Can I text my therapist between sessions?

A: It depends entirely on the therapist, and the answer belongs in your paperwork rather than in guesswork. Most California private practices allow texting for logistics — running late, rescheduling — and route anything clinical back to the session. Some allow more; some do not text at all. Two things are true whatever the policy: a message about your care is part of your clinical record, kept and disclosable like any other part of it, and a text is not a crisis line. Nobody is watching a phone at 2am, and a therapist who is on holiday or in session cannot see it. That is what 988 is for — free, 24/7, call or text.

Worked example: you text at 11pm after a bad evening and hear nothing until the morning. That is not neglect; it is the design of a practice run by one person. The workable version is a standing agreement: texts for scheduling, a short voicemail for "I need to talk before Thursday," and 988 or the warm line for the hours in between.

Do this: ask in the first session — "what do you want me to use between sessions, and what happens if I message you at night?" — and read the answer in the informed-consent form you sign. If the reply is vague, that is worth pinning down before you need it. What the first session covers →

Source: California therapists' between-session communication policies are set in the practice's informed-consent agreement; communications about care form part of the clinical record retained under California's seven-year rule →. TherapyCalifornia logistics guides, August 2026.