Finances and Mental Health
How often does money come up in the therapy room? It can be hard to answer a question like this precisely, but data suggests that there is a relationship between our finances and mental health —including debt, spending habits, concerns about inflation, housing costs, fears about losing employment and more. According to a United Way survey in October 2025, 55% of Canadians feel anxious about their personal finances, and worries about money increase stress, impact sleep, relationships, ability to focus and more. Many people struggle with additional emotions such as shame and guilt about their finances, and develop deep beliefs about themselves as incapable or irresponsible. Others might feel they are not “far along enough” in their life goals compared to peers, or fear they will not be able to save enough to acquire shelter for a family, or to retire.
All of this suggests talking about finances more often in therapy makes a lot of sense. A therapist can be a nonjudgemental support who listens and helps sort out the issues themselves as well as the challenging emotions and limiting beliefs that might surround this issue. A therapist might also be able to point you to local supports such as Credit Counselling Guelph, financial literacy courses, budgeting apps such as Monarch, and podcasts on getting out of debt and improving financial decision making.
If this post is resonating with you, here are a few questions you could ask yourself to begin reflecting on your own experience of money and how this impacts your mental health:
- What words describe your relationship with money?
- What emotions do you notice coming up when you think about your financial needs, income, monthly spending and present debts?
- What kinds of things do you say to yourself about this area of your life?
-What beliefs do you hold about yourself in relationship with money, and how do these beliefs impact your sense of self and overall wellbeing?
Dovetailing accessing practical supports and making changes with exploring our emotions and noticing how financial circumstances are impacting our confidence and sense of self, can allow space for many levels of growth and freedom in how we engage life, work and spending in a tough economy. Struggling with money doesn’t have to be something you do alone; a therapist can support you in this area, and help you notice how financial issues are impacting other areas of life. And the good news is bringing change into one area, may impact the others positively too.
Credit Counselling Guelph:
https://nomoredebts.org/canada-credit-counselling/ontario/guelph
Financial Literacy Course
https://nomoredebts.org/canada-credit-counselling/ontario/guelph
Notes
Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash