Financial Therapy in Boston
Most people understand what they are supposed to do with money. Save more. Spend less. Open the statement. Make the call. Have the conversation. And yet something gets in the way — not ignorance, not a lack of discipline, but something older and more personal than either of those.
Financial therapy is clinical work focused on that something. At Health Psychology Associates, Emmie Waterman, LMHC, helps individuals understand the emotions, beliefs, and patterns shaping their financial decisions, so they can make choices with greater clarity, confidence, and alignment with their values.
Ready to begin? Contact us: bostonhealthpsych.com/contact | 617-882-2363
What is Financial Therapy?
Financial therapy is a specialized clinical field that sits at the intersection of psychotherapy and financial psychology. It addresses the emotional and behavioral dimensions of money that financial planning, budgeting tools, and practical advice cannot reach.
It is distinct from:
Financial planning — which works with budgets, investments, and long-term strategy
Financial coaching — which focuses on accountability and behavior change skills
Debt counseling — which addresses specific financial situations and creditors
Financial therapy goes deeper. It examines the beliefs formed in childhood, the patterns absorbed from family, the anxiety or shame activated around money, and the relational dynamics that make financial conversations so charged between partners. When those underlying drivers are understood, the behavior change that felt impossible often becomes sustainable.
“Even when I understood the numbers, I was not always making decisions that aligned with the plan. My financial choices were being shaped by anxiety, comparison, scarcity, and beliefs I had developed about money over the course of my life. As I became more aware of those patterns, I found myself making decisions that were calmer, more intentional, and more aligned with my long-term goals instead of my short-term fears.” — Emmie Waterman, LMHC
What Financial Therapy Addresses
Financial anxiety and the feeling of being behind
Financial anxiety does not always correspond to financial reality. Many people who are objectively financially stable carry persistent worry about money — a sense that they are behind their peers, that security is fragile, that something is about to go wrong. For high achievers and graduate students in particular, financial anxiety often coexists with strong income or earning potential, which makes it harder to name and easier to dismiss. Therapy addresses the anxiety itself, not just the circumstances it attaches to.
Avoidance
Avoiding bank statements. Putting off taxes. Declining to look at debt balances—deflecting conversations about money with a partner. Avoidance is one of the most common financial behaviors and one of the most difficult to address with practical tools alone, because it is not a knowledge problem. It is an anxiety problem. Financial therapy identifies what the avoidance is protecting against and builds the capacity to engage with what has felt too overwhelming to face.
Compulsive financial behaviors
Spending, saving, and accumulating can all function as emotional regulation strategies. Shopping as comfort. Hoarding as security. Compulsive generosity as a way of managing guilt or self-worth. When financial behavior is serving a psychological need, behavior change efforts typically fail until the underlying need is understood. Financial therapy addresses both.
Identity, culture, and the psychology of money
The beliefs we carry about money are rarely chosen. They are absorbed from family, community, and culture, and often conflict with one another. Emmie brings particular clinical depth to the intersection of financial psychology and identity, including:
Self-worth tied to income, career achievement, or external financial markers
Perfectionism leading to over-saving, financial paralysis, or an inability to spend on oneself
Asian American and multiracial clients navigating cultural expectations around financial success, obligation, and family support
LGBTQ+ clients making financial decisions while navigating family relationships, chosen family, and access to traditional financial structures
Intergenerational scarcity — the lasting psychological imprint of poverty, financial instability, or economic trauma in family history, even when present circumstances have changed
Messages about success, obligation, and financial independence that create internal conflict between personal values and inherited expectations
Money conflict in relationships
Financial conflict is consistently cited as one of the leading sources of tension in relationships, but the conflict is rarely about money itself. It is about values, trust, power, fear, and the financial histories each partner brings to the relationship. Emmie currently works with individuals on relationship money dynamics and will be expanding to couples in the future. If you and your partner are navigating financial conflict, contact us to discuss what format makes the most sense for your situation.
Financial transitions and life changes
Inheriting money. Going through divorce and becoming the primary earner for the first time, graduating with significant student loan debt, and losing a job and selling a business. Retiring. Major financial transitions carry psychological weight that practical guidance alone does not address. Financial therapy provides the clinical support to navigate these moments without being driven by fear, guilt, or unexamined patterns.
Who We Work With
Financial therapy at HPA is particularly well-suited for:
High-achieving professionals whose sense of financial security has not kept pace with their income
Graduate and professional students at BU, MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, and other Boston-area universities are navigating student loan stress, early-career financial anxiety, and the psychological weight of financial decisions made under pressure.
