I thought you were like a money coach? What I do (and don’t do) as a Financial Therapist

When people first hear the term financial therapist, I often get the same look: curious… but confused.

They say things like:

“Oh, so you help people budget?”

“Do you give investment advice?”

“Is it like money mindset coaching?”

“Can you help me refinance my home?”

All fair questions — and all a little off the mark.

So let’s clear it up.

Because the truth is, most of us don’t have a clear map of the financial services landscape — let alone where behaviour, emotion, and identity fit into it.

So here’s the map I use with clients:

If your financial life were your health…

You wouldn’t go to a dentist to treat anxiety.

You wouldn’t ask a GP to handle your trauma history.

You wouldn’t expect your physio to draw up your will.

Yet when it comes to money, we collapse those boundaries all the time.

🩺 The Financial–Medical Ecosystem

Financial Adviser = GP

They manage your general financial health — super, investments, insurance. They’re your first stop for a comprehensive plan.

Money Coach = Dietician or Physio

They help you build habits and stay motivated. They keep you accountable, cheer you on, and help you keep moving.

Tax or Forensic Accountant = Dentist

They don’t deal with feelings — they get deep into the structure. Filing, compliance, and making sure the rot doesn’t set in.

Financial Counsellor = Crisis Worker / ER Doctor

They step in when there’s financial trauma — debt, hardship, legal stress. Immediate stabilisation.

Estate Planner = Palliative Specialist

They help you prepare for what comes next. The handover. The legacy. The quiet part that matters most.

Financial Therapist = Clinical Psychologist

This is where I come in.

I don’t sell products.

I don’t prescribe investments.

I don’t “manifest” abundance.

I work with what lives under your financial decisions:

• The beliefs you absorbed before you had language for them

• The patterns you’ve repeated despite your best efforts

• The shame, fear, grief, or numbness that no spreadsheet can fix

So What Do I Actually Do?

Let’s start with what I don’t:

• ❌ I’m not a financial adviser.

  
  

  I don’t tell you where to invest or which products to buy. I help you feel emotionally ready to make those decisions with your adviser.

  
  

• ❌ I’m not a financial counsellor.

  
  

  I don’t negotiate with creditors or create hardship plans. But I can help you explore why the same money stress keeps resurfacing.

  
  

• ❌ I’m not a psychologist.

  
  

  I don’t diagnose or treat mental illness. But I am trained in behavioural science and emotion-focused frameworks backed by peer-reviewed research.

  
  

• ❌ I’m not a coach.

  
  

  I’m not here to tell you to hustle harder or fix your mindset. I don’t give budgeting tips. I help you rewrite your money identity.

  
  

• ❌ I’m not a literacy educator.

  
  

  You probably already know the right thing to do. You’re not stuck because of a lack of information. You’re stuck because of emotion — and that’s what we work on.

So what

is

financial therapy?

It’s the missing link between behaviour, identity, and money.

It’s where we ask:

• Where did your values come from?

• What were you taught about “enough”?

• What part of your financial life still belongs to someone else’s story?

It’s not about fixing the numbers.

It’s about finally understanding why they keep leading you somewhere you don’t want to go.

Still unsure?

That’s okay. Most people only realise they need a financial therapist after they’ve tried everything else — and still feel stuck.

If that’s you, you’re not alone.

I work with individuals, couples, and families navigating money stress, intergenerational wealth, financial avoidance, career transition, and values conflicts.

You don’t need a product.

You need peace.

Want to talk?

Book a Clarity Call — it’s a no-pressure space to figure out whether financial therapy is the right next step.

Sometimes it’s not.

Sometimes it’s everything.