*** SPAM *** Digest Number 2431

[Theresa Partington]

Hi Tracey,
I was a bit depressed reading robin's contribution, but there is a lot of
truth in it. Luckily for them patients do have more choice of alternative
practitioners and homeopaths than they did. 15 year ago anyone with an
interest in holitic health within a radius of 20 miles would find their way
to your clinic for want of choice as much as anything! The over all market
is,of course, largely untapped but we are competing with a body that
provides health care free at point of deliviery....

My real reason for writing, though, is about this question of burnout.
After a few years of seeing large numbers of people a week, I actually began
to feel I was 'going to work' and would rather be elsewhere. I frequently
didn't recognise patients when they returned, in spite of their having bared
their souls to me only a month earlier, let alone if i bumped into them in
the street. I dreaded the phone ringing in the evening because it rang so
much. I don't know that i would call it burn out but it was not the job I
signed up for.I branched out into writing and teaching and my practice
reduced as my enthusiasm for homeopathy returned. None of these things earn
the money that full time practice did but I feel lucky to be in a position
to establish my own work-life balance. So many of my patients in salaried
jobs don't feel that they have that option, especially as they approach
retirement age. Incidentally I have always been a major breadwinner,
sometimes the major breadwinner in my family - through homeopathy.
There is obviously a buzz in building a successful business and it sounds as
if you would be able to do that, but within that business I think you will
need to vary your activities if you wish to retain the commitment and love
for your patients that makes it all worth while. Another solution is to
have a 'hands on' therapy that you can offer - physical activity for you, no
out of hours commitment, but still part of the main business.Didn't do it
myself but probably would if starting again.

I also agree with Robin that once you acknowledge that you are dealing with
percentage success rates that knowledge probably does come across to
patients to the detriment of your practice. To counter that you need to
convince yourself ( and therefore your patients) that you are offering
something that is of huge value whether or not the patient *appears* to be
responding to treatment - become a guru!
Good luck

bw
Theresa
From: "robin9168"
Subject: Re: question about practicing as a homeopath

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.