Episode #731: Creating Stability In Uncertain Times, feat. Linzy Bonham

Summary

Abundant Practice Podcast Episode #731: Creating Stability In Uncertain Times

Host: Allison Puryear
Guest: Linzy Bonham (MoneyNutsAndBolts.com)
Date: February 11, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Allison Puryear welcomes returning guest Linzy Bonham to discuss how therapists can create stability and peace of mind amid turbulent economic and political times. With many practitioners worried about declining referrals and financial unpredictability, Allison and Linzy offer both emotional and practical strategies to help therapists stabilize their private practices and manage money with greater intention and clarity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recognizing Money Anxiety and Its Patterns

• Common Therapist Responses to Financial Stress
  Linzy explains how uncertainty can push therapists toward “hypervigilance” (constantly checking accounts) or “avoidance” (avoiding finances altogether).

  • Quote:

    “It's like head in the sand—we're avoiding, we're in hypoarousal. Maybe we're just like, don't look at it, can't look at it... The other way is like hyperfixated—look at it all the time. Did my bank account change? What's happening?”
    – Linzy Bonham (03:08)

• Linking Emotional Regulation to Financial Clarity
  Linzy urges listeners to first notice their internal state and identify the stories running in their heads about money—often inherited or shaped by past experiences.

• Practical Tip #: Journaling for Money Clarity
  Linzy recommends prompts like “What are my beliefs about why money is hard right now?” and “What do I believe about what's happening?” as starting points for deeper understanding and eventual change.

  • Quote:

    “Just by naming it, helps to soften it...And some of it will be stuff that...is hitting some really deep stuff for me.”
    – Linzy Bonham (06:35)

2. Business Triggers & Economic Shifts in Therapy Practice

• Owning a Business Brings Up “All Your Stuff”
  Allison and Linzy discuss how shifts in the therapy market—like fewer referrals and the rise of tech platforms—cause old insecurities to resurface for even seasoned practitioners.
• Referrals Down? Time to Re-evaluate Marketing
  Linzy stresses that the first step after noticing anxiety is to clearly identify what has changed: lower referrals, fewer new clients, or something else. Then, problem-solve “with [your] beautiful full brains.”

3. Money Management: Building True Clarity

• The Power of Clarity
  Linzy repeatedly mentions “clarity” as her top value for therapists around money. Clarity is knowing exactly what money comes in and out.

• Understanding Your Numbers
  Track income and expenses to identify if lower income or overspending is causing financial stress. Analyze trends instead of guessing.

  • Quote:

    “There’s always two sets of numbers. There’s always the money coming in and the money going out...When money gets tighter, we do have to be more mindful and present and intentional.”
    – Linzy Bonham (10:00-11:35)

• Evaluating Expenses (Without Scarcity or Shame)
  Linzy suggests reviewing both business and personal expenses to see what truly aligns with your values, and what can be paused or reduced during lean times.

  • Subscriptions and professional memberships are common “levers” that can be adjusted episodically.
  • Help at home (like cleaning or childcare) might be something to reduce temporarily, but only if it doesn’t undermine your ability to earn or function.
  • Quote:

    “Most of us have things like that in our life...You need to know what those levers are, like I often think about money as, like, two levers: there’s the make more lever, there’s the spend less lever.”
    – Linzy Bonham (12:25)

4. Specific, Practical Strategies

• The Value of Printing Bank Statements
  Allison shares her Gen X habit of “printing out bank statements” to review, mark up, and highlight where money is going—an exercise Linzy strongly affirms.

  • Quote (Workshop Exercise):

    “Print your business bank statement from last month and your business credit card...go through and just look at everything one line at a time...it can be a somatic exercise to be curious about, like...when you look at this line, do you feel expansion?...Or do you feel like, ugh, that’s not really worth it?”
    – Linzy Bonham (14:03)

• Addressing Shame Around Unused Subscriptions
  Allison shares that guilt about unused programs propelled her to use them—turning “a waste of money” into profit. Linzy highlights how professional development spending can be a positive lever when acted upon.

5. Investing and the Myth of the “Magic Bullet”

• No Single Solution Will Fix Everything
  There are no “magic bullets” in business or clinical work; it’s the sum total of consistent actions that build results.

