The joys of self employment!

Why does anyone their right mind choose to become self employed? You don't have paid holidays, pay more national insurance than others, need to work all hours to make ends meet and earn a living purely due to other's whims! If people don't visit me - I don't eat! As a private practitioner you also have to put up with last minute cancellations without being able to fill the appointment. After 40 years of practice I have heard all the excuses. Why can't people just be honest and say that they cannot afford to attend or that they are no better? Instead you are treated to crazy excuses such as great aunt Maud suddenly being taken ill and they have to be taken to the doctors, or the dog can't be left on their own. So why do you put up with all this uncertainty and downright masochism?

It is because you like to be independent and to make decisions without recourse to other input. You do not have to bother with line managers or other people who know far less about the subject than you do. You actually like the buck stopping with you and relish the fact that you can offer much more time to your patients and clients. However, the most important thing to being an effective private practitioner is that you have excel in your chosen therapy. This does not come easily or cheaply and has to be worked at every single day.

OK , here come the grumpy old man bit - for the first 20 years following qualifying, I made sure that I attended every salient course and workshop I could to improve my knowledge base. There wasn't such a thing as CPD in those days and I paid out because I wanted to learn. Sadly this mind set is disappearing quickly - if you do not offer CPD courses, potential delegates don't want to know! There is NO substitute for experience and this can only be gained by wanting it - and not being spoon fed!