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BUSINESS Tuesday 30 July 2019
A25

Financial therapy: What it is and who needs it?

By SARAH SKIDMORE SELL with a client long enough
Associated Press there may be some issues
Money is about more than either about anxiety about
numbers: emotions are of- investing or a life change —
ten at play too. Just as you like inheritance or divorce,"
can seek professional help Swantner said. "We want all
for unhealthy issues in life, fi- our planners to have some
nancial therapists can help listening and solving skills."
you deal with problems re- It's not just for those with
lated to money. money problems either.
WHAT IS IT? Sometimes people with
Financial therapy is the wealth struggle with how
practice of helping people to manage it or have guilt
with how they think, feel about it. Swantner's firm of-
and behave with money fers hourly financial coach-
to improve their well-being, ing and therapy for non-fi-
according to the Financial nancial planning clients as
Therapy Association. well.
It's a relatively new niche. "Even if we are great with
The FTA — a professional money, we all have feel-
organization created to set ings that are causing angst
standards for the industry somewhere," she said. "It
— was established in 2010 This April 3, 2019, file photo shows a tip box filled with U.S. currency in New York. helps to stop and think
and began to offer certifi- Associated Press about why. How would my
cations this year, FTA presi- life be different if I didn't
dent Meghaan Lurtz said. market volatility makes you ent who is going through Sarah Swantner said that in believe this - it's not just for
The service is generally feel, and what that means a separation, and the ex- her work as a financial plan- people with 'problems.'"
provided by a financial or for your financial planning. husband wasn't making ner, she has often found HOW DO I FIND ONE?
mental health profession- However, a financial ad- agreed upon support pay- couples who cannot agree The FTA has a searchable
al. The FTA offers varying viser should not be helping ments. So while helping or people who say they database for financial ther-
degrees of certification, you with mental health is- the patient deal with grief want to make changes apists near you.
which leads to differing de- sues like depression. Part over the separation itself, but cannot. Her firm, Kahler In some cases, you may
grees of assistance, based of the training is recogniz- Coambs could also rec- Financial Group, puts an be better off with another
on the provider's level of ing when to refer a client ognize and help address emphasis on understand- kind of a professional. A
education and training. to get the help they need. some repeat trauma about ing and working with the licensed therapist or psy-
Financial therapy could be Similarly, a therapist should money from the patient's emotional side of money. chologist can help with
assistance for people who not be providing financial childhood. Ultimately, she went back many emotional and men-
can't keep tabs on their advice, such as what stock WHO NEEDS ONE? to school to get a master's tal health issues. A financial
cash, or help for couples to buy. According to financial degree in mental health planner (look for a fee-only
who regularly fight about Financial therapy is not reg- therapists, everyone could counseling to enhance her one) can help you develop
money. But it can also in- ulated but people who re- stand to benefit. But in real- work. a strategy for your finances
clude more serious matters ceive the certification are ity, those whose issues with "If you have a relationship now and in the future.q
like gambling addiction. held to their own licensure money are interfering with
"We all have stuff that and industry standards. their life or relationships are
is good and that is bad People who receive the first likely the best candidates. IMF: Venezuela's
about our relationship with level of FTA certification, People who are in finan-
money," Lurtz said. "It's real- such as a fee-only certified cial distress — such as hid- economic decline
ly hard to change a belief financial planner, aren't ing purchases, spending
or habit if you don't even providing therapy in a tradi- compulsively or avoid-
know where or why you are tional sense but do have a ing their financial state- among most severe
doing it." more informed position on ments — definitely should
WHAT DO THE THERAPISTS emotional aspects of mon- seek help, according to globally
DO? ey. Only those with some Coambs. But people who
It depends on who you see mental health training or have a childhood with a
and what you are seeing who are actively licensed lot of conflict about money Associated Press edented in the hemisphere
them for. mental health profession- or have disorders such as WASHINGTON (AP) — The and also because it is the
If you are seeing a fam- als, such as a social worker, obsessive compulsive disor- International Monetary only one of the top global
ily and marriage therapist psychologist or family and der or post-traumatic stress Fund says the cumulative five-year contractions that
about issues in your rela- marriage therapist, can re- disorder may also want to decline of the Venezuelan is unrelated to armed con-
tionship and money is a ceive the higher-tier certifi- consider if that is impacting economy since 2013 will flicts or natural disasters.
major sticking point, some- cation. their financial well-being as surpass 60% and is among The IMF on Monday also
one with a specialty in fi- "My ears are more highly well. the deepest five-year con- adjusted its 2019 forecast
nancial therapy may be attuned to money issues A therapist or other mental tractions the world has for the South American
able to better sort through and I can go into more de- health professional will be seen over the last half cen- country to a contraction
those. If you go to see a tail about money," said Ed able to tie their understand- tury. of 35% —up from the 25%
financial adviser and they Coambs, a certified finan- ing of the human psyche Alejandro Werner is direc- decline expected back in
work in the financial ther- cial planner and licensed to the relationship with tor of the IMF's Western April —due to a sharp fall
apy space, they may be family and marriage thera- money, he said. Whereas a Hemisphere Department. in the oil production, which
able to elicit better answers pist who specializes in fi- financial planner might be He describes the Venezu- has already plunged to
from you on how you feel nancial therapy. using some therapeutic skill elan decline as a "historical its lowest level in seven
about retirement or how Coambs recently had a cli- in their planning. case" because it is unprec- decades.q