I know from experience that on some days being a therapist in private practice can feel joyful and fulfilling.  You have the freedom to give clients a flexible, effective service that feels authentic and personal, without the frustrations of organisational policy & funding restraints.

On other days though it can feel super anxiety-provoking with inconsistent income because of unexpected client endings or cancellations for “good” reasons which you can’t bear to charge for, an unpredictable flow of clients or trying to manage too many clients to maintain a steady income. 

You have days when you feel on top of everything, but days when you worry you have missed something crucial to do with finances, legalities, industry regulations, building safety, and so on.  When it is just you, it can feel a frightening level of responsibility.  You can feel worried, exhausted and unbalanced as you try to manage the direct work on top of invoicing, marketing, admin, taking in referrals (oh, and hoovering).

So you swing between moments of satisfaction and feeling like you are effective and doing exactly what you want to be doing, to waking up in the night worrying that you won't be able to pay the bills or find the energy to see all the clients you have booked in the next day.