We became interested in the psychology of money after I had a traumatic event. I lost half of my money in the Technology Bubble burst in 2000. It hurt. The impact of that event led me on a path of self-discovery, where I questioned how an intelligent and well-educated psychologist could make such an enormous financial mistake. At the same time, my father Ted, was examining his relationship with money, and was on a search of his own for answers. Shortly thereafter we met a financial planner named Rick Kahler, CFP®, and attended a financial planning workshop together that he was presenting based on the work of George Kinder, CFP®. For years Rick had been aware that people often seem to self-destruct around money, even when they knew better. He began looking for answers in the world of psychology.
With a shared passion we combined our psychological expertise with Rick’s financial planning background and in 2002 launched the first Healing Money Issues workshop at Onsite Workshops, Inc. The program was featured in Jeff Zaslow’s “Moving On” column in the Wall Street Journal. The program evolved and improved over the years, and our work together resulted in three books on the psychology of money. After participating in this 5-day workshop blending psychotherapy with financial education, clients began reporting dramatic changes. We knew we were on to something.
Being a clinical psychologist, I wanted to conduct a scientific study to see if the program was indeed as effective as we thought it might be. The study was completed in 2007 and published in September 2008 in the American Psychological Association’s peer-reviewed journal Psychological Services. It was one of the first studies ever conducted on the treatment of disordered money behaviors, and revealed that clients experienced significant and lasting improvements in financial health and decreases in money worries, anxiety, and depression after participating in the program. Several weeks later I pitched the study to the New York Times, who wrote a feature on our work with clients, titled “How to Treat a Money Disorder.” At that time, due to the beginning of the economic crisis, the psychological aspects of money was becoming a topic of great interest to the media, financial professionals, mental health professionals, and the public.
The day the New York Times piece came out, my phone began ringing off the hook. I was flooded with media inquires from all the major television networks, radio stations, and newspapers across the globe. The idea of “money disorders” and their treatment resonated with so many people, as America was coming to grips with the consequences of our out-of-control overspending, debt, and financial stress. One of the calls came from ABC’s Good Morning America. As news stories go, they wanted to run something right away in Nashville. Thankfully, Ted was available for the interview and the piece was a big hit. He was interviewed by Juju Chang, who sensed there was more to the story than could be featured in a 2 minute piece.
Shortly thereafter, the producers of “20/20” decided they wanted to film our work with clients. Ted and I had several discussions about whether or not this is something we were willing to do, as the welfare of our clients is our primary concern. After consulting with others in our field, we decided that the potential benefit of exposing the very common but under diagnosed and under treated area of money disorders to the public would be of benefit. After 6 months of working out the details, on April 2009, ABC News “20/20” began filming at Onsite Workshops in Tennessee.
Clients were recruited from the ABC website and through group email invitations and asked if they wanted to be on “20/20”. Despite their agreement to have all aspects of their work in the program filmed, Ted and I held firm on not allowing “20/20” to do any taping of the actual group psychotherapy process. With client safety as our primary concern, and the unpredictability about what may emerge in psychotherapy, we decided that it would be in our clients’ best interest and the effectiveness of the process to not have the therapy filmed. Instead, we gave “20/20” access to the educational components as well as special group meetings in which participants shared their experiences and insights in view of the cameras.
Any fears we had about the story being sensationalized or our being put in difficult situations were quickly resolved as we got to know the piece’s producer Michael Pressman and Associate Producer Christine Murphy Costello. With an eye on capturing a compelling story, they were incredibly respectful of our work and our client’s well-being. At one point a client spontaneously invited the producers and camera crew to watch her therapy work, but they respectfully declined, acknowledging that it wouldn’t feel right to do it. Their professionalism, compassion, and concern for the welfare of our participants far exceeded our expectations.
On the last day of the program, the participants shared their experiences in a very emotional and touching closing. All said they had gained significant insights, had changed some of their fundamental money attitudes, and all left with commitments to make behavioral changes. I had given all the participants several tests before the program and after the program, to see what, if anything had changed. As a group, they showed a 42% reduction in symptoms and severity of anxiety, 36% reduction in depression, 18% improvement in financial health, and 10% reduction in symptoms of compulsive buying. These findings were very similar to those we found in our original study. However, making the changes stick is the most important part. To test for lasting improvements, I sent the assessments to all the participants early this month, and should have them all back and tallied by August. If they are similar to previous groups, we will likely see that the anxiety and depression levels have remained reduced and the financial health and symptoms of compulsive buying have continued to improve dramatically as clients have put their aftercare program into place.
We have not had contact with the participants since April, but “20/20” has. They have followed several of the participants to their homes to see what, if any actual financial changes have taken place since the program. Last week, Ted and I flew to New York City, where we met with Michael Pressman and Juju Chang for some follow-up interviews. Juju interviewed Ted on camera for several hours. It was an engaging interview, and Ted did a great job. It was a pleasure to see Michael again, and Juju was a joy to work with. She was a consummate professional with a clear dedication to making the world a better place. She had very thoughtful and challenging questions.
The “20/20” piece is set to run Friday, July 31st. We really have no idea what the final piece will look like, or what impact it will have. We do know that they have asked to see portions of our new book “Mind Over Money: Overcoming the Money Disorders That Threaten Our Financial Health” due for release December 29 from Broadway Business, a division of Random House. (Watch the actual aired story here in 2 parts)
My hope is that many people who are suffering in shame and silence with the devastating effects of financial stress and disordered money behaviors will see the piece and realize that they are not crazy and are not alone. I want them to hear that money disorders such as compulsive buying are just as common as depression in our society. I hope they recognize that there is help out there. I also hope that the piece will inspire members of the mental health community to take notice of disordered money behaviors, begin assessing their clients for them, and begin offering counseling and support. If you wonder if your financially healthy, take our free 5 minute test now.
