Minutus

I hope that it is not inappropriate for me to post this here. Some of
you may have seen this post on other lists...I have been interested in
attending a local classical homeopathy school and pursuing a career as a
homeopath. I live in London, UK.

I have seen only one link online that discusses the expected annual wage
of a homeopath, based on 2003 figures, and that figure was approximately
10-13 thousand pounds per year "with some making well over 25 thousand
pounds". I got the distinct feeling that is not typical.

I have never been particularly interested in making a lot of money.
Everything I have done in my life has either been poorly paid or
volunteer work, and that has mostly been by my choice of vocation-I have
always been interested in serving people, which is typically undervalued
and underpaid. However, in considering going back to work after my son
is old enough, I have a concern about my ability to make a living—-two
years after an anticipated graduation, my husband would be forced into
retirement (he will have been teaching) and I will be solely responsible
for the support of he, myself and my son.

So I guess my question to the group, particularly those of you in the
UK: can you make a living as a homeopath? Can you make a living in the
US? (If we ever return...) Do you do other work to supplement your
income? What do you do? Do you have any other thoughts about this issue?

Thank you very much.

Tracy

Hi Tracy,

working as a homeopath presents the same challenges as any other form
of self employment. Self employment is running a business. If you are
not comfortable with running a business then you are less likely to
be successful than those that are.

In any self employed profession there are those that succeed and
those that don't, and it isn't always related to their ability to
provide an effective or high quality service but often to their
ability to withstand the pressures of self employment.

So success in homeopathy as sole source of income depends
on confidence and ability both in homeopathy AND in business.
The better you are at both the greater your chances of making a
higher wage rather than a lower one.

If you will be the sole income provider for your family I suggest
enlisting your husband as part of the business to do the paperwork,
accounting etc. and ideally the making up and posting out of
remedies, which I assure you can be very time consuming if you are
busy with patients. The ideal situation might be for him to be
responsible for all the business except the homeopathic side of it.
At any rate do not even consider self employment without %100 support
from your family.

I strongly recommend asking prospective colleges how many of their
graduates are still in full time employment as homeopaths, and making
personal visits of all the colleges close enough for you to attend,
prior to signing up. Also contact current and previous graduates and
ask them if they got what they wanted from the course. Make sure you
will be a CONFIDENT prescriber on graduation. i.e make the VERY
FIRST stages of this, part of your business plan..

Good luck!
Simon King
http://www.Homeopathy-Help.net

Dear Tracy,

Simon responded very well to your question. You could also consider being
part of a practice with 2 or 3 other practitioners to share the load of
rent/accounting/reception etc.

You can also read Ian Watson's article "How to Create a Successful Practice"
at the following link. http://www.similibooks.com/content/?id=9

Ultimately, if you want to have a successful practice, if that really is
what you want to have - you can!

Best wishes, Elizabeth

Tracey, Simon has answered pretty well but Ill add a little because
its a subject close to my heart.
It is possible to have a busy practice, however 2 things Ill say about
that are,
a) its MUCH more difficult than it used to be. Whatever they say,
there is something of a glut of alternative practitioners on most
parts of the UK - not all. Most people who have been in practice for
more than 10 years will tell you this. I went from seeng 60+ patients
a week in the 80s and early 90s to struggling to fill a 3 day week in
2003 before i left the country. That was partly to do with burn out
but had a lot to do with practitioner saturation. I know of a couple
of people reading this who have had the same experience.
b) it is more to do with who you are than anything else. The few
people who earn more than 20,000 (US practitoners note fees are MUCH
lower in the UK) a year dont do so because they cure more patients
than anyone else they do so because of who they are: their belief in
themselves and what they do and their ability to communicate that to
others is key. I was at my most effective as a practitioner and a
provider to my family when I still believed I could cure the world of
all its ills with homeopathy!

If you are in a position where you can enjoy practising homeopathy as
a part time job that is the ideal, least stressful way of being a
homeopath.

I wont ramble on any more but would say finally that you would be wise
to have backup income at first unless you are a pretty special person.

PS:bad publicity hasnt helped either and there will be more; its
characterisitic of the British media.

Hi again Tracy,

(snip)
I would also, by the time I
graduate, likely have finished what I need to do to be a certified
lactation consultant and could do that as well.

Now there is an interesting niche! Have you read Patricia Hatherly's "The
Homoeopathic Physician's Guide to Lactation"? Trish thought she was the
only homeopathic lactation consultant in the world, but discovered another
recently in Europe, I think. She thought her book would only appeal to
homeopaths but has had a lot of interest from lactation consultants and
parents. Minerva or one of the other bookshops there should have it. Those
Lacs are an interesting bunch. Where's Andy, did you ever find that Camel
Milk proving?

Cheers, Elizabeth

In a message dated 3/3/2006 2:59:31 A.M. Central Standard Time,
rosemaryhyde@lmi.net writes:

so competition and saturation are more figments of our
imagination than realities.

Rosemary

and excuses for failing in practice because they are not doing the hard work
of setting up and promoting their practice.
I spend 5-10 hours A WEEK promoting my practices, and I make a nice
full-time living at homeopathy and only at homeopathy.
When I've told other homeopaths how much time I spend marketing my
practices, they often blanch and fade into the woodwork.
If you love homeopathy and want to make a living at it, (or in my case, need
to make a living at it because I'm not married and must support myself) you
may be willing to do what it takes to succeed.
It ain't easy. But it is very do-able.
Warmly,
Marybeth
Marybeth Buchele
Professional Homeopath
dba Health Naturally Homeopathy Services
3601 Park Center Blvd. Suite 305
St. Louis Park, MN 55416
952-933-6068
_www.healthnaturally.biz_ (http://www.healthnaturally.biz/)

Natural Health for Mind and Body
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Marybeth, What kinds of things do you do to promote yourself?

Tracy