Reflections from the 2025 Financial Therapy Association Conference: A Community, A Calling, A Continuum of Growth

There’s a moment at every great conference when you look around and realize—this isn’t just an event. It’s a homecoming.

This year’s Financial Therapy Association Conference felt different. Not just because the sessions were insightful (they always are), or because the hallway conversations stretched and stirred something deeper (they always do), but because something clicked. Something matured.

After more than a decade in the field, I can say this with certainty: Financial therapy is no longer a fringe idea or a novel curiosity. It is a living, breathing professional discipline with depth, soul, and staying power.

And this year, I could feel it.

A Web of Wisdom and Wonder

There’s now a growing web, a network of people practicing, researching, and living out the work of financial therapy. Not just talking about how money affects us psychologically, but actually doing the work: helping others heal, understand, and rebuild their financial lives with intention, courage, and connection.

That web felt more visible and tangible than ever at this year’s conference. From seasoned practitioners to bright-eyed grad students, from researchers investigating attachment theory to trailblazers expanding access to underserved communities, it’s clear the field is not only growing, it’s blooming.

Lessons That Linger

Several sessions left a lasting impression on me. One in particular was led by Jaylen Vickery, who explored disordered consumption and financial therapy. She introduced a cycle compulsion, consumption, and control as a parallel to eating disorder patterns. It was a striking and clarifying way to understand the shame, secrecy, and suffering that can entangle people’s financial behaviors. Her work helped give words and shape to the invisible cycles many clients live within.

Another standout moment came from Dr. Prince Sarpong, visiting from the University of the Free State, South Africa, who spoke powerfully about men and financial therapy. He invited us to consider how therapy’s emphasis on vulnerability, while healing for many, can also alienate men who are already feeling disempowered. Sometimes, he argued, what men need is not to sit in the softness of their pain, but to feel a sense of control, direction, and groundedness.

That message resonated deeply with me as a man and as someone who has personally wrestled with vulnerability. His framing offered a vital reminder: Vulnerability is a doorway, yes, but sometimes clients need to feel they have a foothold before they can walk through it.

I am beyond thrilled and honored to contribute a chapter to a new textbook he is putting together, with the working title "Financial Therapy with Men." 

Honoring Elders, Witnessing Growth

One of the most emotional moments for me came when Saundra Davis, founder of Sage Financial Solutions, was inducted into the Financial Therapy Hall of Fame. Though I don’t know her full story, her presence, wisdom, and spirit were palpable. A woman of color who has clearly weathered deep financial and emotional storms, Saundra now stands as a leader, elder, and beacon for others. Her courage moved me to tears. Her voice reminded me of what it means to lead with both strength and tenderness.

Equally moving was watching the next generation rise. I saw a poster presentation by a graduate student, Alzahra Al-Khafaji, and her professor, Dr. Kristy Archuleta, on attachment styles and couples’ financial behaviors, and was struck by a simple but powerful insight: “Money doesn’t just reflect values, it reflects vulnerability”. That’s the kind of clarity that moves a field forward. Seeing other professionals integrate the deep knowledge and science of attachment theory is so exciting.

Presenting with The Healthy Love and Money Team: Mary Lou and Christine

One of my proudest moments came from presenting alongside two incredible teammates from Healthy Love and Money: Mary Lou Daly and Dr. Christine Hargrove.

Together, we offered a session on the power of the first session and how to help clients begin their journey in a meaningful, impactful way. Watching Mary Lou, with decades of financial planning experience, deepen her therapeutic lens and speak so clearly to the relational dynamics couples bring into the room, filled me with pride. Her growth in this space has been beautiful to witness.

And Christine, with her clarity, warmth, and years of experience as a marriage and family therapist specializing in ADHD, brought a grounded, compassionate structure to the presentation. She ensured every piece landed accessibly, and together we created something that left participants feeling confident and inspired to work with couples at this tender intersection of life and money.

It truly felt like a team effort, one that reminded me why collaboration, clarity, and shared values matter so much in this work.

Exploring the Future: AI and Financial Therapy

I also had the privilege of co-presenting with my friend and colleague Jon Kolmetz on a topic that's shaping the next frontier of our field: the role of AI in financial therapy.