  • Quote:

    “There is no magic bullet, clinically or in business. There’s no one thing you’re missing that you just need to pay $99 for this month...It’s an interwoven kind of tapestry.”
    – Allison Puryear (18:41)

• Beating Shiny Object Syndrome
  Linzy and Allison caution against accumulating courses, software, or memberships out of anxiety, rather than strategic necessity.

6. Political Uncertainty and the Power of Money as Agency

• Money as Power for Change
  Linzy connects therapists’ feelings of helplessness in today’s political climate to actionable choices:

  • Use financial contributions as a way to support causes, organizations, or individuals who align with your values.
  • Acknowledge and wield the privilege and power inherent in having money.
  • Quote:

    “If you don’t own that [power], it’s like, you don’t own your privilege. You’re wasting it. And money is part of that.”
    – Linzy Bonham (21:38)

• Modeling Intentional Giving for Children
  Allison describes her family's weekly habit of choosing a charity, helping her kids understand the impact of even small financial gifts.

7. End-of-Conversation Highlights

• Intentional Spending Is Key
  Every dollar spent is a choice; clarity and intentionality should guide those choices—whether it’s investing in help, a cause, or a tool for your practice.
• First Steps for Listeners
  Set aside time, print out bank statements, review expenses, and check in emotionally and logically with your money stories and reality.

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Notable Quotes and Moments

• On identifying your money narrative:

  “What are my thoughts about money right now?...Am I going into more of like that hopeless kind of state? Stop first and be curious about what you are working with.”
  – Linzy Bonham (04:40)

• On clarity and strategic choices:

  “You might identify, just in doing that, several hundred dollars of savings per month that then is money that can now come home to you.”
  – Linzy Bonham (13:20)

• On the myth of an all-in-one business solution:

  “No purchase solves everything...the most important part is actually doing those things.”
  – Linzy Bonham (19:14)

• On using money for social change:

  “Money is really powerful...How can you also take this money that you’re earning and do something that feels really powerful with it?”
  – Linzy Bonham (20:18)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 03:00: Recognizing and naming financial anxiety in therapists
• 06:35: Journaling to unearth and soften money stories
• 08:06: Shifts in the therapy landscape & re-igniting marketing efforts
• 10:00: Linzy’s “clarity” principle for business finances
• 13:46: Practical exercise for reviewing bank statements for emotional cues
• 18:41: “No magic bullet” discussion about business and clinical work
• 20:18: Channeling financial resources toward causes you care about
• 23:33: Modeling generosity and intentional spending for kids

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Action Steps for Listeners

• Schedule dedicated time to sit with your feelings and review your money stories.
• Print and review your recent business and personal bank statements—mark what feels aligned and what doesn’t.
• Identify where you can reduce expenses or leverage resources more effectively.
• Consider the power of intentional giving or reallocation of personal spending for greater impact.
• Remember: Clarity and action are more effective than avoidance or anxious busy-work.

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Closing Note

With warmth and candor, Allison and Linzy guide listeners away from panic and paralysis, reminding therapists that the path to stability is paved with honest reflection, practical review, and intentional action—externally with money, and internally with self-awareness.

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Share this episode with a therapist friend who could use a little clarity and support—because these are steps that get easier, and more effective, when taken together.

Transcript

[Lindsay Bonham]

Foreign.

[Alison]

Hi, welcome to the Abundant Practice Podcast. I'm Alison from Abundance Practice Building. I have a nearly diagnosable obsession with helping therapists build sustainable, joy filled private practices, just like I've done for tens of thousands of therapists across the world. I'm excited to help you too. If you want to fill your practice with ideal clients, we have loads of free resources and paid support. Go to abundance practice building.com Links all right, onto the show. So I've talked about therapy notes on here for years. I could talk about the features and the benefits in my sleep. But there are a couple things I want you to know about therapy notes that doesn't typically make it into an ad script.

[Podcast Host]

First is that they actually care if you like their platform.

[Alison]

They don't only make themselves available on the phone to troubleshoot so you don't pull your hair out when you get stuck. They also take member suggestions and implement those that there's client demand for, like Therapy Search, an included listing service that helps clients find you internal and external secure messaging, clinical outcome measures to keep an eye on how your clients are progressing. A super smooth, super bill process, real time eligibility to check on your client's insurance. In my conversations with the employees there at all levels, they all really believe in their product and they want you to love it too. Second, they are proudly independently owned. Why should you care about that?

