Financial therapy focuses on the emotional and psychological side of money—how your thoughts, feelings, and experiences around money shape your financial decisions and overall well-being. I am certified in Financial Social Work and trained in the Trauma of Money Method, which means I can help you explore and shift your relationship with money in ways that create meaningful, lasting change.

In our work together, we’ll address the emotional patterns, like anxiety, shame, fear, or avoidance, that may be causing stress, interfering with your relationships, or keeping you from reaching your financial goals. Financial therapy can help you heal from money trauma, whether it comes from childhood experiences, systemic inequities, major life changes like divorce or job loss, or other significant financial stressors.

We’ll start by exploring your money story—the beliefs, memories, and messages you’ve carried throughout your life that shape how you think and feel about money today. From there, we’ll work on reducing money stress, building money confidence, and helping you make financial decisions that feel aligned with your values, relationships, and the life you want to create.

A financial therapist (sometimes called a financial social worker) is a mental health professional trained to help you explore and improve your relationship with money. Financial therapists address the emotional, psychological, and behavioral sides of money—things like money anxiety, avoidance, shame, and financial trauma—so you can feel more confident, in control, and at peace with your finances.

This is different from a financial planner (or other certified financial professional), whose work focuses on creating and implementing a financial plan, offering investment advice, and managing your money from a technical and strategic standpoint.

It’s important for financial therapists to stay within their scope of practice—which means I don’t sell financial products, manage investments, or give specific investment advice. Instead, I focus on the emotional healing and behavior change that makes it easier to follow through on financial plans and feel good about your money choices.

A Financial Therapist can help you:

• Develop your money story and understand the life experiences that shaped your beliefs about money

• Explore the emotional and psychological factors driving your financial behaviors

• See how money impacts your mental, emotional, and relational well-being

• Communicate more comfortably about money with partners or family

• Reduce money anxiety and avoidance

• Release shame around money

• Heal from money trauma (e.g., divorce, job loss, systemic inequities, generational poverty)

• Feel empowered and confident to take charge of your financial future

• Build skills for healthy money management and meaningful behavior change

• Stay motivated to increase your financial literacy

• Take action toward your financial goals with less fear and more clarity

A Financial Planner or other financial professional can help you:

• Assess your financial situation

• Create a personalized financial plan

• Offer advice on saving and investing

• Plan for retirement

• Implement tax planning strategies

• Do estate planning

• Create a debt repayment plan

Note: There are different types of financial planners, advisors, and other financial professionals, each with unique training, certifications, and specialties. Choosing the right one depends on your goals, needs, and comfort level. If you decide to work with a financial professional in addition to financial therapy, I can help you prepare emotionally and practically for that process.

Financial therapy is a collaborative process where we explore both the emotional side of money and the practical steps you can take to improve your financial well-being. Our work can take different forms depending on your needs, goals, and preferences, such as:

Ongoing Weekly or Biweekly Sessions

We can meet for regular 45-minute virtual sessions that give us consistent space to:

• Build your money story and identify what’s shaped your beliefs and behaviors around money

• Explore the emotional and relational impacts of money in your life

• Reduce money stress and anxiety

• Strengthen your money confidence and decision-making skills

• Create and follow through on a plan that aligns with your values and goals

Financial Therapy Intensives

Financial Therapy Intensives are extended sessions designed for deep, focused work in a shorter timeframe. Instead of a standard session, intensives last 2–4 hours (or more) and allow us to address a specific financial stressor or go deeper into your money story.

An intensive might look like:

• Short-term therapy with multiple 2–4 hour sessions scheduled over several days, weeks, or months

• Extended 2–4 hour sessions built into ongoing therapy for deeper focus and progress on specific goals

Intensives can be especially helpful if you’re navigating a major life or financial change—such as divorce, job loss, a large shift in income or assets—or if you want to accelerate progress toward a specific goal.

*Note: All therapy relationships start with an initial Clinical Intake Session.

Whether we work together in weekly sessions or through a Financial Therapy Intensive, my focus is always on helping you:

• Feel calmer and more confident when dealing with money

• Heal from money-related shame, fear, and trauma

• Make financial decisions that genuinely support your life and well-being

Financial anxiety is the feeling of worry, fear, or unease when you think about, talk about, or make decisions about money. Anyone can experience financial anxiety (regardless of their income or financial situation) because money is deeply emotional.

