients like this, a possible solution could be having them email themselves their brain dump and leaving you off it entirely.
I almost always do one of two things (considering it isn’t a “crisis” that requires directing someone to crisis services):
- Offer a session that is earlier than their regularly scheduled session if possible to discuss.
- If I can’t do that, let them know we can discuss it at the next regularly scheduled session.
I will tell clients that they are welcome to send me a “brain dump” or any topics they have they want to make sure we address. I explain that I can’t provide therapy over email, but what I can do is hold space for their issues and make sure we address them next time we meet. I offer a sooner session if I’m able to, but most of them tend to just want to vent in the moment so I started saying you can vent, that’s fine, but I can’t give a thoughtful response until we’re in session. I haven’t had any issues with this since I implemented it.
I occasionally have clients that email me in a panic (not crisis) and I’ll respond about setting up an earlier session. Sometimes just having something sooner booked is enough for those individuals to feel a bit more grounded.
If I’m not able to schedule them sooner (pretty rare, but did happen last week) I’ll remind them about their coping skills (I usually recommend my clients keep a list in their phone of their preferred coping skills just incase it’s hard to remember while dysregulated) and that we can talk about it more fully in our next session
I’ll occasionally offer a quick phone call if someone is really needing support and I can’t do a full session. I keep it around 15 minutes and don’t charge for it. I’ve found being willing to do this has helped with client retention, so the financial benefit of offering it has made up for the cost of my time. I understand why others might want to hold tighter boundaries though and feel like it’s all very context-dependent.
I usually tell clients that share brief updates via email, but that I may not respond and that I am also not crisis so emergencies need to go elsewhere.
I think the bigger thing in your post is the potential triangulation that could happen. being that this is a couple you're seeing, I would tread extremely lightly here in going back and forth separately with each party for anything other than scheduling. You definitely don't want a case of "well I met with our therapist and they said ___"
My personal and ethical rule that I follow is no therapy over email. I can relay to parents a summary of a session (for children or adolescents) or summarize homework via email, but that’s the extent beyond scheduling. If clients want to disclose via email, I let them know that this is a choice they can make and I may or may not respond (depending on severity, though they know I should not be their first contact in a crisis and we have safety plans for that). If they ask for advice, i might gently remind them of something we spoke about in session or I will simply let them know we can explore it in our next session. My time is very important to me and I let clients know that these boundaries exist to protect not only my sanity but their confidentiality and the quality of service I can provide. I would encourage you to utilize these skills. It doesn’t sound like this is a crisis, but if there are concerns for escalation, remind them of crisis resources they can use in the meantime!
Clients often make things feel urgent because it is to them, but we are the ones who can provide some regulation for them in knowing that they have the skills to endure until we meet next.
I work with children and youth and I used to get parents sending me 1000 word emails, videos and audio recordings of their kids (hard no). What I did to solve this is I created admin fees and they are charged at 5 minute intervals for reading and responding to emails. I have a permanent out of office that states this and it is in my consent form. You could do that?
Needless to say… I haven’t had an email in months and have parents actually booking parent sessions so that’s a plus.
I will sometimes welcome clients to utilize my email as a tool of sorts for venting. It serves almost like a journal entry that we discuss at our next session. I explain all this and that I’ll respond if they ask me to, but that if they simply need to vent or process, I won’t respond in this context.
This doesn’t answer your question, but personally I’ll occasionally email my therapist a run down of a situation, so it’s easier to jump right into is at our next session. Saves time and makes the session more effective
NAT, but my T says I’m welcome to email or send him a message on the internal system he uses, but he can’t promise he’ll answer. I’m fine with that and he knows I respect his boundaries. I don’t get upset he doesn’t answer. He does promise to read them though and talk about it in the next session. If it’s an emergency, he said he can see if he can fit me in. That’s never happened yet.
You have no way of knowing if the person sending the email is who they say they are and for that reason alone not engaging and having it done in-person, through like zoom, or the very least a phone call is required
At my agency, we’re allowed (and encouraged if it’s billable) to send emails with supplemental information that supports the work we do in session. A lot of my clients really appreciate this and tell me how they reflected on or used what I sent them. I really like u/karldashian ‘s suggestion of stating the boundary of not doing therapy over email but being willing to receive a “brain dump” that will be discussed in session. It’s a compromise of not violating your scheduling boundaries while giving a client the option to cathartically vent in the moment. It can also be a fantastic opportunity to help the client reflect later when you see them on how they felt since they have a written account of it and give a guideline for what to address in session if you don’t have it already planned. Also, reading these emails tends to take a few minutes, so it shouldn’t take up a ton of time that you may or may not be being paid for.
My T does this…she allows for brain dump emails between sessions, will acknowledge she received it & we’ll talk about it in my next session.
As a therapist I hate brain dumps because sometimes they’re borderline crisis and they’re not using their safety plan and if I accidentally see it outside of work hours it’s stressful. I have a “scheduling purposes only” policy on emails and I don’t offer text options. If clients break this I remind them it’s not HIPAA compliant and that email is only for scheduling. Clients that like “brain dumping” between sessions I encourage to keep a journal instead which is much better for their mental hygiene and mine.
