The Financial Therapy Podcast - It's Not Just About The Money

Hosted by Rick Kahler

Business Education Health Fitness

Website RSS feed

Episodes

225

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Most financial experts focus solely on numbers, but Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, takes a deeper approach. With over 40 years of experience, Rick blends practical financial advice with powerful emotional insights to help you understand why you make the money decisions you do. Research shows that 90% of our financial choices are driven by emotions—not logic. Whether your habits seem irrational or confusing, Rick helps uncover the underlying beliefs and feelings influencing your behavior. It's about more than just building wealth; it’s about understanding the emotions that shape every financial decision. Tune in to The Financial Therapy Podcast to discover how better emotional awareness can lead to smarter financial choices. Explore more at thefinancialtherapypodcast.com .

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 9, 2026Episode 22530 min

#225 - Training for the Moment Money Gets Messy

Under the leadership of Dr. Megan Ford, the University of Georgia is training the next generation of financial therapists in a way few institutions can. Inside the Love and Money Center, financial planning students and couple and family therapy students learn side by side—sometimes even sitting together with real clients as money stress and relationship conflict unfold in real time. Rather than separating numbers from emotions, Dr. Ford’s model teaches future professionals how deeply intertwined they are and how to collaborate when those worlds collide. With low- to no-cost services for the community and structured supervision for students, this isn’t just interdisciplinary education—it’s the intentional shaping of a new profession #FinancialTherapy #FinancialTherapist #MoneyAndRelationships #FinancialPlanning #CouplesTherapy #FamilyTherapy #BehavioralFinance #MoneyMindset #FinancialWellness #FinancialEducation #UniversityOfGeorgia #FutureOfFinance #MoneyStress #RelationshipHealth #PersonalFinance A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

May 26, 2026Episode 22430 min

#224 How IFS Helps Financial Planners Create Real Change

Why do smart, capable people ignore advice they genuinely believe is good for them? In this episode, Joy Slabaugh—a CFP® and Certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist—joins the conversation to explore why behavior change rarely comes from better information alone. Joy explains how IFS helps financial planners understand the internal conflicts people experience around money, and why working with “parts” often succeeds where logic, pressure, and persuasion fail. The discussion reframes the advisor’s role—not as fixing or convincing—but as facilitating self-led clarity, trust, and follow-through, offering a powerful framework that benefits both the people seeking help and the professionals who serve them. #financialtherapy, #behavioralfinance, #moneymindset, #internalfamilysystems, #IFStherapy, #moneypsychology, #financialplanning, #advisorlife, #clientbehavior, #behaviorchange, #emotionalintelligence, #selfleadership, #mindsetmatters, #moneyhabits, #financialwellness, #trusttheprocess, #innerwork, #clientrelationships, #financialadvisor, #psychologyofmoney, #decisionmaking, #humanbehavior, #moneycoaching, #professionaldevelopment, #advisorypractice A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

May 12, 2026Episode 22329 min

#223 The Financial Industry’s Blind Spot – Trauma – with Joy Slabough

What if some of our most persistent money problems aren’t budgeting issues at all—but trauma responses we’ve never named? This conversation pushes past polite financial talk and questions some deeply held beliefs: that healing has to hurt, that more money means more fulfillment, and that trauma is either everywhere or nowhere at all. Joy offers a sharp critique of both the financial industry’s emotional avoidance and the therapy world’s discomfort with money, arguing that both miss what’s actually happening in people’s nervous systems. The result is an unflinching look at how money becomes unsafe, why shame keeps people stuck, and how labeling—or mislabeling—trauma can either support healing or quietly sabotage it. #financialtherapy, #moneymindset, #moneytrauma, #traumainformed, #nervoussystem, #financialwellness, #emotionalwealth, #moneyandmentalhealth, #healingandmoney, #traumahealing, #moneybeliefs, #financialhealing, #shameandmoney, #psychologyofmoney, #mindsetshift, #innerwork, #emotionalintelligence, #wealthconsciousness, #moneyhabits, #financialfreedomjourney, #somatichealing, #selfawareness, #behavioralfinance, #moneystories, #healingjourney A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

