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Money and your psyche can be deeply intertwined, and that’s where financial therapy can play a role. Financial therapy merges the emotional support of a psychotherapist with the money insights of a financial planner.

Working with a financial therapist can help clients begin to process their underlying feelings about money while optimizing behaviors related to their cash. This can minimize stress and anxiety, while honing plans for earning, spending, and saving more effectively.

Financial therapists can also assist couples in overcoming differences in their money habits and their approaches to cash management. The result? Possibly resolving and lessening money fights while building teamwork.

Read on to learn if this kind of professional counseling could help you, and, if that’s the case, what to expect from financial therapy and where to find a qualified professional.

What Is Financial Therapy?

A basic financial therapy definition is that it’s a practice that combines behavioral therapy with financial coaching. The goal is to help improve an individual’s feelings and behavior around money.

A certified financial therapist (or financial psychologist) can assist with issues such as money stress, overspending, or concerns about debt. But this differs from, say, a financial advisor who is helping you maximize your gain on investments or plan for your child’s future college expenses.

It also differs from financial coaching, which helps establish good money habits. Financial therapy can go deeper psychologically speaking. It can help a person work through childhood trauma related to money as well as money-related disorders.

How Financial Therapy Works

According to the Financial Therapy Association (FTA) , financial therapy is a process informed by both therapeutic and financial expertise that helps people think, feel, and behave differently with money to improve overall well-being.

The profession sprang out of increasing evidence that money can be intrinsically tied to our hopes, frustrations, and fears, and also have a significant impact on our mental health.

What’s more, money can also have a major impact on our relationships. Indeed, research has shown that fighting about money is one of the top causes of conflict among couples.

And, while it might seem like bad habits and money arguments are things you can simply resolve on your own, the reality is that it’s often not that simple. That’s where financial therapy can help.

•   Many financial roadblocks, such as chronic overspending or constantly worrying about money, often aren’t exclusively financial. In many cases, psychological, relational, and behavioral issues are also at play.

•   Financial therapy can help patients recognize problematic behaviors, such as compulsive or impulsive shopping. It also aims to help people understand how various relationships and experiences may have led them to develop those behaviors as coping mechanisms or to form unrealistic or unhealthy beliefs.

•   Along with offering practical financial advice, a financial therapist can reduce the feelings of shame, anxiety, and fear related to money. It can help people who are struggling to recommit to money goals.

The reasons why financial therapy can help are the same as why traditional psychological therapy can help: It can lead people to understand that they can do something to improve their situation. That, in turn, can instigate changes and healthier behaviors.

Like conventional therapy, the number of sessions needed will vary, depending on the situation. A financial therapy relationship can last from a few months to longer.

Generally, a financial therapist’s work is “done” when you feel your finances are orderly and you have the skills to keep them that way in the future.

Recommended: Tips for Recovering from Money Addiction

Financial Therapists vs. Financial Advisors

Financial advisors are professionals who help manage your money.

They are typically well-informed about their clients’ specific situations and can help with any number of money-related tasks, such as managing investments, brokering the purchase of stocks and funds, or creating a retirement plan.

However, psychological therapy is not why financial advisors are hired, nor is it their area of expertise.

If a person requires real emotional support or needs help breaking bad money habits, a licensed mental health professional, such as a financial therapist, should likely be involved.

A certified financial therapist (someone trained by the FTA) can work with you specifically on the emotional aspects of your relationship with money and provide support that gets to the root of deeper issues.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of financial therapy, professionals who enroll in FTA education and certification include psychologists, marriage and family therapists, social workers, financial planners, accountants, counselors, and coaches. Some experts recommend being sure that the professional you work with is first and foremost a licensed therapist with a deep understanding of psychology.

Financial Therapy vs. Other Therapy

If you are having issues related to money (say, losing sleep due to anxiety or arguing with your partner about spending), you might think almost any mental health professional could help.

A financial therapist, however, can be your best bet in this situation. These professionals have special training and expertise related to how money can impact a person’s emotional wellness.

They also are also trained in techniques to help clients overcome issues related to money. In other words, they are laser-focused on the kind of emotional responses and problematic habits that crop up around money.

Do You Need a Financial Therapist?

If you’re considering whether a financial therapist could help you, you may want to think about your general relationship to money.

If you feel you have anxiety about money, or unhealthy behaviors and feelings when it comes to spending, budgeting, saving, or investing, you might benefit from exploring financial therapy.

Often, unhealthy saving, spending, or working habits are a symptom of other negative habits related to mental health (feelings of low self-worth, for instance).