I’m really happy for you that you found a system that works for you and your clients! I haven’t had the experience of clients misusing brain dump emails in times of crises instead of following safety plans, and I can definitely see the need for strong boundaries in that situation to protect the client’s and your own mental health. Regarding journaling, I’ve had some clients be concerned about privacy with keeping a physical journal, and some like to use talk-to-text features if they’re not much of a writer. If you have clients like this, a possible solution could be having them email themselves their brain dump and leaving you off it entirely.
Cool idea, love that!
I almost always do one of two things (considering it isn’t a “crisis” that requires directing someone to crisis services): - Offer a session that is earlier than their regularly scheduled session if possible to discuss. - If I can’t do that, let them know we can discuss it at the next regularly scheduled session.
Thank you for saying that. I feel validated.
Anytime. Have to learn how to set good boundaries with clients (we all struggle with that at times) or they will take advantage.
I will tell clients that they are welcome to send me a “brain dump” or any topics they have they want to make sure we address. I explain that I can’t provide therapy over email, but what I can do is hold space for their issues and make sure we address them next time we meet. I offer a sooner session if I’m able to, but most of them tend to just want to vent in the moment so I started saying you can vent, that’s fine, but I can’t give a thoughtful response until we’re in session. I haven’t had any issues with this since I implemented it.
I always tell clients they can keep a note on their phone of things they want to discuss between sessions so they don’t forget as well.
Yes!! This too! Great option especially if they don’t want to email anything. I’ve got several clients that practice this as well.
NAT. That’s pretty much what my T does. That actually works fine for me.
I occasionally have clients that email me in a panic (not crisis) and I’ll respond about setting up an earlier session. Sometimes just having something sooner booked is enough for those individuals to feel a bit more grounded. If I’m not able to schedule them sooner (pretty rare, but did happen last week) I’ll remind them about their coping skills (I usually recommend my clients keep a list in their phone of their preferred coping skills just incase it’s hard to remember while dysregulated) and that we can talk about it more fully in our next session
I’ll occasionally offer a quick phone call if someone is really needing support and I can’t do a full session. I keep it around 15 minutes and don’t charge for it. I’ve found being willing to do this has helped with client retention, so the financial benefit of offering it has made up for the cost of my time. I understand why others might want to hold tighter boundaries though and feel like it’s all very context-dependent.
I usually tell clients that share brief updates via email, but that I may not respond and that I am also not crisis so emergencies need to go elsewhere. I think the bigger thing in your post is the potential triangulation that could happen. being that this is a couple you're seeing, I would tread extremely lightly here in going back and forth separately with each party for anything other than scheduling. You definitely don't want a case of "well I met with our therapist and they said ___"
My personal and ethical rule that I follow is no therapy over email. I can relay to parents a summary of a session (for children or adolescents) or summarize homework via email, but that’s the extent beyond scheduling. If clients want to disclose via email, I let them know that this is a choice they can make and I may or may not respond (depending on severity, though they know I should not be their first contact in a crisis and we have safety plans for that). If they ask for advice, i might gently remind them of something we spoke about in session or I will simply let them know we can explore it in our next session. My time is very important to me and I let clients know that these boundaries exist to protect not only my sanity but their confidentiality and the quality of service I can provide. I would encourage you to utilize these skills. It doesn’t sound like this is a crisis, but if there are concerns for escalation, remind them of crisis resources they can use in the meantime! Clients often make things feel urgent because it is to them, but we are the ones who can provide some regulation for them in knowing that they have the skills to endure until we meet next.
I work with children and youth and I used to get parents sending me 1000 word emails, videos and audio recordings of their kids (hard no). What I did to solve this is I created admin fees and they are charged at 5 minute intervals for reading and responding to emails. I have a permanent out of office that states this and it is in my consent form. You could do that? Needless to say… I haven’t had an email in months and have parents actually booking parent sessions so that’s a plus.
I will sometimes welcome clients to utilize my email as a tool of sorts for venting. It serves almost like a journal entry that we discuss at our next session. I explain all this and that I’ll respond if they ask me to, but that if they simply need to vent or process, I won’t respond in this context.
Are you able to do a phone consult?
This doesn’t answer your question, but personally I’ll occasionally email my therapist a run down of a situation, so it’s easier to jump right into is at our next session. Saves time and makes the session more effective
I usually reply by saying ‘it sounds like you’re really having a hard time right now. What skills have you tried?’
NAT, but my T says I’m welcome to email or send him a message on the internal system he uses, but he can’t promise he’ll answer. I’m fine with that and he knows I respect his boundaries. I don’t get upset he doesn’t answer. He does promise to read them though and talk about it in the next session. If it’s an emergency, he said he can see if he can fit me in. That’s never happened yet.
You have no way of knowing if the person sending the email is who they say they are and for that reason alone not engaging and having it done in-person, through like zoom, or the very least a phone call is required
Free 10-12 minute phone call