Money Issues Stalling Your Sessions? How to refer your couples for Financial Therapy
With smaller financial disagreements, most couples therapists have excellent and sufficient training to help their clients move from discord to harmony — helping them work on communication, respect, and sharing vulnerabilities. However, with more complex financial issues — Financial Infidelity, Gambling Disorder, Compulsive Spending, Perpetual arguments around spending decisions — it may take more specific expertise to help get the couple to their preferred relational narrative.
Much like therapists refer couples out to a Sex Therapist for issues of physical intimacy, Financial Therapists can provide a resource for couples who are ‘stuck’ in a money issue and give more honed assistance in helping the couple.
Here are some considerations when you are sensing that the couples’ financial issues might need some more direct care:
Does your couple make progress on other communication issues, but seems to get stuck when it comes to money issues?
Does at least one of the partners appear to have a particular issue around money (i.e. financial avoidance, financial anxiety, compulsive spending, or gambling-like behaviors)?
Do your interventions and/or therapeutic approach seem to work for other parts of their relationship, but is not getting the same movement with their financial communication?
Do you feel overwhelmed as their Couples Therapist when the conversation turns towards money?
If you answered “Yes!” to any of the questions above, feel free to reach out to see if you think they would be a good fit for a referral for Financial Couples Therapy. The typical course of treatment is 6 sessions: 1 session every two weeks for the first three sessions and then 1 session monthly for 3 more months. They can continue their work with you on their Couples Therapy work, while tending to their specific money issues in Financial Therapy.
Feel free to browse the Financial Therapy Texas blog for some of the various topics covered in Financial Therapy.
Contact Dr. Stephanie Zepeda with any questions!