A Therapeutic-informed Financial Counseling Approach to 'Money Dysmorphia’: Reframing Perceived Fina

The July 2025 Financial Counseling community call with AFCPE and FPA will be held on Thursday, July 17th at 12 pm ET.

Guest speaker Heath Carelock will be presenting, "A Therapeutic-informed Financial Counseling Approach to 'Money Dysmorphia’: Reframing Perceived Financial Insecurity and Unlocking Healthy Financial Behavior."

This session introduces a therapeutic-informed framework for understanding money dysmorphia—when clients experience a mismatch between their financial facts and internal sense of financial sufficiency. Money dysmorphia is not caused by financial instability, but by distorted self-perception rooted in comparison, fear, and ‘internalized scarcity’. Drawing on financial counseling and therapeutic tools, ranging from Solutions-focused framing to Motivational Interviewing—as well as adaptable insights from body dysmorphia treatment and an exploration of literary, theological, academic, and experiential bases—this session equips professionals to recognize irrational money fears, support client reorientation to reality, and foster sustainable behavior rooted in facts, not fear.