Money Healing Explained
What Is Money Healing? Why Do Therapists Need It?
If you’ve never heard of money healing before, you might be wondering: What does that even mean, and why would I, as a therapist, need it? Let’s talk about it.
Money Healing: It’s Not Just About Numbers
When most people think about money, they picture budgets, bills, or the dread of tax season. Rarely do we think about money in terms of feelings, beliefs, and patterns. That’s where money healing comes in. It asks us to shift how we see money altogether.
Money healing is about your relationship with money: how you feel about it, what you believe to be true about it, and the habits you’ve developed over time. Every single one of us has a money story, even if we’ve never taken the time to name it.
Our money story is always at play. It quietly shapes the choices we make in our personal lives, how we run our businesses, and even the way we show up in the therapy room. When we finally pause to look at it with curiosity rather than judgment, we begin to understand where those patterns came from. Once we see them clearly, we can start to shift them. That is the heart of money healing.
If you’ve ever felt guilty raising your fees, panicked when opening your bank app, or avoided money conversations altogether because they felt overwhelming, you’re not alone. These experiences are common, which is exactly why money healing matters. It helps us move through these patterns with curiosity and compassion, instead of shame and avoidance.
Money Wounds Are Real (And They’re Not Your Fault)
Our emotions around money—fear, guilt, shame, avoidance—don’t appear out of nowhere. They are shaped by the environments we grew up in, the systems we move through, and the relationships we’ve had. Below are examples of what can influence your relationship with money:
1. Financial trauma
Growing up in poverty or experiencing homelessness
Taking on adult responsibilities around money far too young, such as paying bills or caring for siblings
Experiencing sudden financial loss in adulthood, like job loss, bankruptcy, or divorce
Going through periods of financial instability caused by unstable employment or inconsistent income
Growing up with financial abundance that brought pressure, secrecy, or complicated expectations
2. Generational narratives
Hearing messages like “we can’t afford that,” “money doesn’t grow on trees,” or “people like us don’t get rich”
Being told it’s selfish to want money or greedy to have it
Family beliefs that struggle is more honorable than stability
Growing up with unspoken rules about not talking openly about money, which created secrecy or confusion
Stories passed down about past generations’ losses, sacrifices, or limitations that still echo in how money feels today
3. Systemic oppression
Barriers to education, homeownership, or fair wages because of race, gender, sexual orientation, or immigration status
Experiencing pay inequity compared to colleagues doing the same work
Facing discrimination in hiring or lending practices
Navigating the additional financial stress that comes with disability or chronic illness
Belonging to a community historically denied opportunities to build wealth, creating generational ripple effects
4. Relational dynamics
Growing up in a family where money was used as a bargaining chip or tool for control
Witnessing conflict between caregivers about spending, debt, or financial secrecy
Being left out of financial conversations or kept in the dark about money decisions
Experiencing a partner hiding debt, overspending, or financial infidelity
Feeling pressure in friendships or relationships to keep up financially, even when it wasn’t sustainable
5. Cultural and societal messages
Media portrayals of wealth as the ultimate symbol of success
Hustle culture that glorifies overworking and constant productivity
The belief that choosing a helping profession means you should expect low pay, as if financial sacrifice is part of proving your commitment to the field.
Cultural emphasis on consumerism, where worth is tied to what you own
Messages that equate financial struggle with personal failure, reinforcing shame when people experience hardship
This is where money healing comes in. It gives us a framework to untangle those layers and begin relating to money differently.
What Money Healing Does
Money healing is about more than just feeling better about what’s in your bank account. It's about restoring your sense of safety, power, and clarity in your financial life, both personally and professionally. It’s also about learning to relate to money in a way that supports your nervous system, honors your values, and aligns with how you want to live and work.
For therapists, the ripple effect is profound. The more you understand your own relationship with money, the better you can hold space when clients bring money into the therapy room, which they often do.
Healing your relationship with money touches every part of your life. It’s not only about feeling calm when you check your bank account. It’s about reclaiming agency, shifting out of survival mode, and experiencing less fear and more choice in both your personal and professional life.
On a personal level, money healing helps you:
Notice your money triggers and patterns without shame.
Feel grounded making everyday financial decisions.
Stop avoiding your finances and begin approaching them with curiosity and care.
Unlearn the belief that wanting money makes you selfish.
Imagine a future where financial stability is possible and safe.
On a professional level, money healing helps you:
Set and maintain fees without spiraling into guilt.
Stop people-pleasing or overgiving to prove your worth.
Care for your business finances in ways that reduce stress.
See your practice as both healing work and a business without shame.
Make decisions rooted in sustainability rather than survival.
Therapists who engage in money healing are also better equipped to:
Hold space when clients bring up financial stress or shame.
Notice countertransference around money without projecting it.
Normalize money conversations in the therapy room.
Offer interventions when clients are navigating their own financial trauma.
Money healing supports you, and it supports your clients. It helps you recognize when your own money story shows up in the therapy room, giving you the tools to meet those moments with care instead of shame. It empowers you to be fully present with clients when money arises as part of their story.
What Money Healing Looks Like
Money healing isn’t just a vague idea, it’s a process that includes tangible shifts in how you relate to money day to day.
You will:
✅ Identify your money story and understand how it's shaped by past experiences.
✅ Name and unpack your limiting beliefs about money.
✅ Work through the guilt that whispers, "I shouldn’t want more."
✅ Reclaim agency so your money decisions come from intention, not fear.
✅ Create financial systems that feel empowering rather than paralyzing.
✅ Feel safe and grounded when talking about money with yourself, your partner, your family, your clients, and your hired financial professionals.
Like all healing, money healing takes time. With practice, you develop an internal foundation rooted in clarity, self-trust, and intention. From there, money decisions reflect your values rather than old fears. That’s when things start to feel more grounded and sustainable in both your life and your practice.
An Invitation to Reimagine What’s Possible
You became a therapist because you care deeply, but you do not have to sacrifice your own wellness to care for others.
Money healing affirms that:
You can thrive financially and have a deep commitment to your clients well-being.
You can serve your community and build a business that supports your wellness and dreams.
You can be both a therapist and a whole person with needs, goals, and a long-term vision.
If any of this resonates, I invite you to take the next step. I’ve created tools, resources, and courses to help you begin or deepen your money healing journey, no matter where you are starting from.