[Podcast Host]

Because as soon as venture capital becomes.

[Alison]

Involved, the focus shifts from making customers happy to making investors happy.

[Podcast Host]

Prices go way up.

[Alison]

Innovation plateaus. Making more money with as little output as possible becomes the number one focus. With over 100,000 therapists using their platform, they've been able to stay incredibly successful and they don't have to sacrifice your experience to stay there. You can try two months [e-mail] with the coupon code Abundant.

[Podcast Host]

Welcome back to the Abundant Practice Podcast. I'm here with Lindsay Bonham. She's been on this podcast a lot of times because y' all love Lindsey Bonham. She's at moneynutsandbolts.com and I know that it is an uncertain time and I thought, who better to talk to than the queen of making your money work for you, Lindsay? So thanks for being here.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yeah. Thank you for inviting me. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So we're going to talk about creating stability in these uncertain times. It's really messy economically, it's really messy politically. And I think that those two things end up weaving in and out of each other, of course. And I think that. Well, not. I think I know that so many of the Therapists who follow me. These listeners are pretty worried about money.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So can you talk us through how to get our heads out of the sand if that's where they are, or to stop checking our bank accounts every 14 seconds? That's what we're doing.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes, yes.

[Podcast Host]

Find some stability internally and totally practically.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes. And I love that you named that as two examples because I think that those are two illustrations of what happens when we're dysregulated around money. Right. So it's like head in the sand. We're like avoiding, we're in hypoarousal. Maybe we're just like, don't look at it, can't look at it. Like it's not there. That's one way that we respond when we are in a very stressful relationship with money, when our nervous system is overwhelmed. The other way, as you mentioned, is like hyper fixated. Look at it all the time. Hyper vigilant. Did my bank account change? What's happening? Bank account? What's happening? Bank account? That's a relationship that I have with email sometimes when I'm stressed. And that's when you just stop and be like, wait a second, how am I feeling? And so that's always where I suggest folks start. When we are encountering some bumpiness with money, or if money is hard, is stopping and zooming out and noticing what is happening for you, what's actually going on? Because we all have our own specific nervous system. We all have our own stories and experiences with money, our own, you know, narratives that pop up parts of us, you know, so many ways that we can name all of the things that come up around money. And unless you actually start to name what's happening for you, it's very hard to shift into any kind of productive problem solving state because you're probably in some version of a trauma response. So the first thing to start to notice is like, what are my thoughts about money right now? Like what do I believe about what's happening? You know, do I believe that I'm not making any money because you know, my dad was right and I'm never going to make this work and I never should have done this. Like, do I believe that I'm powerless here and everything's happening to me and there's nothing I can do and am I going into more of like that hopeless kind of state? Stop first and be curious about what you are working with. Right? Like what, what are the circuits that are firing in your brain? Because until we stop and zoom out on that, it's really hard to move into any kind of state where we can actually solve what's going on for us. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And so the whole being still and checking in on your feelings, one of those things that therapists preach all day long, and we tend to not be. Most of us great at what.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes, yes. You know what to do. Do what you would tell your clients. Right. And so, you know, I. I do tend to talk about money mostly in terms of stories, which, of course, is like a more narrative approach. But so one of the interesting things about money stories is we can be running multiple contradictory stories in our brain at the same time. Right. So one part of you feels like you're not good enough, but then the other part feels like you should be doing better than this. Right. And so it's like, we can have this. Lots of noise. And so mostly I find it's very helpful to just, like, write it out. Right. Just like. And, you know, simple prompts, like, you know, what are my beliefs about why money is hard right now? You know, why things are financially tight right now? See what happens. It's amazing how often what we start to write surprises us. We're like, oh, that's not what I thought was running through my head. Right. But stopping and slowing down and being with that, being curious about, where did this come from? When money was tight at home when I was a kid, what happened? You know, Like, I thought about that myself, as you know, before coming out this call, and I was thinking about this conversation, I was like, when I was a kid, what happened when money was tight and my parents fought? That's what I remember. My parents almost never fought. But the, like, one fight that I remember distinctly was about money, right? So it's like, what am I expecting to happen then when money gets tight? Like, what is my nervous system bracing for? So all of that to say is, first, stop, be curious, give yourself some prompts, you know, like, what do I believe is happening now? How do I think I could possibly help this? Like, what are. What are my beliefs? Can I help this to start to identify, like, what is the bag that you're carrying into this situation? And then sometimes just by writing those things out and identifying like, oh, this is my. Not good enough. Coming up. Hello, old friend. I know you. You know, that in itself can start to defuse some of the intensity around it. And other times it's like, oh, well, that's a great thing to bring to my therapist. There's an interesting little thing. So, you know, just like with any kind of Work that we do on ourselves. Some of it, just by naming it, helps to soften it. And some of it will be stuff that we're actually like, oh, this is hitting some really deep stuff for me. This is hitting stuff around like my childhood abuse or like growing up in poverty and instability. And I'm now going to take this to professionals, you know, who I trust with these, these deeper, more vulnerable things.

