

The Financial Therapy Podcast - It's Not Just About The Money
Rick Kahler
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 6, 2026 • 31min
#214 Cash on the Couch—Why Payment Is Part of Therapy
What if the way you pay is part of the therapy? Some psychoanalytic therapists ask for cash after each session—not for convenience, but because money itself reveals emotional truth. Forgetting to pay, overpaying, or haggling can uncover hidden dynamics worth exploring. Vessy explains how two sessions a week can go far deeper than one and why honest talk about fees is as essential as discussing feelings. When money enters the room, therapy gets real—and that’s where lasting change begins. #MoneyInTherapy #PsychoanalyticTherapy #FinancialTherapy #TherapyInsights #EmotionalDynamics #MoneyPsychology #TherapyProcess #BehindTheTherapyRoom #TherapeuticRelationship #HealingPatterns #DeepTherapyWork #MoneyMindset #EmotionalAwareness #TherapeuticChange #ExploringFeelings #TherapyConversation #MentalHealthPodcast #InnerWork #UnderstandingYourself #TherapyJourney 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..

Dec 30, 2025 • 32min
#213 The Moment the Brain Says “Oh… That’s Not True Anymore
Real change with money isn’t about willpower—it’s about the brain rewriting old rules. In this conversation, Rick and financial therapist Emily Shull explore how memory reconsolidation and IFS work together to transform money behavior. Emily explains the four elements of deep change and shares a powerful client story where a childhood belief about money secrecy dissolved, leading to honest communication instead of avoidance. It’s a clear, emotionally intelligent look at how understanding the brain can free us from outdated money patterns. #MoneyPsychology #FinancialTherapy #IFS #InternalFamilySystems #MemoryReconsolidation #BehaviorChange #MoneyMindset #EmotionalIntelligence #TraumaInformedFinance #MoneyHealing #WealthWellness #FinancialSelfAwareness #RewriteYourMoneyStory #Neuropsychology #BrainBasedChange #MoneyPatterns #FinancialGrowth #InnerWork #MoneyConsciousness 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..

Dec 16, 2025 • 29min
#212 -- The Financial Therapy Spectrum—Find Your Fit
Here’s a fresh way to choose the right “money-and-meaning” help: this conversation maps the entire financial therapy spectrum as a simple two-axis quadrant: financial to psychotherapy and shallow to deep, then shows where options like books, coaching, financial planning, CBT, IFS, and psychoanalysis actually sit, and how to know what you need; with guest Vessy Tasheva, Rick explores why credentials matter less than the therapeutic alliance, how identity and safety (gender, culture, lived experience) shape fit, and why histories like Bulgaria’s hyperinflation can drive powerful money scripts today, offering clear, human guidance for finding a professional who supports both your numbers and your nervous system. #FinancialTherapy #MoneyAndMeaning #MoneyMindset #TherapyAndFinance #FinancialWellness #MoneyHealing #MoneyPsychology #MoneyCoaching #FinancialGuidance #TherapeuticAlliance #MoneyScripts #MoneyIdentity #FinanceAndMentalHealth #MoneyAwareness #FindYourFit 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..

Dec 2, 2025 • 28min
#211 -- The Hidden Financial Harm of a Cult Community
When faith dictates money, the fallout can be devastating—especially for women. In this conversation with Sarah Carr, the focus turns to how rigid gender roles, abuse, and teachings like “God will provide” leave families financially vulnerable and women without autonomy. They explore how inherited beliefs around worthiness, guilt, and divine blessing shape earning potential, retirement savings, and even the courage to ask for a raise. From global inheritance laws to childhood prayers about the end of the world, the discussion shows how spiritual conditioning can sabotage financial security—and how awareness is the first step toward freedom. #WomenAndMoney #FinancialEmpowerment #MoneyAndFaith #GenderAndFinance #FinancialIndependence #MoneyMindset #FinancialFreedom #MoneyHealing #InheritedMoneyBeliefs #SpiritualConditioning #FinancialWellness #MoneyAwareness #WomenAndWealth #FinancialAutonomy #BreakingMoneyPatterns 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..

Nov 18, 2025 • 30min
#210 – Money, Belonging, and Trauma - How Cults Shape Financial Futures
What happens when belonging is tied to your bank account? This piece shows how cult-like religious environments turn “sacrificial giving” into financial control, leaving money scripts like “If I don’t give, I’ll be rejected.” Through client stories—including retirees pressured to keep giving—it highlights how loss of community magnifies money fears. Reframing generosity beyond dollars helps protect well-being while honoring values. The takeaway: healing means separating faith from finances with compassion so choices come from true values, not obligation. #MoneyAndBelonging #FinancialBoundaries #MoneyScripts #FaithAndFinance #HealthyGenerosity #FinancialWellness #MoneyHealing #FinancialEmpowerment #MoneyFreedom #ValuesBasedGiving #MoneyMindset #FinancialTherapy #HealingWithMoney #MoneyControl #MoneyAndFaith 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..