April 28, 2026Episode 22230 min

#222 The Emotional Wiring Behind Every Money Decision with Ed Coambs

Money has a way of exposing parts of us we’d rather not see, and as Ed Coambs, CFP, CFT makes clear in this conversation, wealth doesn’t protect us from that. Together, Rick and Ed unpack why money anxiety grows right alongside income, how attachment styles quietly shape our financial decisions, and why couples keep having the same money fights no matter how smart or successful they are. Through personal stories and hard-earned insight, they reveal the uncomfortable true story behind money stress—it’s rarely about spreadsheets and strategies, and almost always about safety, shame, connection, and the emotional wiring we bring into every financial choice. #financialtherapy, #moneymindset, #moneyandrelationships, #attachmentstyles, #financialstress, #moneyanxiety, #couplesandmoney, #relationshipgoals, #emotionalintelligence, #behavioralfinance, #psychologyofmoney, #mentalhealthawareness, #traumainformed, #innerwork, #healingjourney, #moneyhabits, #financialwellness, #wealthmindset, #financialplanning, #moneycoach, #selfawareness, #growthmindset, #therapytools, #couplestherapy, #communicationmatters, #moneystory, #financialhealth, #personalfinance, #emotionalhealth, #mindsetshift A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

April 14, 2026Episode 22130 min

#221 How Your Enneagram Type Is Running Your Money

Most of our money struggles don’t start with numbers—they start with personality. In this conversation, Rick sits down with Khara Croswaite Brindle to explore how each Enneagram type relates to money in strikingly different ways. Achievers often tie worth to financial success, helpers give until their own security erodes, loyalists manage money through anxiety and vigilance, and enthusiasts stay focused on what’s next rather than what’s sustainable. Through stories, research, and lived experience, the discussion reveals that money behaviors are rarely about discipline or intelligence—they’re about protection. When we understand how our Enneagram type views safety, control, belonging, and freedom, money stops being a moral issue and becomes an invitation to self-awareness and compassion. #financialtherapy, #moneymindset, #enneagram, #enneagramtypes, #personalgrowth, #selfawareness, #moneystory, #behavioralfinance, #emotionalintelligence, #mentalhealthmatters, #therapytools, #innerwork, #healingjourney, #moneyhabits, #financialwellness, #mindsetshift, #traumainformed, #selfcompassion, #growthmindset, #moneymindsetcoach, #therapistsupport, #burnoutrecovery, #financialhealth, #psychologyofmoney, #wealthmindset, #personaldevelopment, #consciousliving, #moneyandemotions, #enneagramcoach, #financialfreedom A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

March 31, 2026Episode 22031 min

#220 The Hard Truth Khara Croswaite Shares About Financial Therapy

Financial therapy isn’t about having the right tools—it’s about having the courage to face your own money story first. In this conversation, Khara Croswaite speaks candidly about burnout, money avoidance, and the quiet damage that can happen when helpers skip their own inner work. Through her path from mental health therapy to financial therapy, a hard truth emerges: we can’t ethically ask clients to go places we refuse to go ourselves. Rick reflects on why vulnerability—not polish or credentials—is what builds trust, why so many therapists struggle with money in silence, and how financial therapy often becomes a second career precisely because it demands depth, humility, and lived experience. #FinancialTherapy #FinancialLifePlanning #MoneyPsychology #BehavioralFinance #HumanFirst #BeyondTheNumbers #InnerWork #MoneyStory #MoneyWounds #EmotionalMoney #EthicalPractice #DoYourOwnWork #SelfLeadership #InternalFamilySystems #IFS #PartsWork #SystemsThinking #FamilySystems #IntegrativePsychology #PersonalDevelopment #SelfAwareness #InnerClarity #EmotionalAwareness #HealingJourney #SelfDiscovery #FutureOfFinance #ProfessionalDevelopment #FinancialProfessionals #TherapistsOfInstagram #SecondCareer #PurposeDrivenWork #DeepListening #ClientCentered #MoneyAndRelationships #RelationshipPatterns #TrustBuilding #TransformationalConversations #BurnoutRecovery #TherapistBurnout #MoneyAvoidance #VulnerabilityInLeadership #AuthenticConversations #RealTalk #DeepConversations #ThoughtLeadership #HumanCentered #LivedExperience #FinancialWellbeing A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

