Aspects Of Financial Trauma

We've talked about this in some blog posts in the past, but let's spend some time talking about a lesser-known aspect of personal trauma.

Financial trauma is really everywhere these days. As wages stagnate and inflation soars, people are worried about their pocketbooks and budgeting within their means.

But money is more than just numbers: it's an emotional thing, too, and it can contribute to a persistent sense of trauma and mental disturbance.

Here's some of what we encounter as we work with our visitors to try to help them tackle the harder things in life.

The Pressure

Again, we’re starting with financial pressures that are pretty profound.

Even people who are earning higher wages might feel themselves being ‘maxed out’ in terms of what they're paying for housing, utilities, entertainment, food, healthcare, etc.

None of these things are cheap, in general, and it takes a lot of discipline and control to keep your head above water financially - people who aren't, or feel that they may not be, can have a deep sense of despair.

Personal Narratives

This, then, helps to feed negative personal narratives that affect a person's mental health.

Stress can be overwhelming, but it can also contribute to a negative outlook on life in general.

Some people have negative self talk that is partially paralyzing to their senses of forward movement and positivity. And that drives other problems that we often talk about with our visitors. 

Interpersonal Relationships

Then there are the relationships that rely on collaboration over finances. You hear all the time than spouses have a lot of problems around money, but until you hear somebody talk about a traumatic experience, it doesn't quite bring home the idea that money can trigger negative things in people in a very visceral and direct way: all of that necessitates effective treatment of these kinds of financial trauma. 

At the office of Joe Langheim, we are active in helping our people to feel confident overcoming life's challenges. There's a clinical aspect to this, but there is a counseling or “talk” component as well. We bring both together in effective solutions for facing what people struggle with. After all, as people wrestle with the high pressures of modern life and more, it's unreasonable to expect them to be able to always solve these problems themselves!

Some of these types of trauma are fairly well hidden, as we mentioned, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. Too often, people try to repress or ignore what's happening in their lives for the purposes of just soldiering on moving forward and accepting the realities that they deal with. There is a healthy component to that, but there's also a real need to know when you need help, and ask for it. By being there to assist in these journeys, we are doing the important work of supporting people who may be able to move far beyond what they thought possible with the right clinical and assistive treatment.