[Podcast Host]

Right. And I think about how owning your own business brings up all your stuff anyway.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Everything, everything.

[Podcast Host]

And then when maybe you've, you know, like, you, you've been through that hurdle, you've had a steady flow of clients. I know a lot of people that I've talked to are having to go back to marketing. They had kind of finished marketing a while ago because it had created a consistent machine. But as things have shifted and the therapy space with big therapy tech and all these things, people are like, oh, I'm getting way fewer calls than I used to. I'm still doing okay, but now I'm scared. So it's like all those buttons get pushed again.

[Lindsay Bonham]

They do, yeah. Yeah. And that's a big shift that we're seeing in general, I think, in our, in our industry, you want to call it, that is. Yeah. Like, for a little while there, we didn't really have to market very much at all.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Like, it's like once you had your reputation in town, people knew, oh, this is the person that you sent you for complex trauma. This is the person who's amazing at eating disorders. We didn't have to do a lot of that work. And it's true, we are now many of us, including those of us in the online space, like a different kind of space, but we're having to now think differently about how to have folks know that we exist again. Absolutely right. And so this is kind of like part of that getting down to actually solving the problem and noticing what the problem actually is. Once you've started to identify, okay, this is the stuff that's coming up. Okay, okay. Like, it's, you know, some, you know, hello, darkness, my old friend. You know, I can solve this. Then it's starting to actually zoom out and look at what is the actual problem. Right. Is it that referrals are down? If referrals are down, where are your referrals coming from? Then you can start to problem solve. What are my lowest hanging fruit marketing avenues? This one doctor has sent me so many folks over the years. I'm going to reconnect with them and remind them that I exist. I'M going to send them a fruit basket. I'm going to go out for lunch with them. But it's only once we start to identify what the problem actually is, and we're thinking about it with our beautiful full brains, which everybody listening to this podcast has in abundance, that we can start to actually think about solving what the actual problem is.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Alison]

Let's talk some about the, like, practical money stuff.

[Podcast Host]

Like, we've got the story piece that we're hopefully, like, creating some new stories around money. Like, once we've identified. Oh, this is this old stuff. What is it that people can do to do money differently?

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

At a time when it might not be flowing the way it once was.

[Lindsay Bonham]

No. You know, my. My word around money. Like, I have. I have all my words that I love. Right. I have, like, confident, competent, clear. But the. The word. If I had to pick one word of what I know therapists need and benefit from around money, it is clarity, Right. It's really understanding what are your actual numbers. Right. And there's always two sets of numbers. There's always the money coming in and there's always the money going out. Right? So when we see that money is not working, part of what we need to understand is what is actually happening with the numbers. Are my clients way down, Right. Is less money coming in the door? What is that jump? Like, has. Has my caseload dropped so much that I'm making $3,000 less a month than I was six months ago? That would explain a lot, right? Then there's maybe an area to focus on there. But the other area to be curious about is where's money going, Right. Stopping and taking inventory of, like, what am I spending on right now? Are there things that I've been spending on that maybe don't actually make sense? Because maybe I'm in a little bit less of a flowy, abundant time. And I really caution folks about not going into scarcity. Right? Because that's the other thing that we can do is, like, we can have again these kind of, like, extreme relationships with money. So sometimes when money's good, we're just like, whatever, and there's no clarity at all. And what's happening is just lag. You know, I was. I heard that Ariana Grande song the other day where it's like the. See it, I like it, I want it, I got it, right? And so it's like, sometimes we can get into that mode when money's very abundant and we don't really have to have a lot of clarity or guardrails because there's so much money flowing in that you can kind of make a bunch of like decisions and still there's enough.

[Alison]

Yeah.

