Are you taking your therapy work too seriously? Have you lost the spark because you feel stressed, tired, burnt out or overworked? This article reveals the main reason why having fun is the secret to success as a therapist. Let it inspire you to put fun and joy back into your work.

Enjoying work and having fun is one of the 10 Actions outlined in a free book for health practitioners and therapists by Leisa Millar and James Ketub Golding. The book, The Therapist's Portable Paradise - Cultivating bliss and success in your therapy business practice, outlines 10 Actions to Use Self-Enquiry in life and therapy business practice. These Actions are:

1 Enjoy your work and have fun

2 Create sustainability in your therapy work

3 Practise what you preach

4 Keep a beginner's mind

5 Care for yourself

6 Develop a network of support practitioners and mentors

7 See each client as a teacher

8 Express your passion as a service

9 Take inspired action, without demands

10 Know yourself to deepen your practice

This article discusses Action 1.

Enjoy your work and have fun

To be full of joy, enthusiasm and warmth creates an attractive energy field around you. The healing process can often be challenging and daunting, so when you have fun and enjoy the process, it is more likely that your clients will too. That's the secret to success as a therapist! Joy is infectious and loves company - it can spark a fire of effective healing outcomes and referrals.

In The Way of the Natural Therapist (2010, L. Millar and J Golding), Rosemary Arnott, flower essence therapist and kinesiologist says: "When I am in the mindset of enjoyment, people come and see me. I maintain that state of awareness and clients are able to benefit from me being in the best place I can be to help them."

Barbara Brewster, awareness coach, public speaker, author and clown reiterates the need for therapists to be enthusiastic about their work when she explains: "A major lesson I've learned is that I'm being untrue to myself when I'm offering something primarily to make money, have security, feel useful, create an identity for myself or avoid fear-based emotions. My enthusiasm must be there. Otherwise I'm serving neither the client nor myself."

However, this does not mean you need to be a bundle of vibrant energy all of the time and control or fake how you feel. Rather, it means developing an awareness of when your enjoyment levels fluctuate. When you notice your enjoyment decreasing, become aware of what you are feeling and see if you can find some acceptance of your present state of mind. From a state of acceptance (i.e. not struggling with your lack of enjoyment), a sense of peace may naturally arise, thereby making it more possible for enjoyment.