Introduction to Financial Therapy as a Modality – A Peer-Led Exploration of Money and Mental Well-being

Join Julia Berner, an experienced psychologist, financial advisor, and Provisional NZAC member, to find out more about financial therapy as a modality and how it can bridge the gap between money and emotions.   

Financial Therapy as a field or modality emerged in the early 2000’s that blends psychology, financial decision-making, and emotional well-being.  

In the course of Julia’s work, she noticed that counselling touched on many aspects of personal lives, including practical, except finance. When Julia moved to New Zealand she pursued her interest in personal finance and discovered that counselling skills were very useful in working with people in the context of finance. The field of financial therapy is still not widely practiced in New Zealand as a modality within counselling.  Julia is keen to share her knowledge and experience, so that others can explore how to incorporate financial therapy into their own professional practice.  

One of Julia’s personal goals is to promote awareness of financial therapy to public. So, she would love your support in making this presentation an engaging and meaningful exploration and discussion.  

Money is often a taboo topic, yet it plays a huge role in our emotional and mental well-being. Through this session, Julia will introduce financial therapy as a modality and create a conversation around how we can better support clients facing financial anxiety, unhelpful money beliefs, and decision-making challenges. 

What the Webinar will cover: 

• An overview of Financial Therapy as a modality including the history of the field and how it integrates in mental health counselling 

• The value and benefits of Financial Therapy as a modality 

• Tools and techniques of Financial Therapy using real-world scenarios to illustrate. 

• Understanding financial psychology of clients – mindset, emotional and behavioural. 

• The Financial Therapy process 

• The ethics and boundaries within Financial Therapy.  

Throughout the webinar Julia will share real life case anonymised case studies and scenarios to illustrate the concepts.  There will also be the opportunity for questions and an interactive discussion.  

Who Is This For? 

This session is designed for counsellors who are curious about financial therapy and want to explore how it could benefit their clients. No prior knowledge of finance is needed. 

Learning Outcomes:  

• Understand what financial therapy is and its role in addressing money-related stress in the counselling context 

• Build awareness of the psychological factors influencing financial decisions 

• Gain knowledge of practical tools and techniques used in financial therapy 

• Reflect on how you might incorporate financial therapy techniques and concepts into your own professional practice 

• Be aware of the ethical considerations and boundaries of working in this modality 

About Julia Berner 

Julia – initially trained in biopsychology in the US and went on to complete her Masters degree in both fields – biology and psychology in Europe. She has worked in mental health counselling roles since she was 17 stepping along the way into adjacent fields of psychopharmaceutical clinical research and financial planning. She has worked with diverse population from students to inpatient psychiatric clients to imprisoned psychopaths. Her relatives and their clinically interesting behaviours have originally inspired Julia to study human behaviour and therapy. Having lived through financially challenging time in the end of 90’s in Russia Julia developed keen interest in building financial prosperity. Julia has diverse scientific and personal interests, including creative writing, poetry, ballet, and sketching. She has 4 sons, just completed DIY restauration of historic villa, and loves poodles and hairless cats.