[Lindsay Bonham]

When money gets tighter, we do have to be more mindful and present and intentional about where it is going. So this is the other piece is stopping and looking at where's your money actually going? Like, are you paying for subscriptions that you're not using? Are you part of a supervision group that you're not actually really getting much out of anymore, but you kind of keep going because you kind of feel obligated. What are the emotions around that that might be having you pay for something that really is not the greatest use of your money right now. Right. Because when, when we have less money to work with, that resource is more scarce and the money we have is that much more important and valuable to make sure it's going to what actually matters to us. I know in my own household, I'm aware of the things that are my. It's really nice to have, but it costs quite a bit. Mostly, frankly, it's help from other people.

[Alison]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lindsay Bonham]

It's like that was my first thought. Yeah, it's like it's, you know, it's cleaning, it's help with my laundry, it's like childcare from an incredible babysitter rather than like the 10 year old down the road. Right. It's like these things that do really matter to me and when I have the money 100%, I'm going to spend money on those things for multiple reasons. Its values align, there's so much about it. But it's also a lever that if money gets tighter, I'm aware that those are things that I could stop paying for and immediately I would recoup hundreds of dollars. And most of us have things like that in our life. Right. But it's, you need to know what those levers are like. I often think about money as like two levers. There's like the make more lever, there's the spend less lever. And you need to know like what is, what is available to you so you can make great choices. Because you might look at your budget when you sit down to get clarity with it. And that's a very practical thing to do. Your work budget and your home budget, let's just say at work you sit down and look and realize like, oh, I'm paying for these subscriptions I don't really use. I'm in this community that I've gotten a lot out of, but I'm not really using it. Right now, I could always take a break and come back in six months. You might identify, just in doing that several hundred dollars of savings per month that then is money that can now come home to you. Right? And same thing at home. It's like. But it's. We need to actually stop and be with and be clear about our number before we can make any strategic decisions.

[Alison]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

That takes some, like, deep breaths and really looking like, I'm a fan, and it's probably because I'm Gen X, but I'm a fan of printing out bank statements. Of course you are. Like, really going through, like, highlighting things.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Circling things, getting clear 100%. And that's a great strategy for starting to identify what these things are. And I actually have a workshop that's part of Tiffany McLean's Lean In Mike bank that walks folks through this literal exercise. So print your bank statement. Print your business bank statement from last month and your business credit card. You're gonna need both. And go through and just look at everything one line at a time, right? And this is where, too, we don't have to be super thinky. We can make it a somatic exercise to be curious about. Like, okay, when you look at this line, do you feel expansion? Do you. Do you lean in? Are you like, oh, yeah, that was a really great lunch with that colleague. And then we ended up having this great idea together. Now we're doing this workshop that was, like, a great use of 50 bucks. Or do you feel like, ugh, yeah, that didn't. Yeah, that's not really worth it. Or like, ugh, I am overpaying for rent, and I probably could sublet because I'm not using the office enough. But, like, even just getting out of the thinky thinky into the somatic cues, and then you can just mark next to those things. Like, what is like, yes, feels good. Check mark. And what is like. And like, you can put a little X or question mark next to things, and right there in, like, literally 10 minutes, you can get some really good information about what is clearly a great use of your money. And where's an area that you can start to be curious about whether it could be cut, right? Or, you know, there's budgeting skills. You know, we can always reduce things, cut things we can delay purchases of. Like, do you actually need that thing right now? Do you need to do that training this spring? Could you do it in the fall instead of. But it's only once we start to identify how the money's flowing that then we can start to figure out what to do about it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Alison]

And it's interesting, too, because when you.

[Podcast Host]

Do that, I did that once, and there was this program I had paid for but hadn't used. And so I had, like, this negative response to it. But it was my own kind of shame of having spent money on something and continuing to spend money on something that I wasn't using 100%. And it propelled me to actually use the program, which then made me more money. And I was like, okay, that's the thing. Yeah. I had, like, a somatic reaction to it that led me to question, like, well, I mean, I liked that person. That's why I bought it. And, you know, I imagine that there are some people in the abundance party who might not be using this stuff that could listen to this and be like, oh, yeah, I should probably use that and then make more money.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes, yes.

[Podcast Host]

But it's interesting how sometimes our own stuff will come up, because I was, like, mad at the charge, but I'm the one who signed up for it, and it's something I wanted. I just hadn't taken the time.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

So I was ultimately mad at myself.

