Financial Trauma Recovery: Healing Your Money Story

Learn how past financial hardships affect your current money behaviors and discover gentle paths to healing your relationship with money.

Sarah remembers the night her family lost their house. She was eight, hiding under blankets while her parents fought about money in the kitchen. Today, at 34, she still hoards cash in three different savings accounts. She feels physically sick when she has to make any purchase over $50.

Sound familiar? Financial trauma doesn't just disappear when you grow up. It resides within your body, shapes your choices, and whispers fears that may no longer align with your reality.

Photo by Louis Galvez on Unsplash

According to research, about 35% of people report some form of financial trauma in their lives. (Source: Therapist.com, "Financial trauma: How money trouble can affect mental health," https://therapist.com/trauma/financial-trauma/)

Your story may be different from Sarah's. Perhaps you watched parents work multiple jobs, but they never seemed to get ahead. Maybe you experienced poverty that left you constantly worried about having enough. Or you lived through a financial crisis that shattered your sense of security.

Whatever happened, your nervous system adapted to protect you. Those old survival strategies may not serve you now, but they made perfect sense at the time.

Financial trauma shows up in interesting ways. Some people become hypervigilant—obsessively checking balances, hoarding money, panicking over small expenses. Others go the opposite direction, avoiding anything money-related because it feels too overwhelming. Still others freeze up completely when faced with financial decisions, unable to think clearly or take action.

Then there are the relationship impacts. Maybe you hide purchases from your partner. Perhaps you feel suspicious when others spend money freely. Maybe you avoid talking about finances altogether because it brings up too much anxiety.