Copper Well
Welcome to Copper Well. I am here writing this blog in hopes that it will serve as resource for those seeking mental wellness and financial peace. Copper Well Counseling was started to bring financial wellness into the overall wellness conversation. Finances are an intimate aspect of our lives, and are very often overlooked if not actively avoided in the wellness community. It has been taboo to talk about money for too long. Money is something we all interact with on a daily basis in one way or another. If we are not directly interacting with it - trying to make it, save it, or spend it - we are constantly aware of wealth, disparity, and our own socioeconomic experience. Money and finances impact nearly every part of our lives, so why have finances been avoided by wellness professionals for so long? Shame, embarrassment, noble poverty, and wellness professionals’ own financial insecurities and discomfort often play into this issue.
Either consciously or subconsciously, we are pretty much always aware of money. Throughout our lives, and especially in childhood, we accumulate stories, beliefs, and attitudes from those around us. We pick up on these philosophies and attitudes of others on all sorts of issues. Our subconscious is influenced by the beliefs we are exposed to, especially from our caretakers, and we either incorporate them into our own worldview or we reject them and embrace something contrary. Our culture has latched on to so many unhealthy and unhelpful beliefs about money. “Money is the root of all evil.” “Spending money is the only thing that makes me feel good.” “Money = success.” The fact is money is just money. It’s not good or evil. It’s not a reflection of the worth of those who have it or don’t have it. It is just energy. It flows in, it flows out, and the more we are able to understand and harness it, the more we can direct it to the areas, causes, and goals that are important to us. Becoming aware of our subconscious (or conscious) money beliefs, then realigning them with our values and goals is one of the first big steps we can take to creating a happy and loving relationship with our finances.
The accumulated stories and experiences we have with money impact the health of our money relationship, and just like any relationship, when it is out of order, it can negatively impact other areas in our lives. Money has a huge impact on our mental health. Financial difficulties are one of the most common causes for stress and conflict in our personal lives. The stigma of discussing these difficulties can lead to isolation and further feelings of depression and anxiety. This stress often impacts our overall health including sleep problems and other chronic health issues. Money and shame can be tightly linked, and shame is never a friend of wellness. Feelings of guilt, shame, and worthlessness often arise for us when we enter a money conversation or a transaction, especially when our bank statements and our values don’t align. This is why avoidance is so often a go to strategy for people experiencing money shame.
Not only does money stress lead to worse mental health; mental health challenges also impact money management and earning potential. When someone experiences a severe mental health challenge, this can lead to difficulty completing necessary tasks to secure and maintain employment, as well as time away from work due to their condition. However, even mild mental health difficulties can influence our money relationship. This can look like challenges in concentration and motivation, impulsivity, overspending to improve mood or self esteem, chronic under-earning due to poor self esteem or lack of follow through, and a myriad of other complications. Financial trauma and those unhelpful beliefs we picked up early in life only complicate these issues.
Many people find that once their mental health improves, their finances improve as well. Learning healthy thinking patterns, developing a healthy mindset, working through poor self esteem, and resolving trauma can make a huge difference. Often when it comes to money and having a healthy relationship with it, we are the one holding ourselves back the most. When we work through the shame, guilt, anxiety, and trauma in this part of our lives, we can allow money to flow more freely and we can direct money where we really want it to go.
My work at Copper Well focuses on creating healthy mindsets and thinking patterns as well as clearing up the residual gunk that sticks around after adverse or traumatic experiences. When this gunk is cleared up and we establish healthy, helpful, and accurate thought patterns, all relationships in our lives tend to improve, our money relationship being no exception. The goal of this blog is to give you tips and ideas for reaching this goal. The clients I see for coaching and counseling benefit from additional interventions such as accountability, personalized coaching, performance enhancement, and trauma therapy including EMDR. For more information on how to get in touch with me click here.