Financial Therapy & The Financial Healing Model™
Money challenges rarely begin with numbers and budgets. Many people come to financial therapy believing they need a better budget, more discipline, or a stronger financial plan. What they often discover is that money is connected to their history, influences, relationships, values, nervous system, and sense of safety. The Financial Healing Model™ provides a structured process for understanding those connections and creating meaningful, lasting change.
Why Insight Alone Isn’t Enough
Many people understand what they “should” do with money, yet still find themselves repeating the same patterns. Financial healing involves more than insight; it also includes emotions, relationships, nervous system responses, values, and behavior. It is about understanding the broader contexts that shape our relationship with money.
You may find you relate to the following:
Systems
Many financial struggles are not individual failures. They emerge within systems that reward certain forms of labor, concentrate wealth, reinforce gendered expectations, and often leave people feeling inadequate in the face of challenges larger than themselves. Rather than asking, "What's wrong with you?" we explore the question, "What happened, and what systems are influencing this experience?" This allows us to approach money with greater compassion, context, and choice.
Relational
Money never exists in isolation. Our beliefs, fears, habits, and financial decisions are shaped within relationships, with caregivers, partners, communities, workplaces, and broader culture. Whether you are seeking individual or couples therapy, we explore how these relationships influence your financial wellbeing and how greater connection, communication, and trust can support lasting change.
Neurodiverse
Many financial systems assume people learn, plan, organize, and make decisions in the same way. They do not. For neurodivergent individuals, traditional financial advice can create unnecessary shame and frustration because it often relies on executive functioning skills that may require different supports. Rather than forcing you into systems that work for someone else's brain, we work together to build approaches that honor how your brain naturally operates.
The Financial Healing Model™
This is why I developed the Financial Healing Model™, an integrative approach that combines Financial Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), trauma-informed care, and practical financial behavior change to support lasting wellbeing.
The Assessment and Evidence Behind the Approach and Model
While insight is important, I also believe in measuring change. At the beginning of therapy, clients complete evidence-based assessments that help us understand how money affects their emotional well-being, psychological flexibility, relationships, and daily life. Throughout our work together, we revisit some of these measures to track progress, celebrate growth, and ensure our work remains aligned with your goals.
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Using validated measures and structured intake tools, including:
Financial Well-Being Scale (CFPB)
Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II)
Financial Genogram
Money Script Inventory
ADHD Screening Measures (when appropriate)
Relationship and Attachment Assessments (when appropriate)
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Integrating Financial Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), hypnotherapy concepts, and relational approaches.
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Reassessing outcomes throughout treatment as well as post assessments CFPB and AAQ-II.
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Helping clients translate insight into meaningful change. Tools and skills obtained support concepts learned in sessions.
Clients are also offered practical financial health management tools and resources including templates for net worth tracking, a values-based budget, and goal development to support their financial journeys if indicated.
How It's Going
Using validated assessment tools, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Financial Well-Being Scale (FWBS) and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II).
82%
of clients improved their psychological flexibility
73%
of clients improved their financial wellbeing
How We Will Work Together
Step 1
Understand Your Money Story
We begin by exploring your financial history, relationships, experiences, and the broader systems that have shaped your understanding of money. Together, we examine:
Family money messages
Early financial experiences
Cultural influences
Gender and societal expectations
Experiences of privilege, oppression, scarcity, or instability
Significant financial turning points
The goal is not to blame the past. The goal is to understand how your story continues to influence your relationship with money today.
Step 2
Identify Money Beliefs and Patterns
Money beliefs often develop as adaptive responses to our environments. Some may have once protected us but no longer serve us. Together we identify:
Limiting money beliefs
Relationship patterns around money
Protective strategies such as avoidance, over-control, perfectionism, or people-pleasing
Sources of shame, fear, or self-judgment
Understanding these patterns helps create space for new possibilities.
Step 3
Heal Financial Trauma and Emotional Wounds
When money has become linked to fear, shame, conflict, loss, or survival, healing often requires more than insight. Depending on your needs, our work may include:
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) to reduce the emotional intensity of distressing financial memories, experiences, and triggers.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to build psychological flexibility, develop a different relationship with difficult thoughts and emotions, and take action toward what matters most.
The approach is tailored to your goals, symptoms, and readiness.
Step 4
Clarify Your Values
Once we begin creating greater safety and flexibility, we explore what truly matters to you. Questions may include:
What kind of life are you trying to build?
What role do you want money to play in that life?
What relationships matter most?
What does enough look like?
What would financial wellbeing allow you to move toward
Rather than pursuing someone else's version of success, we identify what feels meaningful and sustainable for you.
Step 5
Move Toward Meaningful Action
Financial healing is not about achieving perfection. It is about creating greater freedom, flexibility, and alignment. Together we may work toward:
Reducing financial anxiety
Improving money communication
Creating financial boundaries
Repairing financial trust
Increasing confidence
Navigating life transitions
Developing sustainable financial habits
When desired, we can also incorporate practical money-management systems that support your therapeutic goals. This can include Net Worth Tracking, Values-Based Budgeting, and Short, Medium, and Long-Term Goal Setting.
