 We fight about it with our partners and keep secrets about it from our family. We can’t live without it, and it will most certainly evoke every emotion in the spectrum. Even though money is related to every aspect of your experience, your financial well-being is likely to be the missing piece when it comes to focusing and getting support on what keeps you up at night. And, if you're like most, it's also likely the topic that you haven't brought up with your therapist. One of my areas of specialty is financial therapy, so I help guide folks through tricky conversations and activities about money. My goal in this work is to help people address emotional stumbling blocks, clarify core values, and set goals to make dreams come to life. I work individually and also often work with partners who are interested in doing this work together in relationship and couples counseling. It’s inspiring and life changing work for me and my clients. Because many people haven’t heard of financial therapy, I usually get asked “What is that?" followed by "I didn’t know therapists are available who specialize in money?!”. Financial therapy is a newer field of specialists, and we work individually one-on-one or with partners in relationship counseling. Here are some of the key things that counseling around money can provide: Conflict resolution and developing shared agreements Often, people come when they’re fighting about money. They’re in conflict and need help seeing a way through it. Inquiry to discover core values around money and identify stumbling blocks We often aren’t aware of our personal dynamics around money. Some of my clients have consulted books or a financial planner and they come to me because they aren’t sure what’s getting in the way. Help to create a financial plan If you’re like many people, you’ve never heard of a financial plan that is more than the absence of debt or reducing the fights you have over money. My goal is to help you thrive with a sense of financial health. A goal oriented plan is an essential component of this work. A financial therapist should be skilled at helping people craft short, medium, and longer term goals. For my clients, this includes a values-based plan to spend time and money in a new way. Navigate new norms and blending finances in unique relationships I especially enjoy working with a variety of relationships, including LGBTQIA and polyamorous folks, because open and honest dialogue about money is often missing in our intimate relationships. Each of the items listed above is a useful and emotional process within all relationships, and there are some very unique elements to this work in queer and polyamorous relationships. I am always grateful and deeply appreciative of the hard work my clients do with me to navigate this difficult topic that has so often been a missing piece of our emotional work. Each of us has a relationship to money, and being thoughtful about it brings all the unique beauty of our cultural and family history, as well our struggle, new ideas and circumstances to the table. © Connie Linas, LCSW (LCS22837)
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