MONEY CAN BE A TOOL FOR TRANSFORMATION.

TODAY, I'M A CLINICIAN SPECIALIZING IN MONEY ISSUES. BUT THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I BLEW UP MY OWN FINANCIAL LIFE SO SPECTACULARLY THAT IT PROPELLED ME IN A WHOLE NEW CAREER DIRECTION.

Financial literacy wasn’t the problem. I knew better, I just didn’t know how to do better. What was worse, the shame I felt about money made all of my other professional and personal achievements feel like a lie. One day, facing down tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, I hit a wall.

As I explored the dynamics that drove my own financial behavior, I saw how internal processes and struggles often show up in the ways we think about and use money. That’s not to say that structural issues aren’t important factors as well. The number one cause of bankruptcy isn’t mindset, it’s a major medical event.

But it’s precisely because financial challenges are inevitable that we need to develop a healthy way to manage them. In learning to assess options, make values-based choices, set loving boundaries, and align behavior with intentions, we can shift money from a “problem to be solved” to a source of empowerment.

In 2006, I partnered with The Actors Fund, a national human services organization, to pioneer a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)-based Financial Wellness Program integrating financial education, psychoeducation, and supportive counseling/coaching. In addition to working as a practitioner I'm also an author, speaker, consultant, and workshop leader.

Stress and shame (or shut-off notices, overdue credit cards, or collection accounts) are often the catalysts that get us to sit up and re-evaluate the way we've been approaching money. But they’re just the beginning of the process. For over a decade I've been helping people move beyond shame and frustration, to find opportunities for personal growth embedded in the financial challenges they face.

From the Blog