Financial therapy is a tool that can help solve financial problems, such as debt, which in many cases can manifest in the form of anxiety or stress.
Amanda Clayman, a financial therapist consultant, teaches courses and conferences and writes about this stress type. Her personal history shows that you can move forward when accumulating debt.
Information from BBC Mundo states that anxiety occurs as a signal sent by our body and brain to pay attention to something that is not going well or to potential danger. The problem is that many people prefer to ignore that call.
Clayman says that when you feel anxious about money and react with impulsive decisions, the situation can worsen, resulting in even greater anxiety when trapped within a vicious circle.
Financial therapy, Clayman warns, is not a magic bullet against economic anxiety, but rather a process that starts with accepting that we have a challenge in front of us. The second step is a personal journey to find out what that signal means to us and design a plan to modify certain habits.
Here are five tips for managing financial anxiety:
BE CURIOUS
Feed curiosity about your money to develop a genuine interest in knowing what is going on in your financial life, rather than concentrating on figuring out how to pay off a couple of debts.
You can begin by asking yourself what your money says about how you use your time and the things that matter the most.
PAY CONSTANT ATTENTION TO YOUR MONEY
Try to do these three exercises at least once a month:
1) Check the cash flow that enters and leaves your bank account;
2) Stay ahead of financial times
3) Make a plan or budget.
If you know that the rent will increase soon, try to change certain things in your budget to make adjustments needed before the time comes and you are in trouble. It is about getting ahead rather than waiting for something to happen.
RECOGNIZE YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS
Don''t look for perfection. Recognize the progress you have made to achieve your goals, no matter how small the steps are. The behavior change is the main thing to show that you can overcome your debts and have financial health.
Ending financial anxiety doesn''t happen overnight.
EXPERIENCE
We often see adult life as having to do things "right way" because otherwise, we think we have failed. However, there is no correct way to do them, and if we look around, several paths may open.
With a little space, you can be more creative.
LACK OF MONEY IS "GOOD NEWS"
This point refers to a change in mentality regarding how we deal with problems.
Instead of thinking, "I can''t deal with this financial problem," the way to deal with it is "I can be strong, I can endure, and I can be creative in meeting the challenges," says Amanda Clayman.
Traducción: Valentina K. Yanes