Financial Social Work Needed Now More Than Ever

CEUs:  1
Costs:  Member - FREE | Nonmember - $35.00  
This event will NOT be recorded.

Gender, social, economic, and healthcare disparity, record inflation, student debt, food, home, job insecurity, and the highest credit card debt are among the financial issues that make money struggles a pervasive problem for many Americans.  Built upon a foundation of financial illiteracy and a consumer-driven economy, these realities make social and economic equity illusive.

No one chooses to have money problems, but most people do.  They need someone and somewhere to share the money secrets and questions they’ve been hiding from or avoiding all their lives.  Additional requirements include ethical, safe, non-judgmental professionals and spaces where they may talk, process, and learn how to begin to cope with and heal from financial stress, trauma, anxiety, shame, fear, etc.

This session will highlight behavioral techniques for engaging, educating, motivating, and supporting clients.  Using reflection, a psychosocial approach, and an emphasis on change designed to encourage client interest and participation, attendees will experience original, hands-on activities and tools highlighting the money and mental health connection.         

Financial Social Work is an interactive, reflective, behavioral model focused on helping clients heal their relationships with money and with themselves. It goes beyond dollars, cents, debt, and budgets to focus on thoughts, feelings, attitudes, values, experiences, and beliefs and how financial behavior determines financial circumstances.

About the Presenter: Reeta Wolfsohn, CMSW, is the founder of the Financial Social Work (FSW) discipline and the Center for Financial Social Work.  For over two decades, she has been creating original programs, materials, products, and services to expand Financial Social Work's role in financial health and wellness.  Reeta is an NASW Social Work Pioneer inductee. With her co-author, Dr. Matt Scwartz, she is writing a textbook on Financial Social Work to be published by Cognella academic publishers in the summer of 2025.

Objectives : 

1. Understand what Financial Social Work is.
2. Recognize the money and mental health connection.
3. Discuss the benefits of  Financial Social Work on a micro, mezzo, and macro level.