Paris Alston: This is GBH's Morning Edition. Money can be hard to talk about, but in a time of rising prices for everything from food to housing, it's unavoidable. And having a tough relationship with money can lead to mental health challenges. A 2016 study by the financial wellness company Payoff found that nearly 1 in 4 Americans suffer from PTSD-like symptoms caused by financially induced stress. As part of our new series Wake Up Well, we are taking time each month to speak with people in the mental health space about topics like this one. Joining us now is Jenae Murphy, a licensed financial therapist and the founder of Financial Therapy LLC in Brockton. Jenae, thanks so much for being here.

Jenae Murphy: Thank you for having me.

Alston: And just to note that this conversation is not a substitute for treatment, but meant to be a jumping off point. So, Jenae, for the uninitiated, what is a financial therapist?

Murphy: Well, a financial therapist is somebody who's going to correlate your finances with your emotional state and put it together, and figure out ways to help you understand your relationship to money.

Alston: And some people have financial trauma. What is that, and how can it affect a person's relationship to money?

Murphy: You're being more reactive to a situation when money hits your hand. Some people love what they call retail therapy, right?

Alston: I have been guilty, yes.

Murphy: To a position of hardship. Some people are doing things for money in ways that they don't necessarily want to, but then that's a whole 'nother story in itself, because sometimes you don't have a choice. And then there's the trauma of not learning things in the family. So you kind of just emulate what you see without asking any questions. When we're talking about money, it's equivalent to undressing yourself at the doctors'. You're revealing yourself. And a lot of people like to put a cover-up on. And when you're looking at numbers like what I have to do, I can find where it's not going to be aligned.

Alston: Does it matter how much money you have? Can you still have something like financial trauma?

Murphy: Absolutely. It looks different for everybody. That's why it's important for you to understand your relationship to money, because some people are content with just making what they're making, and they don't think past that ceiling. And there's others who are like, I need more. And there's others that's like, you know, they shrug their shoulders. Life is life. I don't believe in that, so I get people to think outside the box and know that they're worth more if they want more. And there are ways to set a foundational platform for yourself with as little as $20, if that's what you can afford. So what I do that's unique is I help you find money you're losing unknowingly and unnecessarily. So then we take that money, we allocate it into places where it's going to work for you, because that's the goal, right? That's what I'm there for.

Alston: We are coming up on a year since legal sports betting began in Massachusetts, and shortly after it did, nearly 950,000 unique users in Massachusetts signed up to bet on sports online, according to the state's gaming commission. Now, of course, a big factor in the discussion around legalizing sports betting was gambling addiction. What could be the long-term effects of this increased accessibility?

Murphy: If you don't know how money works, but you're playing around with money without a guaranteed income, if you do not have anything backing that move you're about to make, then consider yourself about to lose everything. If you are better, you know, I can't tell you what to do. I would just tell you to do it the efficient way. There's a way to secure that money, make the move that you want to make and still not lose that money.

Alston: So before we let you go, Jenae, we've been asking everyone who joins us as part of this series to give us an affirmation. And in this case, one thing that people can do to improve their mindset around money.

Murphy: 'Money flows to me easily, but I have to get out of the way of me.' And something that you can do is find ways to have these conversations and safe spaces. I am hosting a free six-week healing camp. Learning how food works as medicine, learning how to meditate, learn how to journal, and then walk into the conversation of how money is tied to all of these things.

Alston: Well, we will be sure to include details about that on our website, GBHnews.org. That is Jenae Murphy, a licensed financial therapist and the founder of Financial Therapy LLC in Brockton. Jenae, thank you so much.

Murphy: Thank you, Paris.

Alston: And you can find a list of mental health resources at GBHnews.org/WakeUpWell. For our next installment, we'll be talking about climate anxiety and healing by connecting with the Earth. If you'd like to chime in on that topic, you can text us at (617) 300-2008 or email thewakeup@wgbh.org. You're listening to GBH News.

Money can be hard to talk about, but in a time of rising prices for everything from food to housing, it's unavoidable.

And having a tough relationship with money can lead to mental health challenges: A 2016 study by the financial wellness company Payoff found that nearly 1 in 4 Americans suffer from PTSD-like symptoms caused by financially induced stress.

Financial trauma can show up in many ways, said Jenae Murphy, a licensed financial therapist and the founder of Financial Therapy LLC in Brockton. And it can be hard to start those conversations.

“When we're talking about money, it's equivalent to undressing yourself at the doctors'. You're revealing yourself. And a lot of people like to put a cover-up on. And when you're looking at numbers like what I have to do, I can find where it's not going to be aligned,” Murphy said.

Murphy's job is looking at people’s emotional relationship to money: Where does it come from? How does it affect how people spend, save and deal with things like bills, loans and planning for their futures?

“A financial therapist is somebody who's going to correlate your finances with your emotional state and put it together, and figure out ways to help you understand your relationship to money,” Murphy told GBH’s Morning Edition.

Anxiety, stress and trauma around money can occur regardless of income bracket, she said. And people’s discomfort around talking about money sometimes compounds that stress.

“It looks different for everybody,” she said. “That's why it's important for you to understand your relationship to money, because some people are content with just making what they're making, and they don't think past that ceiling. And there's others who are like, I need more.”

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Some people can turn to risky financial behavior. Last year Massachusetts legalized sports betting, and nearly 950,000 unique users in Massachusetts signed up to bet on sports online, according to the state's gaming commission. A big factor in the discussion around legalizing sports betting was gambling addiction.

Murphy said she would generally advise clients against sports betting.

“If you don't know how money works, but you're playing around with money without a guaranteed income, if you do not have anything backing that move you're about to make, then consider yourself about to lose everything,” Murphy said. “If you are better, you know, I can't tell you what to do. I would just tell you to do it the efficient way. There's a way to secure that money, make the move that you want to make and still not lose that money.”

Murphy encourages people to have these conversations in safe spaces. She is hosting an upcoming six-week-long workshop around people’s relationships with their emotions, food and how money ties into it all.

She left listeners with an affirmation to use: “Money flows to me easily, but I have to get out of the way of me.”