I lost my therapist's number + now I 'm dealing with an emergency!

August 15, 2019 7:05 AM

My phone totally shut down on me 2 days ago and then yesterday someone in my family had a serious accident. There is no one here with me right now and I'm under enormous strain trying to cope by myself. I really need to talk to my therapist but as I can't access my contacts, I don't know what to do.

I originally found her through ZocDoc but I went back on and she's no longer there.
I am scheduled to go to Apple for tech support today but recovery of the data on my phone seems unlikely at this point. I was on the phone with Apple Support for 2.5 hours last night with no luck.

There is a phone number for her old practice and I called it but she no longer works there. The woman at the front desk couldn't be bothered and put me on hold for a really long time. When I was finally able to ask her about forwarding info, she said she didn't have anything for my therapist.

I know very little about this woman because that's how she operates. I know her name. I know the number of her old practice. I know where she went to college (it was in her ZocDoc profile).
Her FB page only had the old number.

That's about it.

Help.

posted by ChickenBear to Technology (15 answers total)

Are your therapy sessions generally over the phone, or do you meet with your therapist in an office? If it's the latter, could you go to the office to request her number?

Do you use an insurance plan to cover costs/defray costs? It may be worthwhile to see if they have contact info.
posted by xingcat at 7:09 AM on August 15, 2019 [2 favorites]

Can you message her Facebook page?
posted by katieinshoes at 7:12 AM on August 15, 2019 [4 favorites]

Did your contacts sync to iCloud or a google account? If so, you should be able to log in without the phone and look at your contacts.
posted by slkinsey at 7:12 AM on August 15, 2019

Can you remember the last time you called her? If you remember you called her, say, last Friday morning, then you can go into your phone records online and see which numbers you called at that time.

if you have Verizon, you can definitely log into your account and see all the calls you made in the past. Not sure about other carriers.
posted by silverstatue at 7:13 AM on August 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

AT&T also will let you see past calls.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:17 AM on August 15, 2019

Response by poster: Sessions are over the phone. I pay out of pocket. I think her FB looks pretty inactive. I was never synched up to iCloud etc- looong technical story.

I have TMobile. Do they do the past calls thing? We have a set day/time each week so the past calls seems like my best lead so far.

Sorry I’m not more coherent- I’ve been up all night since the accident and my brain is fried.
posted by ChickenBear at 7:48 AM on August 15, 2019

Yes, I’d check your bill—you should have a call log with list of numbers called/received available to you. Good luck and take care.
posted by stillmoving at 7:52 AM on August 15, 2019 [4 favorites]

They will call it something like "Usage details."
posted by praemunire at 7:58 AM on August 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yep. Log on to t-mobile.com. At the top, click on "Usage." Then click the arrow to the right of "Calls." Then click the arrow to the right of your phone number. That should get you a list of all your calls. There are options at the top to filter by date.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:07 AM on August 15, 2019 [3 favorites]

You can also check Psychologytoday.com's therapist finder, maybe she'd be in there.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 8:15 AM on August 15, 2019 [2 favorites]

Her schools might also have a page that highlights alums, and might include a phone number or email.
posted by bilabial at 9:52 AM on August 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Also, if you're in crisis right now, you can look for a crisis number for your local area and talk to someone else while you're figuring out how to reach your therapist.

Hang in there, friend.
posted by Sublimity at 10:06 AM on August 15, 2019 [6 favorites]

Even if you're not actively suicidal, this is a perfect use case for calling a suicide hotline. You can ask them at the beginning of the call if you would be tying up a line that might be needed for suicidal people if you're worried.

It won't be someone who knows you and is familiar with your life, but it will be a compassionate ear.

Best Wishes.
posted by wires at 10:51 AM on August 15, 2019

Hi. Long-time telecom professional here.
Your provider (TMobile) can totally get you a number that you've called at a specific time. If you have difficulty finding it through the portal that Pater Aletheias mentioned, you can call customer care.
Get a book/time-filler to keep you busy if you're on hold, and once you're through to a person, tell them the date, time and duration of the call. They should be able to tell you straight away.
posted by Kreiger at 10:58 AM on August 15, 2019 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: I liked the usage details idea but before I attempted it, I decided to comb the internet one last time. Tucked away on a random, 'Vitals' type websites I hit pay dirt- her number was in the upper right hand but small and hard to see.

I really lucked out.

But I appreciate the tips and ideas- might be useful if I ever end up in a similar situation (hope not!) or at least helpful to someone else who finds themselves in a similar position.

Thank you all for the well wishes and support- I really, really appreciate it.
posted by ChickenBear at 10:08 PM on August 15, 2019 [4 favorites]