It goes like this: I get a phone call from a potential client. We chat about therapy and their individual needs. We discuss appointment days and times. Then they ask if I take insurance. Instead of simply saying, “No, I don’t, I’m cash-pay only,” my first instinct is to say, “I am really sorry, I only take cash.”

Another scenario: I charge full-price to clients that fail to give a 24-hour notice of cancelling an appointment. This cancellation policy is clearly stated on my website, as well as in all intake paperwork signed by my clients. I also verbally state my policy to all clients in person when they fill out their credit card form (which I keep on file to charge no-shows). I’ve had to implement this policy on ocassion, and each time I found myself telling the client, “I’m sorry, but I have to charge you.”

Why, oh why, am I always compelled to say “I’m sorry?”

Studies have shown that women like to apologize. A lot. We do it in our personal and professional lives on a daily basis. In fact, in a 2010 study in Psychological Science, it states that women are more likely to see a need for an apologies in everyday situations, and suggests that men apologize less frequently than women because they have a higher threshold for what they consider offensive behavior.

So here’s the thing.

Nearly one-year into running my private practice, I am going to stop apologizing for my business policies. The truth is, I’m not sorry I don’t take insurance. I’m not sorry that I charge no-shows for my time. And I’m certainly not sorry that my latest policy is to charge for my intake upon making the appointment (no-shows at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning or 8:00 p.m. at night – and I’ve had both – make me totally not sorry for this one).

I’m in a person-centered, helping profession, but at the end of the day, I have a business to run. My policies are sound and fair, and clearly spelled-out from the get-go. Apologizing makes me sound as if I did something wrong or am worried that I offended someone.

So I’m sorry – wait, not sorry, that I’m done apologizing. I’m proud of my business, and my practices, and for that, I’m not sorry.