[Lindsay Bonham]

The only person to blame was yourself. Yeah. Which is true, because, again, that's great emotional cue. And the solution wasn't like, oh, I should fight to get my money back, because da, da, da. The solution was like, oh, right, I should do that thing, Because I did identify that it was useful, and it still is useful. And I'm hearing that's a great example of what could have been cost. Kind of a waste of money. Instead, you actually turn it into the investment that it was always able to be by actually showing up and using it. And this is what I find. This is the area actually, for folks listening, this is the area that, having worked with hundreds of therapists over the years, looking at their finances with them, professional development is the area where we can waste the most money but also benefit the most. Right. And so that's an area where it's like, you can easily spend hundreds of dollars a month on a course that you never open, and then you're like, oh, I failed. You know, like, bad feelings do. But it's also the area where if you pay money and actually follow through with the action and actually show up, get the support that's being offered to you, learn the lessons, do the things, that is where that money can actually turn into more money in your business, which, like this is. This is a phrase that Julie Harris has in her infinite wisdom, is whenever you go to spend Money in your business, you should think, does spending this money. Will it make me more money?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Right. Because that's really what investments in our business, that's what expenses are supposed to be, is they're supposed to enable us to make more money. Right. To deliver our services in a better way, smarter way, whatever. In an office. That's nice. So folks actually want to come back, whatever that is, so that you can get paid for what you do and you can pay for your life, and you're serving folks in a way that is really beneficial for everybody.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. And I think that that's the. There are a lot of shiny objects out there.

[Alison]

Oh, gosh.

[Podcast Host]

Both clinically and business. The world is full of shiny objects. And that's. That's a marketer's job, is to make their shiny object the most alluring. Right.

[Lindsay Bonham]

The shiniest of the pile. Yes. Yes.

[Podcast Host]

And I. I think it's fair to say there is no magic bullet, clinically or in business. There is no magic bullet. There's no one thing you're missing that you just need to pay $99 for this month that's gonna make the entire difference. That just like both in business and in clinical work, it's an interwoven kind of tapestry. I can't believe I'm saying that. I'm, like, spiraling in myself. But it's like a tapestry of different things that you do that work.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes, it is. It is. And the most important part is actually doing those things.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Again, no Purchase solves everything. Yes, yes, no, they absolutely do. And then I think the other piece that's coming to mind for me as we think more about the political landscape right now and how incredibly overwhelming it can be. I was texting with a friend the other day, and, like, my social worker brain was almost starting to come online to be like, are you okay? Because she was like, I cannot stop doom scrolling. Like, I'm just doom scrolling constantly. And I was, you know, saying to her, I'm lucky enough to be able to work with Americans, so I feel like I'm able to support folks directly. I'm Canadian, by the way, in terms of that context. But I was saying to her, what can you actually do? Right? And money is really powerful. Right? Like, money is where we take basically value that we've created by, like, with our beautiful gifts and talents that we're all sharing with the world, we turn it into this thing that can be exchanged for literally anything else almost within reason. And so that's also something I remember feeling this way during, like, the George Floyd protests, it was just, like, so overwhelming. And, like, the. The injustice, like, it's just so huge. Is. Money is also really powerful. Right. And so it's like, how can you also take this money that you're earning and do something that feels really powerful with it? Right. Supporting causes that you care about contributing to people's GoFundMe if they're, you know, legit GoFundMes. But, yeah, this is the other thing, too, is I think so often as therapists, we're used to thinking about our way of contributing to the world, being through emotional care. And we're like, I'll just emotionally care for everybody always, forever.

[Alison]

Right.

[Lindsay Bonham]

But there is actually a limit of that energy. But we are in this field that incredibly wonderfully, people want to pay us, like, at least 100 bucks to be with our wisdom for an hour. If not 200 or $300, depending on your business model, you can turn that money into something amazing for all of these organizations that are, like, fighting to keep the world the way that we want it to be. Right. So that's another piece, too, is like, money is really powerful, and I think sometimes as therapists, we shy away from that power. We're like, oh, it's powerful and power is bad, and I don't want to be part of that. But really, you are powerful, and if you don't own that, it's like, you don't own your privilege. You're wasting it. And money is part of that. Right. So also.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yeah. Thinking about, like, is there something your money could do this month that would feel so good to see it do? Right?

