One of the skills of being self employed in private therapy practice is learning to make choices that serve us. That’s easy to say, but not always so easy to do! And sometimes it’s hard to know what choice might serve us best. Why we choose one option over others is complex and individual, and sometimes we choose in awareness and sometimes out of habit.

What sort of choices? Well, in the set-up phase there are a dizzying number of choices to make; where will I practice from, what will I call my practice, where will I look for clients…? And so on. As your private therapy practice develops, more questions present themselves, and with them, more choices.

Not all choices are alike!

But there are some choices that we must make that aren’t as obvious as those above. Like choosing a goal or intention, for example. Lots of people start their practice with no clear idea of how they’d like it to turn out. And with no intention, we can’t choose it, when we might meet the choice between our intention to create our practice and the stories we have always told ourselves. The stories like; I’m not good enough, I’m too old to learn this, something bad will happen if I put myself out there.

I know only too well from first-hand experience how powerful these stories are, and I also know how difficult they are to change. They can be a form of addiction, calling us back to the same old patterns we have known for so long, in the belief that they will deliver a different answer.

What gets in the way?

It is hard to change. Because although choices are always there for us, we may not take them. To make different choices, we must have hope they will deliver something different for us, we need to feel safe to let ourselves see and choose those options. To make better choices, we might need courage, and will power, and support.

I know this, from my own journey and from the many therapists I have met and spoken to over the years. The choice to be in private therapy practice is not an easy one. So, if this is a choice you have made or want to make, I want to help you with it. Join me on 19^th October in Navan (Ardboyne Hotel) for a day devoted to the Inner Journey to self-employment, where we will explore these issues and more, and start to release some of the challenges that are getting in the way.

To learn more, watch this short video: