Financial Therapy: Healing Your Money Trauma
Rewriting Your Money Story for a Healthier Financial Future
Image by Mạnh Nguyễn Hồng from Pixabay
Money exists beyond numerical data because it brings emotional aspects to finance. Our approach to managing and thinking about money develops through our adult life while being impacted by our childhood exchanges and beliefs about money and the learning lessons from past financial errors. The solutions provided by financial therapy can help patients address their monetary-related anxiety and find relief regarding bank balance management as well as overspending habits.
What is Financial Therapy?
Financial therapy blends psychology and finance to help people understand and change unhealthy financial behaviors. It addresses emotional spending, economic anxiety, and self-sabotaging money habits by exploring the root cause of these issues. In layman’s terms, financial therapy is healing from various financial suffering.
Signs You Might Have Money Trauma
Financial blows can stem from a multitude of things. Listed below are some ways that you can recognize some of the signs you may have or are experiencing trauma financially:
Feeling guilt or shame around spending or saving
Avoiding financial conversations or budgeting
Constant fear of being broke, even when financially stable
Repeating unhealthy money patterns (e.g., overspending, ignoring bills)
Steps to Heal Your Money Trauma
Note that there are more ways than the 4 points listed above, and we will dive deeper into it on the weekly newsletter, however, once you identify that there is trauma, the following steps are how you start to heal your stress.
💡 1. Identify Your Money Mindset
Ask yourself: What messages did I learn about money growing up? Your financial beliefs may be rooted in past experiences, so identifying them is the first step to change.
💡 2. Challenge Negative Money Beliefs
If you believe “I’ll never be good with money” or “I don’t deserve financial success,” it’s time to reframe those thoughts. Replace them with affirmations like “I am learning to manage my money wisely.”
💡 3. Practice Conscious Spending
Instead of guilt-driven budgeting, practice mindful spending. Choose where your money goes based on values, not fear.
💡 4. Get Comfortable Talking About Money
Financial shame keeps people stuck. Join supportive communities, talk to a financial therapist, or start journaling about your money experiences.
💡 5. Build a Financial Self-Care Routine
Schedule a weekly “money date” to review your finances, track spending, and set goals without stress.
Healing money trauma takes time, but it’s possible to develop a healthy, empowering relationship with your finances.
📩 Want to dive deeper? Subscribe to The Raena Report for weekly financial wellness tips, and don’t miss this Friday’s vlog on Really Raena, where I’ll share my personal journey with money trauma and practical steps to break free.