Check in therapy

Had a good check in this week. A guy in his late 20s whom I saw for about 2 or 3 years. Once a week regular as clockwork. When I first saw him he was in bad shape heading for a major depression if not being there already. Now he does not even take anti depressants. It’s always good when you get to see one who has done very well. And besides that I liked him at a personal level as well. We definitely had a good connection.

He developed quite a strong transference with me and I was very much a father figure for him. When he finished he went travelling for about 18 months and as I always do I asked him to send me some postcards. Some clients do and some don’t but I have a board in my office where I pin up the postcards that I do receive and I always point it out to clients who are about to go away.

Anywise he got back and I get a phone call from him and he makes an appointment to see me. I like these kind of appointments as I get to hear what has happened in his life. Some times as a therapist I can get to know some one very well and can even play an important part in their life at the time and then most stop seeing you and you never get to hear what happened in their lives or hear how they turned out. Occasionally I will get a letter or these days an email out of the blue from a past client giving me an update on their life which is always nice.

So he turns up at the appointment and I am waiting to hear what his current difficulty is and as it turns out there isn’t one. It was just a check in to see that I am still there, and still the same, and still like him, all of which is true.

Most people who do a check in will make up some sort of dodgy excuse problem to come and see me. They are having trouble sleeping or they had an argument with some one or they had a series of vivid dreams. When the real reason is to do a check in. Well he didn’t even have the excuse problem which was kind of nice.

Graffiti