What Is Financial Therapy? And How Can I Become A Financial Therapist?
Updated March 2024
What is Financial Therapy?
Financial therapy is a relatively new specialty within the world of psychotherapy where a therapist helps their client focus on the emotional side of money. Most psychotherapists have exposure or training in many other areas that impact a person’s life, such as childhood trauma, sex, career stress, identity concerns, and more, but very few therapists have training in how money impacts a person’s well-being. Financial therapy can help people understand and unpack how they think, feel, and behave with their finances.
Money and Emotions
Money and emotions are highly interconnected. Behavioral finance experts agree that emotions drive financial decisions between 80–90% of the time. But in the world of personal finance, there is a much greater emphasis on financial literacy and planning, instead of considering how a person’s feelings impact their financial beahviors.
According to a Capital One survey, 73% of Americans say that finances are their number one source of stress. In another survey by the Financial Planning Association, 71% endorse experiencing financial anxiety.
A 2022 MetLife survey of 1,428 employees found that 38% said the state of their finances was stressing them out, and 26% had experienced feelings of depression because of how they feel about money. A third had lost sleep, and one in six said that money problems had led to arguments at home.
A growing area of money and emotions research is on financial trauma, which can lead people to experience financial avoidance, denial, irritation, and hypervigilance. Financial trauma can stem from “Big T” money traumas, such as watching one’s house burn down, or “little t” traumas, such as experiencing a racial microagression when negotiating for a raise. In other words? People have lots of feelings about money, and if we want to help them have better financial habits, it’s imperative that we focus on their emotions.
Financial Therapy Degree
At the time of this writing, there are a few paths to being able to call oneself a financial therapist. First, it’s important to remember that to call oneself a “psychotherapist” or a “therapist,” a person has at least a Master’s level education and up-to-date licensure as a Social Worker (MSW, LMSW, LCSW), Counselor (LPC), or a Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT). Others attain more schooling and get a doctorate in psychology (Ph.D. or PsyD). From there, a financial therapist gets a specialty certification or additional training in Financial Social Work or Financial Therapy.
How to Become a Financial Therapist
As outlined above, a person must first be a licensed psychotherapist to become a financial therapist. After attaining that degree, a person studies financial therapy through a series of courses or online modules, depending on their route. After that, they also must earn a certain number of clinical hours, working with clients directly using financial therapy skills. Then, they must sit for an exam where they demonstrate their knowledge of financial literacy, therapy interventions, and financial therapy.
There are several certification programs depending on what you're looking for. I'm not affiliated with or endorsing these, and each has slightly different requirements and criteria for who can apply for and attain these certifications.
The Financial Therapy Association's Certificate in Financial Therapy (CFT-I)
University of Maryland’s School of Social Work Financial Social Work Program
Kansas State University's graduate certificate in Financial Therapy
Creighton University's Financial Psychology & Behavioral Finance grad certificate
Center for Financial Social Work Certification Program
I’m a certified practitioner in the Trauma of Money Method™, CFT-I™ (Certified Financial Therapist™) through the Financial Therapy Association, and I have my Financial Social Work certificate. While each of these varied in their approaches, I found the Trauma of Money Method™ and CFT-I™ to provide a more comprehensive financial approach. The Trauma of Money Method™, as you might imagine from its name, spent lots of time covering the systems that impact our relationship with money, identifying our body’s response to trauma, and intersectional training on the emotional and systemic side of money. CFT-I™ focused on a blend of therapeutic approaches, such as family systems theory, conflict resolution, and relationship considerations. The portion that focused on the “how to” of finances was largely self-taught through the recommended books.
Licensure Definition in Healthcare vs Certification
Licensures are different than certifications, especially in healthcare. Licensures are different than certifications, especially in healthcare. Licensure is mandatory for mental health professionals like psychologists, therapists, social workers, and counselors. Government boards oversee mental health licensure with strict education, ethics, and continuing education criteria. Certification, on the other hand, is optional and offered by different organizations. Certifications are meant to enrich or enhance an area of interest in a field.
Unfortunately, some people are not psychotherapists who have a certification in financial therapy are calling themselves therapists. They use terms that can be very deceiving to the public, like “Your Financial Therapist,” or “The Money Psychologist.” At the time of this post, many entities that provide certification programs are working hard to ensure that people do not call themselves therapists who are not therapists.
If you are unsure of someone’s credentials, ask them which clinical licensing board they report to or what diagnosis they’ll give you as a part of their treatment plan. Not only is somebody misrepresenting their credentials subject to disciplinary action, but they also will struggle to answer the questions about their clinical licensing board or mental health diagnosis.
The best way for a non-therapist to represent their credentials is to say, “I have a certification in XYZ, but I’m not a licensed psychotherapist.” This shows you they have a level of exposure and training about mental health and money but that they are not trying to diagnose, treat, or act as a psychotherapist.
Certified Financial Therapist Salary
As financial therapy is a relatively new discipline, it’s hard to say exactly what the average salary of a financial therapist is. A financial therapist can have a career in private practice, work as a consultant at various firms (such as at a financial planning or FinTech firm), teach and train others, or offer courses. Because of the broad array of professional possibilities, ZipRecruiter reports an average annual salary of $80,550, with financial therapists on the low end making $36,000 and $156,000 on the high end.
How a Therapist Can Be More Financially Competent
If you are already a therapist–a social worker, counselor, marriage and family therapist, or psychologist–looking for ways to be more financially competent, you have many options! Consider taking additional continuing education courses on money, finances, and money mindset. I partnered with Simple Practice Learning to bring an hour-long training to you on Money Mindset in Private Practice. In Money Mindset in Your Private Practice, I’ll cover what money mindset is, how it shows up in private practice, and ways to be accessible to your clients outside of sliding your scale!
How a Financial Planner Can Incorporate Financial Therapy
I love it when Accredited Financial Counselors (AFCs®), Certified Financial Planners (CFPs®), and other financial professionals are well-versed in the emotional side of money! However, it's not ethical to practice therapy without a license. That said, emotions and money are inherently intertwined, so talking about emotions is incredibly important when doing financial work. In short, diagnosing or treating mental illness without a license would be unethical as a finance professional, but talking about someone's feelings about money would be just fine!
A financial planner can certainly seek more training in financial therapy or even get certifications in financial therapy, as long as they continue to operate primarily as their “home discipline,” according to the Financial Therapy Association.
For example, I’m an MSW and a certified practitioner in the Trauma of Money Method™, Certified Financial Therapist™, and I have my Financial Social Work certificate. This means I can provide information on financial literacy and how our familial and personal history impacts our relationship with money, but I cannot advise clients on a personalized retirement or investment strategy.
Similarly, an AFC® or CFP® with training in financial therapy could provide insight into how a client feels about their money goals but could not diagnose or treat any mental illnesses, provide hourly therapy, or bill for their time as a therapist.
How Financial and Mental Health Professionals Can Get Financial Therapy Training
If you are an AFC® or CFP® ready for more education and training about money and emotions, or a mental health practitioners looking for financial-therapy-informed courses, you might consider the Financial Therapy Clinical Institute for approved continuing education courses.
The Financial Therapy Clinical Institute has AFCPE® approved continuing education courses on various financial therapy topics. Some topics covered in their on-demand financial therapy courses include working with couples and money, engaging with families, and emotionally-focused approaches to engaging with money. These financial therapy courses for financial planning and mental health professionals help learners understand money's emotional and psychological side by teaching through case studies, role play, and a debrief to help different learning styles effectively understand the lessons.
Find a Financial Therapist Near Me
There are a few ways to find a financial therapist near you. First, search “Financial Therapists + [your city or state].” You could also search for a therapist and ask if they have any training in financial therapy or financial social work. The Financial Therapy Association has a directory, but it’s worth noting that anyone can list themselves on the directory; it’s up to the potential client to see whether or not the person listed is credentialed in financial therapy.
Another option is to look into the Financial Therapy Clinical Institute, which provides a blend of financial therapy, counseling, and planning services on an income-based flat fee to people virtually across the country.
If you can't find a financial therapist near you, you can see if a financial therapist you like offers self-paced courses or other emotionally-focused financial education content such as live workshops, presentations, or other educational content and information. Because there are so few financial therapists, many are creating educational content to serve the needs of their communities.
Why Aren’t There More Financial Therapists?
Financial therapy is a relatively new specialty within the world of therapy. Many trained therapists simply don’t know that they can specialize in financial therapy and haven’t sought out the education to do so.
Thankfully, higher education is taking note of the need–and demand–for financial therapy and offering students more training.
Advocating for professional training programs to include information on financial psychology, the broader systems at play, and financial literacy is one step we can all take to ensure a greater number of therapists are trained in this topic.
Additionally, I think all finance professionals should have exposure and training on money's emotional and psychological side. Even without “full” financial therapy training, the more finance professionals know the mental and emotional impacts of money, the better.
Private Practice Help for Financial Therapists
If you are a financial therapist in private practice and need help with marketing, focusing on the foundation or your practice, or other topics, I’ve got a suite self-paced mini-courses!
Hire a Financial Therapist
As a shame-free financial therapist with a specialty in understanding financial anxiety, I love speaking to finance professionals, healthcare organizations, and other disciplines about the intersection of emotional wellbeing and money. Past conference organizers have asked me to speak on financial anxiety, understanding financial trauma, and how to help clients cope with money shame. If you’d like to hire me to speak about my work or tips to help your organization integrate emotions and finances, learn more and inquire here!