What’s Your Money Mindset?

One of the biggest goals for many people at this time of year (who are we kidding — at all times of year) is to feel more in control and empowered with regards to their finances. As a therapist and online life coach, I often see clients who want to save more, spend less, attain their financial goals, and feel like they’re being compensated fairly for their valuable time and energy. This sounds like a straightforward and solvable problem, right? Just budget! Save more! Spend less! Start packing your lunch! It’s no big deal!

Except… when you peek underneath the mental and emotional hood, people are actually having a complex, and often subconscious way of relating to money that impacts the way they behave to a much more significant degree than their good intentions to conscientiously meal prep and use a budgeting app. What we know from the emerging field of financial therapy is that we are all carrying old, deep, and often subconscious thoughts, feelings and core beliefs about money and our relationship to money — often stemming from our experiences in our families of origin.

Why Financial Therapy is Important

Until you have the opportunity to dig into your subconscious core beliefs and feelings about money, it can be very difficult to implement lasting behavioral changes to the way you handle your money. Financial therapy often involves helping you develop the kind of healthy “money mindset” that will allow you to feel in control of your financial future and get back on track with your real goals.

Financial Therapy For Couples

Our relationship to money impacts the way we handle our individual finances, but it can also have a significant impact on our marriages. Money fights are one of the most common pain points for couples. When two people come together to form a marriage and family, who are (of course) both carrying their own subconscious ways of relating to money,  it can become highly conflictual because these subconscious ways of dealing with money may be at odds with each other..

Most couples need to do intentional and meaningful personal growth work to get on the same page with regards to their finances. This work needs to go deeper than band-aid quick-fixes, like admonishments to make a budget. This deep inner work needs to help couples understand each other’s experiences that have shaped their values around money, as well as examine the core needs that are being met through their relationships to money. Only with that level of empathy and understanding are couples able to achieve real and lasting change around their financial partnership.  The great news is that you can reprogram your brain once you gain a good understanding of the driving forces behind how you relate to finances.  

Develop a Healthy Money Mindset

To help YOU begin to understand your relationship with money, I’ve invited financial therapist Jennifer Dunkle, M.A., LPC to join me on this episode of the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast. Jennifer specializes in financial therapy, and provides financial therapy for couples as well as individuals. Listen (or watch) and get Jennifer’s tips for how to:

• Uncover your subconscious beliefs and feelings about money
• Understand how your family of origin experiences may be impacting the way you handle money
• How to get a handle on impulsive spending
• How to manage financial anxiety
• The types of money issues couples deal with, and how to resolve them
• How to heal from financial infidelity in marriage
• How to spot (and stop) financial abuse in a relationship
• How to handle power and control issues around money in a relationship
• Practical strategies and resources to help you develop a healthy money mindset

I hope that this discussion helps YOU get insight into yourself and your relationship with money, so that you can create a money mindset that helps you achieve your financial goals.

Wishing you all the best,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby