You talk about THAT in therapy? Yes. Everyone should.
Lately, there has been a lot of conversation around insurance companies and the impact they are having on the mental health field. Last week NPR released an article based on the dynamic between therapists and insurance, and why it has become untenable for so many therapists to accept private insurance.
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/08/24/nx-s1-5028551/insurance-therapy-therapist-mental-health-coverage
In the NPR article, they reference several therapists who have second jobs. Tons of people I’ve talked to are surprised to hear that a professional medical provider, their therapist, may need to have a second stream of income in order to make ends meet. It was even alarming for them that their care providers would be under so much stress and financial strain.
Financial burden is a topic I’ve been bumping up against a lot lately. My parents are aging and have a fixed income, my therapist friends are all considering business changes, a friend just lost a job and had to hire a lawyer which cost money, and I have personally been trying to learn better skills around money for my business. Money stressors are everywhere.
Poverty is a trauma I personally have lived through. In many ways it helped me become compassionate, creative, and flexible (and slightly hilarious). It also deeply affected the way I manage and relate to money in my daily life, in my business, and in many of my relationships: *cue scene where my friend and I come to blows while trying to fight for the check at dinner*
Let’s be clear – poverty is something that affects your physical and mental wellness. The majority of trauma is that way, but poverty specifically causes things like being malnourished, excessive fatigue, difficulty making clear decisions, I could go on. It isn’t isolated to panic attacks around checking your bank account the day before pay day. There are even articles written about the “culture of poverty”, the subset of culture in which people must learn specific and separate skills due to their money constraints. An example would be learning how to ride public transportation, as opposed to having their own car.
I started this blog post with the NPR article to show that therapists are not immune to money struggles. We participate in a health care system that perpetuates the false narrative that if you want to help people, you must live a life of destitution. Side note: Amazing members of the mental health field are working to change this narrative, but we have a long way to go.
If you’re working through trauma with your therapist, please do not underestimate the impact your financial situation has had on your trauma. The inability to have access to necessary resources is the foundation for so many life struggles – self-medication with hard drugs or alcohol, having to work in risky conditions, not getting access to good healthcare, not having the food you need or a safe place to live. All these things contribute to our mental health.
I would argue it is not only appropriate to talk with your therapist about money, its essential for holistic healing. We cannot excuse ourselves from our capitalistic society (which, frankly, is its own issue), so we need to gain skills to live through it. For example, it would be super valuable to able to self soothe when you’re unable to sleep from worrying about paying the bills or communicate about your partner’s excessive spending on legos or funko pops, without causing your relationship to implode.
Seriously, your therapist wants to help you in every area of your life. Please share with them. Even if it’s only commiseration about how badly it sucks to be on a budget or make hard decisions, sharing the worries and feelings of overwhelm will probably make you feel better.
