It doesn’t seem five minutes since the last Bulletin when we were wishing you a happy summer! Now the weather is turning cooler and fast becoming decidedly autumnal, with the leaves on the trees changing colour, the Michaelmas daisies beginning to open in the garden, and the squirrels running back and forth across the lane with mouths full of nuts in search of a suitable place to bury them over winter. Those of you who have been on courses at this time of year will be able to picture the village now.
The approach of winter affects people in different ways. Some find it depressing, with the lengthening periods of darkness, cold winds, drizzle and the return of central heating. Others find it a very peaceful time of year and look upon autumn as a time of change and have a reassuring sense of excitement that something good and welcoming lies ahead. For those who find it depressing, two remedies may be of particular help: Mustard for the descending gloom, and Walnut to encourage a more positive transition.
Books on business
In our last Bulletin, we mentioned a book called How to Get More Clients, which some of you have found very helpful. There is another book which may also be useful and that is called Healthy Business – the Natural Practitioner’s Guide to Success by Madeleine Harland and Glen Finn, published by Hyden House Ltd. (1990).
Charges
What to charge for a consultation is a debatable subject, but is a question we are, understandably, frequently asked, and get the feeling from many of you that some sort of guidelines would be appreciated. Dr. Bach’s benevolence is well known and because the Bach Centre has not (until now) charged for consultations, some practitioners feel they should follow in the same footsteps. However, even Dr. Bach had to charge eventually because his patients did not return until he did so. Somehow charging gave his treatment “respectability”, and indeed, people do not usually like to take something for nothing. Sometimes people feel suspicious of accepting something they have not paid for, or may even feel that it has no value. In certain respects, clients will take their treatment more seriously if they are taking some responsibility for it themselves.
Naturally everyone has their own thoughts and feelings about what to charge, and each practitioner will have different overheads and costs to cover. It does therefore need to be a decision each of you as individuals make for yourselves – some of you may feel you can, and want to, give your time and energy freely, but for most, it would neither be practical nor possible, despite a genuine desire to do so. Having given the whole matter a great deal of thought, we feel that on balance, in 1993, a consultation fee of about £15 to include the treatment bottle would be reasonable in most instances. You may need to charge a little more than this in some cases, and less in others – for example, you may feel you would like to have a concessionary price for people in special circumstances. This is not, therefore intended as a set “rule” but, we hope, a helpful guideline.
Practitioners
With the December 1992 Bulletin we sent out a full list of registered practitioners. Since then, several more have become registered and so the numbers have swelled considerably! Rather than list everyone who should be added to your existing sheet, we thought it would be more useful to have an up-to-date listing, and have therefore enclosed a revised copy with this Bulletin.
We would like to mention that Rose Todd who was practising in Hong Kong has now returned to the U.K. Welcome back Rose!
Whilst on the subject of the practitioner list, when someone asks to be referred, we only provide the practitioner’s name and telephone number, and of course the name of the town or area you live in. We do not give out street addresses. Also, we do not send callers a complete list of practitioners – only details of those in the requested area. We feel this would be good practise generally and so although you will naturally be required to provide a local contact from time to time for a client’s friend/relative living elsewhere, we would ask you not offer the entire list. Complete listings have a habit of getting into the “wrong” hands and we would not want you to be (nor would you wish to be!) subjected to unwanted mail, propaganda or nuisance contact!
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That brings us to the end of the autumn Bulletin. We hope you have enjoyed it. Do keep in touch, and once again, any questions or queries, please raise, because chances are if you’renot sure, then someone else will be uncertain too.
Bye for now. Have a happy autumn, and don’t forget, as old leaves fall, new leaves form, so autumn is a time to take stock, be at peace and give yourself time to re-charge in readiness for whatever lies ahead.
Very best wishes from us all.
This archive material has been edited to remove some out-of-date advice and information.