ABSTRACT
Although very few therapists go into the mental health profession because of the money (as my good friend, a retired psychologist, likes to say, go to plumbing school if you want to get rich), for some people economics frequently play a role in their not having a life outside of work. More often than not, however, it isn’t mere finances but the feeling that one has to be productive at all times that keeps many practitioners from taking the time for other hobbies, leisure activities, or just lounging around and “doing nothing.” Even therapists who give lip service to the importance of “down” time and “balance” in lifeand prescribe those for their clients-do not always practice what they preach (Kottler, 1993), at least not without a twinge of guilt-particularly those who are in private practice, where “time is money.”
