Experts Offer Advice for Tough Times

Financial Therapist Amanda Clayman

Her advice:

• “You can’t keep wishing negative events hadn’t happened. When a client continuously relives the past, I say, ‘Yes, this bad thing is true. But what needs to happen now?’”
• “Money and emotion should be dealt with separately. One of my clients was using ‘credit-card therapy’ to cope with a crisis. I agreed her situation was unfair but told her, ‘The universe doesn’t owe anyone a new bag, no matter what you’ve gone through.’ Once she acknowledged that, we were able to discuss her options from a less emotional place.”
• “Remain hopeful that the changes you make will work. We’re all creatures of habit, reluctant to disturb the way we’ve been living our lives. But the current economy is forcing us to reexamine that. If there’s no hope in the equation, you’ll remain stuck in a rut.”