March 17, 2026Episode 21930 min

#219 - Stop Guessing Your Enneagram—Ask Your Parts Instead

What if the fastest path to your Enneagram type wasn’t testing or theory—but listening to your parts? In this conversation, Rick Kahler and Enneagram veteran Joan Ryan explore a powerful, emerging approach: using Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a direct pathway to accurate Enneagram typing. Joan explains how the Enneagram offers a reliable map of core motivations, while IFS provides the method to investigate them from the inside—by working with managers, protectors, and long-held fears. Together, they show how identifying which parts prioritize certainty, bonding, or agency can reveal your true Enneagram center and type, often correcting years of mis-typing. It’s a client-led, curiosity-based process that replaces guessing with inner clarity—and deepens both personal growth and financial therapy.#Enneagram #InternalFamilySystems #IFS #PersonalityAndParts #SelfUnderstanding A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

March 3, 2026Episode 21827 min

#218 -The Gray Space Between Life Planning and Therapy with Lillian Turner

What happens in the wide gray space between financial therapy and life planning? In this rich, unscripted conversation, Rick explores that question with a next-generation leader who brings both heart and rigor to the future of financial planning. Together, they unpack the difference between “snorkeling” and “scuba diving” with clients, why deep listening and long pauses can be more transformative than advice, and how practitioners can responsibly navigate emotional territory without overstepping their role. Along the way, they touch on the power of George Kinder’s Three Questions, the limits of traditional CFP training, the growing influence of Internal Family Systems, and why doing your own inner work may be the most important professional development of all. It’s a candid look at where the profession is headed—and what it takes to truly put humans first.#FinancialLifePlanning #FinancialTherapy #HumanFirst #ValuesBasedPlanning #BehavioralFinance A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

February 17, 2026Episode 21729 min

#217 Dr. Megan Ford - The Real Money Problem Isn’t the Money

What happens when money struggles, relationship patterns, and personal history all collide in the same room? In this wide-ranging and deeply human conversation, Rick Kahler sits down with Dr. Megan Ford to explore how financial therapy grew out of systems thinking, why “fixing one person” rarely fixes anything, and how our earliest money wounds quietly shape our adult lives. Megan shares her journey from marriage and family therapy into financial therapy, including her own money avoidance and the self-work required to become an effective healer. Together, they unpack the importance of therapists and financial professionals doing their own inner work, the role of evidence-based practice in financial therapy, and why lasting financial change almost always requires looking inward—not just at numbers, but at relationships, beliefs, and emotional patterns that drive financial behavior. #FinancialTherapy #MoneyPsychology #MoneyMindset #BehavioralFinance #EmotionalMoney #MoneyStories #MoneyWounds #FinancialHealing A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..

February 3, 2026Episode 21628 min

#216 When Emotional Safety Shapes What We Call Financial Truth

When financial conversations start sounding like political debates, something deeper is going on, and this piece explores why facts can feel threatening when emotions take the driver’s seat. It highlights how polarization has eroded our shared understanding of basic economic principles, leaving advisors torn between honesty and clients’ emotional reactions. Drawing on the lens of financial therapy, it reveals how identity, fear, and belonging shape our interpretation of financial truth, and why both clients and advisors must learn to regulate their own internal “parts” to stay grounded. The heart of the message is simple but powerful: emotional awareness isn’t a soft skill—it’s a financial one, and reclaiming it may be the only way to restore trust in objective guidance. #FinancialTherapy #MoneyAndEmotions #EmotionalAwareness #FinancialPsychology #MoneyMindset #FinancialTruth #BehavioralFinance #MoneyBeliefs #IdentityAndMoney #EmotionsAndFinance #AdvisorClientTrust #FinancialWellness #MoneyConversations #Polarization #SelfRegulation A podcast that blends the nuts and bolts of financial advice with the emotions that drive our money decisions. Join Rick Kahler, CFP®, CFT™, as he blends practical financial wisdom with the emotional insights that shape our choices. Discover how financial therapy can help you make money decisions that truly align with your values..