What Mental Health Professionals Should Know About Money

This post was co-authored with Sylvia A. Malcore, Ph.D., ABPP; Christine Isham, CFP (certified financial planner); and James Windell, M.A.

When Caleb* was working on his Ph.D. in clinical psychology, he took classes in assessment, cognitive behavioral therapy, and in abnormal psychology. After graduating and spending a year in a postdoc, he thought he was ready to launch his career as a psychologist. While you would expect a sense of accomplishment and joy for completing his graduate training, he felt as if he were drowning in a debt of over $100,000.

Caleb believed all his future decisions would now be dictated by his debt rather than his professional goals. When he reviewed his last several years, Caleb could see how he had accumulated his overwhelming debt. There was, of course, the cost of graduate school, and then there was the expense of moving to a state a thousand miles away for his internship. In addition, there was the cost of preparing for the Examination in Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), professional fees, and living expenses.

Accepting a job as a psychologist following the completion of his postdoc training meant yet another major move. Caleb not only had a sense of being stuck when he thought about changing his financial future, he realized what he hadn’t been taught in his graduate studies—how to manage his finances. No professor or supervisor had ever talked to Caleb about money management or financial planning.

And Caleb is not alone. Two of the four of us authors also felt, at times, that we knew nothing about money. In addition, we had worries about our financial future at some point. Some of these concerns are addressed by Windell and Meekhof in a chapter titled, "Facing Finances Without Fear" of their book called, A Widow's Guide to Healing. This chapter by far is one of their most-read chapters by widows and other professionals.

Aside from loss, there were other times we felt totally unprepared for dealing with things like debt, investments, and planning for retirement. So, we began talking to other professionals within the mental health field.

Based on our conversations, we came to realize that those in the mental health field appear to have a reluctance to talk about money—especially their own money. While it is true that mental health professionals discuss many challenging subjects with clients, and the work requires that one feel comfortable with many topics, the subject of money and finances appears to continue to be a source of discomfort. Rarely did we find a psychologist or other mental health professional who displayed a clear approach to addressing their financial goals. After thinking about what we learned, we turned to a certified financial planner to better understand what was going on.

Here are three reasons we found why mental health professionals may have challenges with money:

1. Mental health professionals can have a profound sense of guilt from making money as a result of other people’s suffering.

At times, Emma* felt, when working with economically disadvantaged clients, that although she admired patients for seeking treatment and recognizing the need for their care, like she was getting paid for listening to someone talk about their challenges. Emma had the sense that if those problems had to do with financial hardships, there was something inherently “wrong” with charging her for it.

Mental health professionals often explore all sorts of topics with their clients. While financial challenges may be raised in therapy, the topic of money being exchanged for a professional service may be addressed more so by administrative staff than the therapist. Joel Yager and Jerald Kay, writing in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, point out the discomfort some providers can have regarding talking about money in the therapeutic setting. However, Richard Trachtman, who has written on the topic of the “taboo” of money, reflected in an article in New Therapist says there are some signs that this taboo of discussion of money is changing.

2. Mental health professionals, like a good many people in our society, often lack comprehensive financial literacy.

Mental health professionals require years of training, but they can be uninformed about financial issues. They are focused on helping others solve their problems, but often don't take the time to address their own money issues. This can block them from reaching their true wealth potential.

Certified financial planner Christine Isham says, “Often, the type of person who goes into the mental health field has a great deal of empathy for others, but also they frequently have a tremendous amount of guilt—particularly if they are doing well financially."

As mental health professionals, it is important to value ourselves, and this includes our financial well-being. Understanding that we can help others best when we are also taking care of ourselves is essential. If we are worried about making an office payment, it can detract away from the attention our clients need.

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3. Many mental health professionals are often good at taking care of others but don’t always take their own advice.

Most psychologists, like psychiatrists, counselors, and social workers, would likely agree that their role is to support others in their pursuit of well-being and in reaching their goals. However, in the process, they sometimes neglect themselves. They do this by working long hours, taking on the stress of others, and, germane to our topic, failing to learn about finances so they can successfully plan for the future.

By bringing this to the attention of mental health professionals, we hope to nudge them to get more information about finances and professional guidance. This will help mental health professionals practice financial self-care.

*When first names are used, they are meant to represent composite experiences noted by the authors and not a specific person.