Utilizing family systems theory in financial therapy

Abstract

Financial planning practitioners and researchers recognize the connection between client behavior and financial goal attainment. However, clients must change or do something different in order to meet their stated goals. In order to do this, researchers must look at how clients think and feel about money, their beliefs about money, and how they relate to others in regards to money to motivate change. Financial therapy integrates cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and relational aspects of money to promote overall client well-being by utilizing evidenced-based approaches borrowed from mental health disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to introduce financial therapy through the lens of family systems theory, the foundational theory of marriage and family therapy discipline, as a way to understand why clients do what they do in regards to money and associated approaches to help clients achieve optimal well-being.