For some, financial anxiety is linked to a history of money insecurity, scarcity, or conflict, and may even be a symptom of money trauma (see the next FAQ for more on this). For others, it may be triggered by a current financial stressor, a major life change, or long-standing patterns of avoidance.

Financial anxiety can show up in many ways, including:

• Racing thoughts about money

• Physical symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating, tingling, nausea, or dizziness

• Feeling panicked when reviewing your finances or making financial decisions

• Avoiding money altogether—ignoring bills, bank statements, or budgeting

• Experiencing tension or conflict in relationships about money

When financial anxiety goes unaddressed, it can lead to less-than-ideal financial decisions, ongoing money avoidance, or ongoing strain in your relationships.

In financial therapy, we can work together to:

• Identify how financial anxiety is showing up in your daily life

• Explore its root causes, including possible money trauma

• Learn strategies to reduce your money anxiety and increase your confidence in making financial decisions

You don’t have to stay stuck in fear or avoidance. Financial therapy can help you feel calmer, clearer, and more in control of your relationship with money.

Money trauma is the lasting emotional and psychological impact of distressing financial experiences. It can happen in response to events such as:

• Growing up in poverty or financial instability

• Divorce or separation from a partner

• Financial abuse or exploitation

• High medical bills or overwhelming debt

• Being scammed

• Bankruptcy or sudden loss of assets

• Not having enough money for basic needs over an extended period

• Unemployment or underemployment

• Death of a partner or family member

• Systemic oppression, generational scarcity, discrimination, racism, sexism, and other forms of marginalization

How money trauma shows up

Money trauma can activate your nervous system’s fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses, which may look like:

• Fight → Pushing yourself to overwork, micromanaging your finances, obsessively controlling spending, or aggressively pursuing money goals out of fear

• Flight → Avoiding anything related to money, procrastinating on bills or budgeting, refusing to check bank accounts

• Freeze → Feeling paralyzed when faced with financial decisions, unable to take any action even when you know it’s needed

• Fawn → Over-giving financially to others at your own expense, difficulty saying no to money requests, prioritizing others’ needs over your own stability

Other symptoms of money trauma can include:

• Money avoidance or hypervigilance

• Panic responses when dealing with finances

• Impaired sleep or appetite

• Excessive worry or rumination about money

• Overspending or underspending

• Physical symptoms like headaches, body aches, stomach issues, or muscle tension

• Scarcity mindset and a constant feeling that there’s “never enough”

• Poor financial boundaries

• Strained relationships with partners, family, or friends

• Low self-worth, anxiety, or depression

Why support matters:

Financial trauma can interfere with your daily functioning, your relationships, and your ability to make healthy financial decisions. If these experiences or symptoms sound familiar, you may be living with money trauma. Financial therapy offers a safe, supportive space to unpack your money story, understand how trauma has shaped your financial life, and develop healthier, more confident ways of relating to money.

While I’m certified in Financial Social Work and the Trauma of Money Method, and have personal finance knowledge that can support our conversations, I’m not an accountant, financial planner, or financial advisor. I do not provide investment advice or tell you where to put your money.

Instead, my role as a financial therapist is to help you:

• Understand your relationship with money and how it influences your decisions

• Address the emotional side of money, including anxiety, shame, avoidance, or fear

• Heal from money trauma so you can feel more secure and empowered

• Increase your comfort and confidence when talking about and managing money

• Align your financial decisions with your values, needs, and goals

If you’re looking for specific investment guidance, I recommend working with a certified financial professional such as a flat-fee hourly fiduciary financial planner or advisor. Many people find it helpful to address the psychological aspects of money through financial therapy before or while working with a financial professional. This allows you to make clearer, more values-driven decisions and approach investing without fear, shame, or overwhelm.

All clinical intake and regular 45-minute therapy sessions are held virtually. Therapy Intensive sessions can be held virtually or in-person in Oakland, CA. If in-person, I require the scheduled session be a minimum of 2.5 hours.