Keep in mind that it’s possible to have an unhealthy relationship with money even if your finances are good on paper.

Top 4 Reasons People Seek Financial Therapists

Here’s a more specific look at why a person might benefit from financial therapy.

1. Avoiding Money Management

Some people hide from their finances. They don’t budget, don’t know exactly how much they earn, pay bills late (or not at all). Working with a financial therapist could expose the root of this behavior and improve financial management.

2. Money Stress

Many people have anxiety around their money. This could involve worrying about how they will pay off their debt to worrying about going bankrupt, even though they are earning a good salary. Others may feel guilty about spending money or carry a lot of trauma about money from their childhood. A financial therapist can work to explore and resolve these emotions.

3. Fighting About Finances

If you often argue with your partner, friends, or other loved ones about money, you might find that a financial therapist can help you defuse this source of tension. It can help couples deal with what’s known as financial infidelity.

4. Poor Money Habits

Do you tend to “shop til you drop” when bored? Have you spent or gambled away your emergency fund? Do you overwork yourself in an effort to accumulate wealth? Do you tend to hop from one “get rich quick” scheme to another? A financial therapist could help you break these habits and develop new, beneficial ones.

These are some of the scenarios that a financial therapist could help you with.

Finding a Financial Therapist

Like choosing any therapist, you often need to shop around a bit to find the right fit—someone you feel you can relate to, trust, and you also feel understands you.

For those who may not have access to a financial therapy professional in their backyard, many offer services via video conferencing.

You can start your search with the Find A Financial Therapist tool on the FTA website, which features members and lists their credentials and specialties.

Your accountant or financial counselor might also be a good source of referrals.

As with choosing any other financial expert or mental health professional, it’s a good idea to speak with a few potential candidates. In your initial conversations with candidates, you may want to discuss the therapist’s training and specific area of expertise, as well as your needs and situation. This can help you assess how good a match they are.

It can also be a good idea to ask how long they have been providing financial therapy services, what their fees are, as well as if some or all of the fee may be covered by your medical insurance.

The Takeaway

Financial therapy merges financial with emotional support to help people deal with and improve stress, decision-making, and habit-forming related to money.

If you frequently feel stressed and/or overwhelmed when you think about money (or you simply avoid thinking about money as much as possible), you might be able to benefit from at least a few sessions of financial therapy.

While it might seem like hiring a financial therapist is another expense that could complicate an already difficult financial situation, it might be better to view it as an investment in your emotional and financial wellness, one that could help you build financial stability and wealth in the future. It can be an important facet of your overall money management.

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What does a financial therapist do?

A financial therapist combines expertise in psychology and finances to help people improve their attitudes toward money and their habits relating to money. They can help individuals manage such issues as money anxiety, overspending, and financial infidelity.

Is financial therapy the same as financial planning?

Financial therapy and financial planning are not the same thing. Financial therapy can help a person improve their attitude toward money and their behaviors related to money. Financial planning is focused on budgeting, debt management, and growth of wealth.

Can therapy help with finances?

Therapy can help with finances. You might have stress related to money due to childhood trauma centered on finances. Or you might be compulsively overspending or ignoring your money due to emotions about such matters. Financial therapy could help you work through these and other issues.

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When companies reduce the dividends they pay investors, or stop paying them altogether, it can mean different things. Sometimes it’s a result of lower earnings or a shortage of available cash. Other times, a company is uncertain about the future, and wants to keep cash on hand to protect it against unforeseen risks or seize unexpected opportunities.

And sometimes, it’s because the company’s leadership thinks they can offer shareholders more value by investing the cash currently earmarked for dividends back into the business itself.

A Look At How Dividends Work

The reason that a company will offer a dividend in the first place is to reward shareholders. In some cases, companies pay dividends only to preferred stock shareholders, or pay a higher rate to certain classes of shareholders than others.

Most companies offer the regular cash payouts because management believes that paying a dividend is a better use of that capital than any strategic growth opportunities the company would otherwise invest in.

Companies that offer dividends are usually established businesses in mature industries, such as healthcare or utilities. They typically pay out their dividends on a regular schedule, annually, semi-annually, or even monthly.

Investors often rely on dividends, either as part of their investing strategy, or as a source of income. Dividend-paying stocks are especially popular among retirees, who use the income to help cover living expenses. Companies suspending dividends run the risk of alienating a sizable portion of their shareholders.

It’s important for investors to understand why a company in their portfolio has cut its dividend, and to use that information to determine whether that stock still makes sense for their broader investing strategy or whether it might be time to sell the stock. Sometimes when a company cuts its dividend, its stock price will also fall.


