Last Friday, a week after my appointment with Dr T (psychiatrist), I finally gathered the courage to dial the number of the psychologist I am being referred to to make an appointment. I got through to her voicemail and listened to her voice recording asking callers to leave a message, and she’d phone back before the end of the day. I called up at about 1:30pm on the Friday and by the end of the day I still hadn’t heard back from her. Due to the following days being a weekend and the Monday being a public holiday, I expected if I was going to receive a call, it would be today on the Tuesday. It’s now past 9pm. She hasn’t rung me back.
It doesn’t give me much hope for this new psychologist.
Who I did receive a phone call from today was Dr T’s secretary. I’m not entirely sure what the point of this phone call was. She asked whether I will still be coming in tomorrow. Yes, unfortunately. Tempted to say no, but at least 24 hours notice of cancellation is required to avoid being charged a fee and by then it was past the 24 hours. I scarcely have the money to be freely throwing away on non-attendance at appointments. The secretary advised me that someone else had cancelled their appointment for tomorrow at 1pm (damn, why didn’t I do that earlier?) and enquired as to whether I would like to come in at that time instead of at 12pm. I told the secretary I could come in at 1pm if they prefer, she tells me it doesn’t matter. Alrighty then. I will stick to my appointment at 12pm.
I can’t help dissecting this phone call in my head. Was the secretary calling because Dr T does not want to see me tomorrow, as I am clearly just a waste of time, not worth her help? Or maybe she just wants to ensure she doesn’t lose out on seeing yet another patient tomorrow. No clients equals no earnings after all.
I’ve decided I will go to my appointment tomorrow open to trialing medication, though part of me doubts it will happen in the end. I don’t view my mental health issues to be severe enough to warrant medication, and I’m expecting Dr T to tell me as much. I’m envisioning that even if I do say ‘Yes,’ she’s going to say ‘No,’ and tell me I’m just looking for a quick fix and she’s not going to prescribe me anything after all.
I’m also half anticipating to be told by Dr T that the psychologist she was planning to refer me to doesn’t want to work with for various reasons, which is why she hasn’t rung me back.
No doubt I’ll be back tomorrow with some updates.
Behind the Façade 
The psychologist could be on annual leave, or be off sick. There are lots of reasons why she may not have called you back. I would be the same, and automatically look at the negative side of it, but she may well be away, and will call you when she is back.
Maybe your psych’s secretary just makes calls to people when they have only recently started seeing her or something. I don’t have any experience of that with psychs, but my dentist’s secretary always rings the day before you have an appointment to remind you, so maybe it is like that.
Try not to worry too much about the appointment (easier said than done I know). I doubt very much if she would have suggested meds if she was then going to turn around and refuse to prescribe them. I hope you get on better with her tomorrow than you did last time, but if you really do dislike her then you always have the option of going to see someone else instead.
xxx
Don’t give up hope on the psychologist yet, as Bippidee says, there could be any number of reasons why they haven’t got back to you yet. Good luck with Dr T tomorrow, and don’t worry about the appointment thing, secretaries often do that and offer random appointment changes.
Let us know how it goes.
Sarah x
The psychiatrist’s secretary calling you is normal practise. They do this the day before your appointment to make sure you haven’t forgotten the time or that you haven’t forgotten you have an appointment. You will most likely find they will always do this. My psychiatrist doens’t do this anymore as he knows that I always turn up on time but I have been seeing him for 13 years. Also, them offering you 1pm is not negative either. She was just giving you the option in case you would like to come in later. Also normal practise. Don’t worry Cassie, it’s okay. I hope your psychologist gets back to you soon!
I hope things go well for you in this situation. It would be good to get set up with a therapist.