Individuals whose avoidance of financial tasks is creating real consequences in their daily life
People whose spending or saving patterns feel compulsive or disconnected from their stated values
Individuals navigating cultural or family expectations around money that conflict with their own financial goals
LGBTQ+ clients and clients of color whose financial decisions involve identity and community dimensions not addressed in standard financial guidance
Anyone who has worked with a financial planner or tried budgeting tools and found that the behavioral change did not stick
Meet Your Financial Therapist
Emmie Waterman, LMHC
Emmie Waterman is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and HPA's dedicated financial therapy specialist. Her path to this work began with her own experience: graduating with student loans and a desire to build a strong financial foundation, she began working with a financial planner. But she noticed that even when she understood the plan, her decisions were still being shaped by anxiety, comparison, and the beliefs about money she had absorbed over the course of her life. When her financial planner asked a simple question — "Where is this coming from?" — it opened a level of self-reflection that changed how she related to money and, eventually, shaped the clinical work she does today.
Emmie helps clients explore their own money stories: the beliefs, emotions, and patterns behind their financial behaviors so that they can make decisions with greater clarity, confidence, and self-compassion. She brings a warm, direct, and genuinely curious clinical approach to work that most people have never had the space to examine honestly.
Emmie sees clients in person at our Back Bay office and via secure telehealth throughout Massachusetts.
Financial Therapy and Your Existing Care
Financial therapy can be a standalone service or can work alongside existing individual or couples therapy. Some clients work with Emmie as their sole clinician. Others coordinate financial therapy with a primary therapist at HPA when financial patterns are one dimension of a broader clinical picture involving anxiety, perfectionism, or relationship concerns.
If you are currently working with another HPA clinician and want to add financial therapy, contact us to discuss how to integrate that work thoughtfully.
Practical Information
Location and format
Financial therapy at HPA is available in person at 264 Beacon Street, 5th Floor, Boston, in the Back Bay neighborhood, and via HIPAA-compliant telehealth throughout Massachusetts.
Insurance and fees
Financial therapy is billed as psychotherapy. We are in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield and in-network with Aetna through BU's student health plan. We provide superbills for clients using out-of-network benefits. Contact us to discuss your coverage and current session rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is financial therapy?
Financial therapy is a specialized clinical approach that addresses the emotional, psychological, and relational dimensions of money. It is not financial planning or budgeting advice. It focuses on the beliefs, feelings, and patterns that shape financial behavior — including anxiety, avoidance, compulsive spending, and money conflict in relationships.
Is financial therapy the same as financial planning?
No. Financial planners work with numbers, budgets, and investment strategy. Financial therapists work with the psychological side of money — including why people struggle to follow financial plans they understand, where avoidance and anxiety come from, and how money patterns formed in childhood and family of origin shape present-day decisions.
Do you offer financial therapy in Boston?
Yes. We offer financial therapy in Boston through Emmie Waterman, LMHC. Sessions are available in-person at 264 Beacon Street in Boston's Back Bay and via secure telehealth throughout Massachusetts.
Who is financial therapy for?
Financial therapy is for people experiencing financial anxiety or avoidance, compulsive financial behaviors, money conflict in relationships, self-worth tied to income or career success, and money patterns shaped by cultural identity or intergenerational experience. It is also well-suited to graduate students managing student loan stress and early-career financial anxiety.
Does insurance cover financial therapy?
Financial therapy is billed as psychotherapy. We are in-network with BCBS and with Aetna through BU's student health plan. Superbills are provided for out-of-network reimbursement. Contact us to discuss your specific coverage.
What does financial therapy not address?
Emmie does not provide financial planning, tax, or legal advice. She does not offer addiction-specific services or specialize in gambling disorder, though she can provide referrals to appropriate resources. Clients in situations of domestic violence involving financial abuse or control, or those unable to meet basic needs due to income limitations, will be connected with more specialized support.
How long does financial therapy take?
This depends on the presenting concerns and your goals. Some clients do focused short-term work of 8 to 12 sessions around a specific pattern or transition. Others engage in longer-term work that integrates financial psychology with broader clinical goals. Emmie will be transparent about the framework and timeline from the outset.
Do I have to share specific financial details with my therapist?
No. Financial therapy does not require disclosing account balances, income figures, or financial statements. The work is psychological. You share what feels relevant to understanding your relationship with money, at the pace that feels right.
Schedule your consultation: bostonhealthpsych.com/contact | 617-882-2363
