Can Psychotherapy Help With Poor Financial Skills
The answer to the above question is apparently so. A research project was undertaken with poor mothers in Pakistan. This was conducted by the University of Melbourne. This study showed that a psychotherapeutic course of treatment, in this case CBT, did not only have a positive impact on the mothers mental state, but also had a distinct and measurable positive impact on how they managed their finances. There was a link shown between depression and finance. Not so much that being poor made you more unhappy, but rather how depression effects people’s ability to manage their own wellbeing. Financial planning is a major factor in a person’s well being.
This is not a surprise to most therapists, I would imagine. Many of us see more and more clients who attend therapy for whatever reason talking more and more about their finances. Debt being a real hamper to good mental health. I know in some of my sessions, I am spending time helping them to find resources to help them to manage their debt more effectively and that management when implemented has a real positive impact on the therapeutic work we do. It goes to show, that we therapists need to take a global view of our clients rather than simply looking at their issues in isolation.
