28: Financial Knowledge as Power
Today’s guest is Megan Costello. Megan is a person-centered behaviorist providing in-home counseling for families in Los Angeles. In this episode, we cover how her Catholic upbringing shaped some early beliefs about money and work, how understanding the way money worked decreased shame, and why she turned to behavioral finance instead of just budgeting apps. Tune in for a powerful episode on the importance of implementing boundaries—including raising your rates if you are in private practice.
It’s powerful as a healing professional to step into a shame-free life about money. It’s powerful as a woman, it’s a powerful feminist statement. And if you're a woman of color, it’s a powerful anti-racist statement to be able to be shame-free about making money.
—Megan Costello
Financial literacy and knowledge decrease money shame. Megan shared that the more she learned about personal finance, the more empowered she felt. Whether it was learning about budgeting, or raising her rates, the more she learned the better she felt. Megan also cited the powerful element of cultivating a shame-free relationship with money.
Understanding the debt snowball vs. avalanche payoff method and how each of them work was a key point in understanding the emotional side of money. Quick primer (covered in the episode takeaway) is that even though “on paper” the avalanche method of paying off the highest interest rate first makes most since, psychologically, the snowball method is easier for people to implement. Why? Because the snowball method relies on paying off the smallest total amount first, thus creating positive reinforcement and momentum in debt payoff.
How a Catholic upbringing embedded a belief in her and how our childhood shapes our money beliefs. Megan shared that in addition to being a woman, she got the message that she had to be generous from her Catholic roots. These messages were then reinforced in the therapy field when others put their judgment on her when she raised her rates. She had to re-define what generosity meant to her. She now believes that she can be generous in ways that don’t involve giving away her work for free. Megan shares the importance of having support from others—she cited a supervisor who upheld pricing boundaries—as therapists start cultivating a generous relationship with money.
Megan Costello, LMFT, is a person-centered behaviorist providing in-home counseling for families in Los Angeles. Megan has provided services to clients in their homes or the community for almost 15 years. Megan started her career as a behavioral technician, providing behavioral therapy under the supervision of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) before she moved into a supervisory role for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) cases. Megan continued this work as she obtained her Masters of Science in Counseling at California State University, Long Beach. Megan then added clinical work in community mental health, providing specialized support to children on the autism spectrum with trauma histories. When Megan moved into private practice, she incorporated the best of the in-home and behavioral interventions into her treatment model. She brings practical advice and strategies to her clinical work, providing specialized, comprehensive treatment to higher needs or atypical cases. Learn more at www.megancostello.com
P.S. Have you heard about the 9-week group coaching program for private practice therapists, “Grow a Profitable Practice from the Inside Out?” Make sure to apply now so you don’t miss out the next time the doors open!