💡 Quick Tip: Before opening any investment account, consider what level of risk you are comfortable with. If you’re not sure, start with more conservative investments, and then adjust your portfolio as you learn more.

Examples of Dividend Cuts

History has provided many examples of companies that reduced, suspended or eliminated their dividends. We’ll start with a recent example, and cite several others from the past few years.

Intel — Dividend Reduction

In early 2023, Intel announced that it was cutting its quarterly dividend by almost two-thirds. That put the company’s dividends at their lowest levels since before the financial crisis in 2007. Intel’s leadership cited slowing business growth and an attempt to reallocate capital as the primary reasons for the dividend reduction.

Meredith Corp. — Dividend Suspension

In April of 2020, media company Meredith Corp, suspended its dividend payments. The move came just over two months after it had announced a dividend hike. The company eliminated its dividend amid widespread reductions in expenditures, including salary cuts after it had seen significant advertising cancellations and delays.

Antero Midstream — Dividend Reduction

In February of 2021, Antero Midstream reduced its dividend by 27%. The company, which builds and operates pipelines, storage facilities and other infrastructure for natural gas, and water handling and treatment, cut the dividend in order to grow.

By cutting its annual dividend from $1.23 a share to just 90 cents, Antero Midstream was able to free up an estimated $65 million to invest in new infrastructure. Unlike some other companies who eliminate or trim their dividend because of business reversals, Antero made the move in response to promising signals about growth opportunities. Even with the cut, the company maintained a 10.3% dividend.

Estee Lauder — Dividend Suspension and Reinstatement

Also in 2020, Estee Lauder announced it would suspend its dividend payments. At the time, the cosmetics giant paid an annual dividend of $1.92. The company projected that as fewer people went out socially during the pandemic at the time, they’d spend less on makeup — a projection proven correct. At the time, the company also announced other spending cuts, suspending stock buybacks and cutting executive pay by as much as 30%.

But as shops, restaurants, and bars began reopening in the first quarter of 2021, makeup sales also rose. As Estee Lauder benefited from higher sales it responded by reinstating its quarterly dividend. In May of 2021, it announced a quarterly dividend of 53 cents per share.

Healthpeak Properties — Dividend Reduction

Healthpeak Properties, a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on properties related to life sciences, medical offices and senior housing, cut its quarterly dividend payment in February of 2021 from 37 cents per share to 30 cents per share.

At the time, Healthpeak had $1.6 billion in free cash flow. But it had concerns about the future, given the potential of recent pandemic-related mortalities to drive down demand for senior housing. Its net income in 2020, at $413.6 million, was already much lower than the $787 million it had made in dividend payouts in 2020. The dividend reduction freed up an estimated $150 million in cash flow for Healthpeak, which the company intended to use to transition its holdings away from senior housing.

National CineMedia — Dividend Reduction

During the pandemic, people stopped going to the movies. That had a major impact on theater chains, but also on companies like National CineMedia, which sells pre-screening advertising at theaters across the United States.

That’s why the company cut its quarterly dividend from seven cents to five cents per quarter in early March of 2021. At the time of the cut, the company was in solid financial shape, with enough cash to cover its expenses. But even with ample cash, the company trimmed its dividend amid concerns about how long it will take for theaters to return to pre-pandemic normals.

The Walt Disney Company — Dividend Suspension

In May of 2020, The Walt Disney Company announced it would suspend its dividend payments due to the impact of the coronavirus on its theme parks.

The dividend suspension occurred as the company’s earnings had plummeted due to the pandemic. By eliminating its semi-annual dividend, which it had kept at 88 cents a share since 2018, the company saved $1.6 billion of much-needed cash to preserve liquidity.

While Disney has not announced plans to reinstate its dividend, the company’s entry into the video-streaming business with its Disney+ service has many investors looking at the stock as less of an income investment, and more as a long-term growth play.


💡 Quick Tip: All investments come with some degree of risk — and some are riskier than others. Before investing online, decide on your investment goals and how much risk you want to take.

The Takeaway

Companies cut their dividends for many reasons, using the move as a way to preserve cash for future investments or during uncertain times. While investing in dividend stocks can be a smart way to generate income or increase returns on a portfolio, it’s important for investors to understand that dividends are not guaranteed in perpetuity and to consider changes in a company’s dividend payout as one factor in analyzing the value of that stock.

If you want to make dividends an important component in your investing strategy, you’ll need to do a good amount of research. There’s also some luck involved — you never know what might inspire companies to cut dividends.

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