Moving in October

This is a Big Announcement-- It is very important to me, at least- I doubt that many of you will find that it that makes a huge difference to you personally.

Here it is-- I am not certain yet of all the specific details, but I am certain that I will not be occupying my current office at 5575 Poplar Avenue after October 1st. I will relocate my private practice to an office at my home.

Why? I am restructuring so that I can bring my life more into line with my values. I want to transition to a personal and professional lifestyle that makes a wiser use of our natural resources. I can do my job just as well without maintaining two separate locations and without using so much energy. To me, given our global energy crunch, reducing our personal and professional consumption is the ethical thing to do whenever possible.

And, given the current nature of the economy, reducing unnecessary overhead just makes good financial sense. I really love working in my current office at 5575 Poplar, but I can be more adaptive to the economic conditions if I reduce my expenses. Financial pragmatism trumps luxury.

Other than my location, most things will not change-- I will maintain my professional status so that I can continue to practice as a licensed psychologist, a health service provider. This means that all of my folks on disability and/or Tenncare can still be seen. I will maintain my relationships with managed care organizations and preferred provider groups. I will continue to have a psychology practice that consists of a mix of biofeedback, marriage counseling, and psychotherapy.

Some things will change-- I will not see as many people as I see now, so I will be even more selective when it comes to seeing any new clients.

The home office is in a remodeled building that was formerly a garage apartment. It is totally separate from the main building, my home, so I can make it my own, a real office that doesn't double as a family space and that will not conflict with my family members' lives. It has a nice tile floor and is quite shady- that's a real plus in the summer time! It has a restroom, and all the comforts of home. One of my daughters lived in it for a couple of years after she graduated from college.

Another way the home office will help is that I can work more flexible hours. Many people cannot get the help they need because of their job or family schedule-- If I am seeing you at my home and I do not have to travel to an office several miles away, I won't mind seeing you now and then during evenings or week-ends. This flexibility should be especially helpful to couples and families that want marriage or relationship counseling -- it is often really hard (or impossible) to coordinate the schedules of family members who are in school or employed full time. Flexible hours should help with that.

What will I do if I am not working as much? Well, you might show up for your appointment and find me working in the garden wearing overalls and work boots. As many of you know, my wife and I are both very interested in living a more local, more self-reliant lifestyle. We are working to gradually convert our modest 1936 farmhouse into a self-reliant urban homestead. We have plans for expanding our gardening efforts, capturing rainwater for irrigation, installing solar panels, removing some more concrete to expand our growing spaces, and improving our composting efforts.

That's a lot of work! Working from home will allow me to invest a lot more time into our urban homestead self-reliance project. So, actually, I think I am restructuring so that I can work more at things that I have to neglect too much now.

I am excited (and a little nervous) about this change.

My phone and e-mail will stay the same. 901-763-0999 and cliff.heegel@gmail.com will be the best ways to reach me. You can text me at 901-763-0999. My website and blogs will remain active for now.