MONEY STRESS OR OVERSPENDING? FINANCIAL THERAPY COULD HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHY

You know you shouldn't put another expensive purchase on your credit card, but you do it anyway. Or perhaps you have enough money but still feel anxious whenever you spend. You may avoid checking your bank account altogether, or repeatedly argue with your partner about the same financial issues.

In situations like these, knowing what you should do with money may not be the problem. The harder question is why you keep doing something different.

That is where financial therapy comes in.

What exactly is financial therapy?

Financial therapy sits somewhere between financial planning and therapy.

The Financial Therapy Association describes it as an approach that combines therapeutic and financial skills to help people change how they think, feel, communicate and behave around money.

Instead of simply telling you to spend less or save more, the process looks at what is driving your behaviour in the first place.

For example, someone who grew up in a household where money was constantly scarce may continue to worry about running out even after becoming financially secure. Another person may spend whenever they are stressed or unhappy.

It can help you understand your money habits

Many of our attitudes towards money develop long before we start earning it ourselves.

What did your parents say about money? Was spending treated as something enjoyable or irresponsible? Did your family constantly worry about bills? Was money used as a sign of success?

These experiences can influence how you behave as an adult.

Research into what are sometimes called "money scripts" has found links between beliefs about money and behaviours such as compulsive buying, financial dependence and hiding financial information from a partner.

Recognising the pattern doesn't immediately change it, but it can make it easier to understand why it keeps happening.

It may help with repeated overspending

A conventional budget can tell you that you are spending too much. It cannot necessarily tell you why.

Perhaps online shopping is what you do when you are bored. Maybe buying expensive things makes you feel successful, or you spend after a difficult day because it gives you an immediate lift.

Simply setting a tighter shopping budget may not solve that problem.

Financial therapy can look at the trigger behind the spending and help you find ways to change the behaviour rather than repeatedly dealing with the bill afterwards.

It can also help couples who keep fighting about money

Two people can have very different relationships with money.

One may feel safe only when there is a large amount in savings. The other may see money as something to enjoy while they have it.

Neither attitude necessarily makes someone irresponsible. But the difference can produce repeated arguments about holidays, shopping, investments or how much to save.

Financial therapy can help couples talk about what is underneath those disagreements instead of having the same argument about individual expenses.

It isn't a replacement for financial advice

Financial therapy and financial planning solve different problems.

If you need help choosing investments, calculating your retirement corpus or deciding on an asset allocation, you may need a qualified financial advisor.

If you understand what you should be doing but anxiety, avoidance, compulsive spending or repeated conflict keeps getting in the way, the problem may need a different approach.

The two can also work together.

Know when you may need more specialised help

Financial therapy is still a relatively young field, and practitioners can come from different professional backgrounds, including mental health and financial planning.

So check the person's qualifications and experience carefully.

If the main issue involves serious anxiety, depression, addiction or another mental health concern, seek an appropriately qualified mental health professional rather than assuming financial coaching alone will be enough.

The important point is that not every money problem starts with numbers.

Sometimes you already know that you need to save more, stop overspending or talk to your partner about debt. Understanding why you find it so difficult to do that may be the first step towards actually changing it.

2026-09-11T18:10:22Z