Hi Everyone,

I’m a little worried that I might have made a mistake by opening up my own private practice in October/November. I was originally a private contractor in a private practice walking distance from my home, but I started to feel like I could do the work on my own without sacrificing 35% of my pay to work under another practice.

Now that I have opened up my own practice and have been there for a few months, I’m starting to have second thoughts about leaving the security and comfort of the old practice, as well as my colleagues who I adored. I’m probably making about the same I did like the old practice, but I think I will be making more money soon as I get more established. That being said, I visited the owner of my old practice today to give her some chocolate I got for her while I was in Switzerland over the holidays, and it really hit home how much I miss her office space (it’s much, much larger and cosier than mine), and having colleagues like her.

Additionally, I miss being able to walk over to work in a matter of minutes. I miss not having to deal with administrative duties, paying rent, social media accounts, and other business related stressors. I had decided to leave originally as when I was due to sign my contract with the previous practice, my lawyer suggested financially it would make more sense for me to branch out on my own, as for the most part, my 35% cut was going towards the use of the office space and nothing more, which I could find at a fraction of that cost, which was true. Also, I had to share the office space with my colleagues, which meant there were certain days or hours I couldn’t work even though I wanted to.

That being said, I don’t think I factored in how much I would miss the space and the proximity to my home, my colleagues, and the piece of mind of someone else taking care of the business side of things. I feel like I didn’t talk to the practice owner enough about what I would need to stay, such as more hours, a smaller percentage cut (although I did ask about this and she declined), and her taking on more administrative tasks for me.

I guess what I’m wondering- is this regret normal? Will it go away, or is it a sign I made a rash decision? I was pretty insecure about opening up my own practice, to begin with, but all my friends and family (and lawyer) insisted it was by far the better thing to do professionally and financially. I think I also complained about and overexaggerated my concerns with the practice owner, as I was stressed about my relationship and believe I projected a lot of that onto her (i.e., getting very annoyed if she made a mistake or didn’t complete administrative tasks for me right away). I suppose now I just worry I let these opinions decide for me, rather giving myself more time to think it through. I feel really lonely at my current office space, as the other psychologists who are in the same vicinity are often not working when I am.

To make matters worse, I am also struggling with a LDR right now and whether or not I will move to a new continent to make that work. Perhaps this is affecting how I’m feeling about my business too, I’m not sure. I just feel so lost and confused, and worried that I’m going to continue to regret leaving a comfortable position to start out on my own. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!