We explored how tools like ChatGPT can help clients and practitioners alike process emotional experiences with money, clarify confusing thoughts, and expand access to reflection and insight. It was hopeful, exciting, and grounded in the belief that AI can supplement the deep human work we’re doing, not replace it.

Podcasting with Purpose

While there, I conducted nine interviews for the Healthy Love and Money Podcast, which consisted of ten-minute conversations with attendees who shared why financial therapy matters to them. Each person approached the work differently: through behavior change, emotional insight, trauma healing, systemic thinking, or coaching.

What united them all was this: a desire to help people make sense of their experiences and their relationship with money. That diversity of approach, background, and voice is part of what makes this community so vibrant and alive.

The Rapid Rise of Financial Therapy

One of the most striking patterns I noticed this year came from people who had attended last year’s conference for the first time. Many of them returned this year with stories of massive transformation, having launched national coaching programs, pursued advanced degrees in therapy, or reshaped their work entirely.

One was a finance professor now pursuing a clinical degree. Another is building a financial healing framework in a developing country. These are not small steps. These are courageous leaps born of clarity and conviction.

Conversations that Challenge and Connect

Some of the best moments, of course, happened between the sessions in conversations with friends and colleagues who are also building practices, wrestling with growth, and seeking deeper alignment with their purpose. These hallway exchanges reminded me that healthy competition can be generative, not destructive. We don’t have to tear each other down to rise. We can lift, inspire, and sharpen one another.

And I got to reconnect with Rick Kahler, one of the founding members of the FTA and someone who’s been walking this road for decades. Seeing him reminded me that there is no deadline for healing or growth. There’s space to evolve, over time, into deeper wholeness—and to bring others along with you.

Seeing Nate Astle, founder of the Financial Therapy Clinical Institute, present alongside his growing team was another decisive moment. I recall years ago, when Nate was still in graduate school, dreaming of combining attachment theory and emotionally focused therapy with financial therapy. Back then, it was just a vision; now it's a thriving, research-based institute with multiple clinicians and a clear mission. Watching Nate step into leadership with humility, brilliance, and boldness reminded me of the importance of keeping dreams alive and of inviting others to share in those dreams. Our post-presentation conversation was one of the most honest and inspiring of the conference, and I’m deeply grateful for his friendship and example.

The Power of This Work

If you’ve ever wondered what financial therapy really is, this is it. It’s helping people name the unspoken. Heal the unhealed. Reclaim what money has distorted in their lives and relationships. It’s about understanding the psychology of money not just as a concept, but as a lived experience that shapes our nervous systems, our partnerships, our sense of worth, and our possibilities for the future.

And if you’ve ever considered working with a financial therapist, do it. These are some of the most insightful, compassionate, grounded professionals you’ll meet. They don’t just fix budgets, they help untangle the emotional knots that keep people from living with clarity, connection, and confidence.

A Movement That Honors Humanity

Financial therapy isn’t just a concept; it’s a movement that honors people’s lived experience with money. It creates space for autonomy, cultural diversity, personal history, and emotional authenticity. It’s not about fixing people or forcing a single financial worldview. It’s about helping people bring their full humanity into their financial lives.

And that’s something worth celebrating.

Final Reflections (and What You Can Do Next)

I’m walking away from this year’s conference deeply grateful for the people doing this work, for the clients brave enough to say yes to it, and for the growing movement that is reshaping how we think and feel about money.

If you’re new to this space and wondering where to begin, here are a few places to start:

• Listen to the Healthy Love and Money Podcast – including the nine special interviews from this year’s FTA conference, coming Late Summer 2025.
  
  
• Explore financial therapy for yourself or your relationship. Learn more here.
  
  
• If you're a professional, consider joining the Financial Therapy Association. It’s a vibrant, welcoming, and growing community.
  
  
• Reach out. Whether you're ready to begin or still feeling unsure, connection is the first step.
  
  

If you’re wondering whether financial therapy has arrived, the answer is yes.
And we’re just getting started.

Ed Coambs - Founder, Healthy Love and Money
Past President of the Financial Therapy Association