Is There a Therapist Who Helps With Money Issues? How Financial Therapy Supports Emotional and Relationship Healing.

1 day ago
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If money conversations leave you feeling anxious, ashamed, defensive, or disconnected from your partner, you are not alone. Many people struggle with money, not because they lack knowledge, but because money is deeply emotional.

This is where financial therapy comes in.

Financial therapy is a specialized form of therapy that focuses on the emotional, relational, and psychological aspects of money. Instead of asking, “What should I do with my money?” it asks, “What happens inside me when money is involved?”

At Peaceful Living Mental Health Counseling, financial therapy is trauma-informed, compassionate, and focused on understanding the deeper roots of money stress.

What Is Financial Therapy?

Financial therapy is a form of mental health therapy that explores how emotions, past experiences, relationships, and nervous system responses influence money behaviors.

In financial therapy, you might explore:

Why money feels unsafe, overwhelming, or charged
Why you avoid looking at accounts or bills
Why the same money arguments keep happening
Why financial decisions trigger shame or fear

Unlike financial education or budgeting programs, financial therapy does not focus on fixing your finances. It focuses on understanding your relationship with money.

This work helps people move out of reactivity and into more intentional, values-aligned choices.

👉 Learn more about this service on our Financial Therapy page.

Who Financial Therapy Is For

Financial therapy can be helpful for a wide range of people and situations, including:

Adults

Who feel anxious or overwhelmed about money
Who avoid financial tasks due to fear or shame
Who grew up with financial instability, secrecy, or conflict

Couples

Who argue repeatedly about money
Who feel stuck in power struggles around spending or saving
Who come from very different financial backgrounds or values

People Experiencing Money-Related Stress

Chronic worry about finances, even when income is stable
Guilt or shame around debt, spending, or earning
A sense of being “bad with money” despite best efforts

You do not need to be in a financial crisis to benefit. Many clients seek financial therapy because money feels emotionally loaded or relationally disruptive.

The Emotional Roots of Money Stress

Money rarely exists in a vacuum. It is often tied to early experiences, family dynamics, and survival strategies.

Some common emotional roots of money stress include:

Childhood Experiences

Growing up with scarcity or instability
Witnessing parental conflict about money
Being taught that money is shameful, secretive, or dangerous

Trauma and Nervous System Responses

Hypervigilance around spending or saving
Avoidance as a way to cope with overwhelm
Using money to self-soothe or feel in control

Identity and Worth

Tying self-worth to income or productivity
Feeling “behind” or defective compared to others
Believing financial struggles mean personal failure

Financial therapy helps make these patterns visible and understandable, without judgment. When the emotional roots are addressed, behavior change becomes more sustainable.

How Financial Therapy Is Different From Financial Advising

This is one of the most common questions people ask.

Financial advising focuses on:

Budgets
Investments
Debt repayment strategies
Financial planning

Financial therapy focuses on:

Emotional responses to money
Relationship dynamics and communication
Shame, fear, control, and avoidance
Why certain financial tools feel impossible to use

Financial therapy does not replace financial advising. Instead, it often complements it.

Many people know what they “should” do financially, but feel emotionally blocked from doing it. Financial therapy helps remove those blocks so practical tools can actually work.

What Happens in Financial Therapy Sessions?

Financial therapy sessions are conversational and reflective. They move at a pace that feels emotionally safe.

In sessions, you might:

Explore your money story and early experiences
Notice how your body responds to money stress
Understand recurring patterns in financial decisions
Practice communicating about money with less reactivity

For couples, sessions often focus on:

Understanding each partner’s money history
Reducing blame and defensiveness
Building shared language around finances
Creating emotional safety in money conversations

The goal is not perfection, but awareness, flexibility, and connection.

Meet the Therapist

Frank Sarrapochiello is a therapist at Peaceful Living Mental Health Counseling who works with individuals and couples navigating money-related stress and conflict.

He brings a trauma-informed lens to financial therapy, recognizing that money struggles are often rooted in lived experience rather than lack of discipline or intelligence.

Frank believes that when people understand their patterns with compassion, they gain more choice in how they relate to money and to each other.

Supervised by Dana Carretta-Stein, LMHC

Learn More About Frank

How Will You Know If Financial Therapy Is Right for You?

If you are unsure whether financial therapy is the right fit, you are not alone. Many people

wonder whether their money stress is “serious enough” to seek support.

Financial therapy is not only for financial crisis. It is for emotional distress related to money.

It may be a good fit if:

You feel anxious before checking your bank account
Money conversations quickly escalate into arguments
You avoid financial tasks even when you know they are important
You feel shame about debt, spending, earning, or saving
You and your partner have different money values that feel hard to bridge
You notice money decisions are driven by fear rather than clarity

Often, the question is not, “Are my finances bad enough?”The question is, “Is my relationship with money creating stress in my life or relationships?”

If the answer is yes, financial therapy can help.

Download: Emotional and Relationship Patterns Around Money

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