Nov 4, 2025 • 28min
#209 – Money is Like Skin – Trust, Boundaries, and Therapy
What if money works like skin—protecting, signaling, and setting boundaries? Dublin-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist and financial therapist Vessy Tasheva shares how trust, reliability, and clear limits shape the healing process. From earliest money memories and family genograms to the subtle ways clients “test” safety, she shows why financial therapy is about emotions, not advice. By holding consistent presence and boundaries, therapists help clients internalize stability, choice, and healthier relationships with money. #FinancialTherapy #MoneyMindset #EmotionalFinance #MoneyHealing #FinancialWellness #Psychotherapy #MoneyBoundaries #TrustAndMoney #MoneyPsychology #FamilyMoneyPatterns #MoneyEmotions #FinancialStability #TherapeuticBoundaries #MoneyHealingJourney #HealthyMoneyHabits 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..

Oct 21, 2025 • 29min
#208 Calming Market Anxiety with Facts, Not Headlines
Anxiety in the face of shifting headlines isn’t irrational—it often mirrors how state-controlled markets actually behave: lower returns, higher volatility, and a wobblier ride. The lesson isn’t to avoid these markets entirely, but to recognize their place in a diversified portfolio while resisting the urge to overreact when headlines spark fear. By slowing down, noticing which parts of us are panicking, and grounding our decisions in a clear investment policy, we can lead our worries instead of letting them lead us. #AnxietyAndMarkets #InvestorMindset #MarketVolatility #StateControlledMarkets #InvestmentAnxiety #FinancialWellBeing #InvestorPsychology #DiversifiedPortfolio #WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning #MoneyMindset #InvestmentStrategy #EmotionalInvesting #BehavioralFinance #FinancialTherapy 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..

Oct 7, 2025 • 25min
#207 Why Financial Wellness Isn’t Financial Independence
Rick Kahler unpacks a recent article in The Jerusalem Post that mistakenly equated financial well-being with financial independence, highlighting why the two are not the same. Drawing on research and his experience in financial therapy, he explains how financial wellness is about more than income or net worth—it’s about meeting obligations, feeling secure, and having choices. Just as importantly, he distinguishes between financial well-being and emotional well-being, showing why confusing the two can undermine both. Rick’s insights offer a clear reminder that true wellness requires attention to both the numbers and the emotions behind them. #RickKahler #FinancialWellBeing #FinancialIndependence #FinancialTherapy #FinancialWellness #EmotionalWellBeing #MoneyAndEmotions #FinancialSecurity #FinancialEducation #PersonalFinance #MoneyMindset #FinancialLiteracy #WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning #FinancialPsychology 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..

Sep 23, 2025 • 29min
#206 What Your Future Self Has to Say About Money
In this powerful episode, Rick Kahler and Joetta Johnson go beyond theory and guide listeners through a live hypnosis experience centered on connecting with their 80-year-old future self. Joetta explains how this practice, rooted in both hypnosis and Internal Family Systems (IFS), allows individuals to revisit painful financial memories, reframe limiting beliefs, and receive wisdom from their imagined elder self. Through symbols, sensations, and repeated affirmations, clients can rewrite the internal scripts that shape money behavior. The session emphasizes the emotional and neurological power of imagery, repetition, and felt safety, offering listeners not just insight but a tool they can use to create real, lasting change. 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..

Sep 9, 2025 • 30min
#205 Financial Hypnosis - What Science Says and Why It’s Not What You Think
In this insightful column, Rick Kahler explores how clinical hypnosis offers a profound yet underutilized method for transforming financial behavior. Drawing from Joetta Johnson’s expertise, he explains how hypnosis accesses the brain’s emotional memory systems—often the true source of irrational money behaviors like avoidance, overspending, or shutdown. Unlike logic-based approaches, hypnosis works by gently revisiting the subconscious beliefs formed in childhood, then updating them through emotional contradiction. This method, rooted in memory reconsolidation and aligned with Internal Family Systems (IFS), creates real, lasting change without bypassing client autonomy. For those stuck in financial patterns that defy strategy, hypnosis may be the bridge between awareness and transformation.#MoneyAndMindset, #FinancialHealing, #MoneyHypnosis, #WealthTransformation, #MindsetShift, #SubconsciousRewiring, #MoneyPatterns, #FinancialBehavior, #WealthMindset, #MoneyBeliefs, #BreakMoneyBlocks, #InnerWealth, #HypnosisForChange, #MoneyHealingJourney, #TransformYourMoneyStory, #EmotionalWealth, #MoneyMindsetMatters, #FinancialEmpowerment, #WealthGrowthMindset, #MoneyAndSelfWorth 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..


