Understanding Relational, Emotional and Psychological Issues

# Schema Therapy Financial: Heal Your Hidden Money Patterns and Build a Healthy Relationship With Wealth

At first glance, the topic of money may seem distant from psychology, emotional healing or Schema Therapy. We often imagine finances as something practical and external, governed by logic, discipline or circumstance. Numbers appear neutral. Income and expenses seem straightforward. Spreadsheets should be simple.
And yet, nothing in our financial life is ever “just practical”.
The more we look closely, the more we discover that our relationship with money is psychological long before it is financial. Behind every difficulty with saving or spending, behind every impulse, fear or avoidance, there is a schema. Behind every financial struggle, there is a childhood story. Behind every moment we sabotage ourselves, there is a part of us trying to protect our vulnerability.
Money looks like math.
Money behaves like emotion.
Money follows our schemas.
This is why some people feel terrified even when they have enough, while others spend compulsively to soothe emotional pain. Some avoid opening bills as if they were dangerous. Some give away too much to keep peace and avoid guilt. Some overwork endlessly because rest activates their fear of failure. Some hoard money because scarcity was once a form of survival. Some cannot receive because they feel unworthy. Some succeed financially but still feel unsafe, undeserving or empty.
Schema Therapy reveals the emotional architecture behind these patterns.

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## What we will explore together

### 1. Money as an emotional landscape

Money activates our attachment system. It awakens early unmet needs. It mirrors how safe or unsafe we felt growing up. It reflects how we learned to deal with fear, loss, danger, control and dependency. In this webinar, we will explore how finances become a stage where our emotional schemas replay themselves.

### 2. Childhood emotional patterns that shape your financial life

The schemas that influence your relationships, identity and self-esteem also define your financial behaviour.

• Abandonment/Instability creates fear of losing everything
• Emotional Deprivation fuels scarcity thinking
• Defectiveness/Shame creates guilt around earning, spending or asking for more
• Dependence/Incompetence leads to avoidance and chaotic management
• Subjugation produces excessive giving and financial guilt
• Unrelenting Standards generates overworking, perfectionism and burnout
• Failure Schema sabotages progress and prevents long-term planning
• Mistrust/Abuse creates fear of being exploited or losing control

Understanding these schemas gives clarity to decades of financial behaviour.

### 3. The three dysfunctional financial coping modes

We do not handle money logically.
We handle money the same way we handle emotional pain.

• Avoidance Mode
• ignoring bills
• procrastinating
• not checking accounts
• feeling frozen
• hoping financial problems “disappear”
• Overcompensation Mode
• strict control
• compulsive saving
• overworking
• refusing to spend
• perfectionistic planning
• obsession with safety
• Surrender Mode
• letting others take charge
• giving too much
• feeling guilty for saying “no”
• repeating dependency dynamics

These modes protect us emotionally, but harm us financially.

### 4. How your Vulnerable Child relates to money

Money activates:

• fear of being alone
• fear of being unprotected
• fear of making mistakes
• fear of disappointing others
• fear of not being enough
• fear of failure or judgment
• fear of chaos and unpredictability

Your financial behaviour is not a flaw or a weakness.
It is your younger self trying to stay safe.

### 5. The neuroscience behind financial fear and impulsivity

Money activates circuits of:

• threat (amygdala)
• reward (dopamine)
• attachment (mirror-neuron and prefrontal systems)

We will discuss why:

• impulsive spending feels soothing
• financial tasks feel overwhelming
• scarcity thinking persists even when life improves
• risk-taking becomes addictive or terrifying
• certain financial behaviours repeat regardless of knowledge

### 6. Building a financially grounded Healthy Adult Mode

Schema Therapy gives us a powerful tool: the Healthy Adult.
In this webinar we will explore how to develop a version of your Healthy Adult capable of:

• regulating financial anxiety
• planning realistically
• protecting your vulnerable parts
• reducing impulsive or avoidant behaviour
• setting healthy financial boundaries
• making decisions aligned with long-term wellbeing

This is the moment where psychology finally becomes practical.

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## Why this webinar matters

Most people try to change their financial life with tools, books, rules or discipline.
But you cannot discipline a schema.
You cannot “budget away” an unmet need.
Real change happens only when you understand:

• why you repeat the same patterns
• why you sabotage progress
• why you feel unsafe even with money
• why finances activate shame, guilt or fear
• why you give too much, spend too fast or avoid too long
• why success does not translate into inner safety

Your financial life begins to transform the moment your emotional patterns become clear.

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## Who should attend this event

This webinar is for you if:

• you feel anxious about money
• you repeat the same financial mistakes
• you avoid financial tasks
• you overwork or overcontrol
• you give too much and feel guilty when you protect yourself
• you struggle to save or to spend responsibly
• you feel shame around earning or receiving
• you feel unsafe regardless of your income
• you want to understand the emotional roots of your financial life