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Money problems? Here’s how financial therapy might help.

Published: September 23, 2019

You don’t need to have experienced problem gambling to understand the pressures that financial issues can put on people. For those who are struggling with gambling, there’s a growing resource that could really help.

Financial Therapy is a relatively new field. It combines financial planning services and mental health treatment. It merges finance with emotional support to help people cope with financial stress.

Breaking Down Financial Therapy

The stresses of managing money and dealing with financial pitfalls can take a huge toll on one’s emotional health. If left uncontrolled, it can spread into other areas of a person’s life. Just as other forms of therapy addresses specific aspects of a person’s life, financial therapy provides support and advice geared toward the financial realm and the stresses that go along with it. The end goal is to get a person’s finances in order and provide the necessary advice to keep them in order.

Financial Therapy Reasoning

There are a range of reasons why a person would seek out financial therapy. Behavioral issues can cause a person to adapt unhealthy financial routines such as gambling or compulsive shopping. Often, negative saving, spending or working habits are a symptom of other bad habits related to mental or physical health. 

Financial Therapy vs. Other Types of Therapy

The most effective forms of financial therapy involve a collaboration between a person’s financial advisor and a licensed therapist or specialist. Both the financial advisor and the therapist have unique qualifications that the other does not possess. Financial advisors often find themselves providing informal therapy to clients, and therapists often deal with emotional issues related to financial stress.

When to Hire a Financial Therapist

If a person requires real emotional support or needs help breaking bad habits, a licensed professional should be involved. The financial advisor tends to be more adept at providing advice on how best to move forward with financial issues, while the licensed professional can provide support that gets to the root of a deeper problem.

At Before You Bet, we’re committed to providing resources and information for anyone who may be struggling with problem gambling. To learn more about the topic of Financial Therapy and if it could be a helpful resource for you, visit the website below.

https://www.financialtherapyassociation.org

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