Fact 1: Financial stresses can ruin a marriage.
Fact 2: Financial stresses can affect your mental health.
Fact 3: Financial stresses can damage your self-confidence.
According to a survey by Desjardins Financial Security, money or the lack of it is the main source of stress for 44% of the population and it is keeping people from being healthy.
Next to smoking, weight, and addiction, financial stress is the most common reason why people seek counseling or therapy.
People always question the practicality of spending money on counseling about a problem caused by the lack of money.
But perhaps the best metaphor is a leaky tank and an empty gas.
Yes, you need to have gas so that your car will run, but you need to fix the leak as well so that nothing will be wasted.
That is what counseling can do for those suffering from financial stress.
It helps the person make sense of the experience, identify the roots of the stress (oftentimes it is not so much money but spending habits and lifestyle choices), discover options, plot a clear financial recovery plan, and find the energy and the drive to make important decisions in life.
As my clients have discovered, counseling is not an expense, it is an investment.