[Alison]

Yes.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Because what to you is also maybe like, some money to some organizations or causes or people, it's a lot of money, and it makes a big difference.

[Podcast Host]

Especially when combined with other people who are making the same choice. Yeah. I think about, when we look at our list of. Here are all the things that are nice to have. Right. Like, for me, a cleaner. If I put the same money that I've been putting towards the cleaner, towards the ACLU or towards mutual aid or any of the many, many places it's desperately needed, it's probably going to do more for me. I can listen to an audiobook and clean my house. I've got kids, they've got chores. I could up those chores. My husband can pitch in. We can all pitch in to do something and thus be able to use our money in a powerful way.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes. Yeah. And I think it's, you know, that's a great Example of just intentionality. Right. That might be the choice that you make. It might not be for folks listening, you know, that might not be something that makes sense for their life at all.

[Podcast Host]

You might need to have somebody clean your house so that you can, like, be great at work.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Precisely. Yes. But it's like remembering that every dollar we spend is a choice. We're making all these choices, and sometimes that can feel overwhelming. But also when we own the power of that, then it's like, yeah, you know what? Theoretically, you know, okay, let's just say if I think about what I pay help. And I'm going to keep paying for help, by the way. Just, you know, sometimes my cleaner listens to my podcast. I'm going to keep paying you. You're amazing. But it's like, if I think about the power of those dollars, I could literally be contributing, like a few hundred bucks a month to causes. And I do contribute to causes already, but, like, there is that discretionary income. And so that's an area of huge power that I have that I can choose to be using really intentionally.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely. And that's one thing. Like, we have a family meeting every week, and the kids get to decide who we're giving money to. And it's a great way to just kind of instill in them, you know, it doesn't have to be a lot of money once they're making their own money. Like, Even if it's $5 from their $150 paycheck, you know, like, that's that matters. I love that.

[Alison]

And that's helping.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes. I'm curious, like, what have you noticed about your kids reaction to those family meetings and that? Like, where are we giving money? Conversation. What are you seeing?

[Podcast Host]

They really love. We give a lot to St. Jude's we circle back to St. Jude's which treats kids with cancer, supports the families animals. You know, they're our sexual assault center in town. Depending on what's going on politically, sometimes we will present a case for a thing. If we present a case, usually they'll jump on. So they're open and also geared towards other children and animals, as you might expect for children.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yes, yes. How old are your kiddos now?

[Podcast Host]

They're 12 and nine.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Yeah, they're a little older than mine. My. My son, I've also been instilling him, like, making intentional choices, Surprise, surprise, budgeting. So he has a piggy bank where we divide things into four different compartments. And so, you know, they're save, spend, donate, invest. I'm going to Tell you, my son is 6 and he is not yet on board with giving money to other people. So also, just to, you know, temper it for, you know, depending on the child and their developmental stage can take a while for kids to wrap their heads around that. Because he's like, but I want Lego. I'm like, that's you. Do you really want Lego? That's true at all times. But I think just, you know, modeling to our children that this is important and we do this, it means that it's in the air. Right. And even if they don't, like, pick it up enthusiastically when they're little, they'll remember as they get older, like, right. Yeah. We should always think about where our money can help others.

[Podcast Host]

Mm. Absolutely.

[Alison]

Awesome.

[Podcast Host]

Well, Lindsay, thank you so much for your time today. I hope that everybody sets some time aside in their calendar because if it doesn't get scheduled, it probably doesn't get done. Just to be with feelings around money, think about the stories that are coming up. Sit down and look at your money. Maybe print out your bank statements and see what the story your bank statement's telling too.

[Alison]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

I always find that interesting with folks.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Certainly. Yes.

[Podcast Host]

So, yeah, these are.

[Lindsay Bonham]

These are the first steps and it's. It all gets better from there.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely. Awesome. Thank you for your time. Great.

[Lindsay Bonham]

Thank you, Alison.

[Alison]

If you're ready for a much easier practice, Therapy Notes is the way to go. Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo code abundant for two months.

[Podcast Host]

Free.

[Alison]

If you're listening, you probably need some support building your practice. If you're a super newbie, grab our free checklist using the link in the show notes. I'd love for you to follow rate and review, but I really want you to this episode with a therapist friend. Let's help all our colleagues build what they want.