Skip to main content

Identifying Problematic Financial Behaviors and Money Disorders

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Financial Counseling

Abstract

Money is the number one source of stress in the lives of Americans. Financial stress drives many clients to seek the assistance of financial counselors. In some cases, financial stress is not the sole result of a lack of financial resources or poor financial literacy and traditional financial counseling tools do not help clients change their behaviors. When financial counseling is not successful in helping improve a client’s financial behaviors, counselors may want to consider whether the client may be exhibiting signs of a money disorder. This chapter introduces the signs and symptoms of problematic money behaviors and money disorders, including hoarding disorder, gambling disorder, compulsive buying disorder, financial enabling, financial dependence, financial denial, and financial enmeshment. It examines the beliefs driving these behaviors and offers suggestions for financial counselors who encounter clients struggling with problematic financial behaviors and money disorders.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 74.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing: Washington, D.C.: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychological Association. (2016). Stress in America: Coping with change. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2016/coping-with-change.pdf

  • Anderson, M. A., Gillig, P. M., Sitaker, M., McCloskey, K., Malloy, K., & Grigsby, N. (2003). Why doesn’t she just leave? A descriptive study of victim reported impediments to her safety. Journal of Family Violence, 18(3), 151–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archuleta, K. L., Dale, A., & Spann, S. M. (2013). College students and financial distress: Exploring debt, financial satisfaction, and financial anxiety. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 24(2), 50–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archuleta, K. L., Grable, J. E., & Burr, E. (2015). Solution focused financial therapy. In B. T. Klontz, S. L. Britt, & K. L. Archuleta (Eds.), Financial therapy: Theory, research & practice (pp. 347–362). New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asebedo, S. D., & Seay, M. C. (2015). From functioning to flourishing: Applying positive psychology to financial planning. Journal of Financial Planning, 28(11), 50–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. (2017). What is cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Retrieved from https://www.beckinstitute.org/get-informed/what-is-cognitive-therapy/

  • Bell Carlson, M., Britt, S. L., Nelson Goff, B. S., & Archuleta, K. L. (2015). Similarities and differences in financial behaviors of students and soldiers. College Student Journal, 49(4), 542–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, M. M., Nelson, J. S., Spann, S. M., Molloy, C. J., Britt, S. L., & Nelson Goff, B. S. (2014). The impact of financial resources on soldiers’ well-being (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. ID 2466556). Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2466556

    Google Scholar 

  • Benson, A. L. (2015). Stopping overshopping model. In B. T. Klontz, S. L. Britt, & K. L. Archuleta (Eds.), Financial therapy: Theory, research & practice (pp. 191–214). New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Britt, S., Klontz, B., Tibbetts, R., & Leitz, L. (2015). The financial health of mental health professionals. Journal of Financial Therapy, 6(1), 17–32. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1076

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canale, A., Archuleta, K. L., & Klontz, B. T. (2015). Money disorders. In B. T. Klontz, S. L. Britt, & K. L. Archuleta (Eds.), Financial therapy: Theory, research & practice (pp. 35–67). New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canale, A., & Klontz, B. T. (2013). Hoarding disorder: It’s more than just an obsession—Implications for financial therapists and planners. Journal of Financial Therapy, 4(2), 43–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Shazer, S., Dolan, Y., Korman, H., McCollum, E., Trepper, T., & Berg, I. K. (2007). More than miracles: The state of the art of solution-focused brief therapy. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dittmar, H., Long, K., & Bond, R. (2007). When a better self is only a button click away: Associations between materialistic values, emotional and identity-related buying motives, and compulsive buying tendency online. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26(3), 334–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faber, R. J., & O’Guinn, T. C. (1989). Classifying compulsive consumers: Advances in development of diagnostic tool. Advances in Consumer Research, 16, 738–744.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faber, R. J., & O’Guinn, T. C. (1992). A clinical screener for compulsive buying. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 459–469.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frost, R. O., Steketee, G., & Williams, L. (2002). Compulsive buying, compulsive hoarding, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behavior Therapy, 33(2), 201–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horwitz, E., & Klontz, B. T. (2013). Understanding and dealing with client resistance to change. Journal of Financial Planning, 26(11), 27–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemnitz, R. Klontz, B. T., & Archuleta, K. L. (2015). Financial enmeshment: Untangling the web. Journal of Financial Therapy, 6(2), 32–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, D., & Devasagayam, R. (2017). An endowment, commodity, and prospect theory perspective on consumer hoarding behavior. Journal of Business Theory and Practice, 5(2), 77–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B. T., Bivens, A., Klontz, P. T., Wada, J., & Kahler, R. (2008). The treatment of disordered money behaviors: Results of an open clinical trial. Psychological Services, 5(3), 295–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B. T., & Britt, S. L. (2012). How clients’ money scripts predict their financial behaviors. Journal of Financial Planning, 25(11), 33–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B., Britt, S., Archuleta, K., & Klontz, T. (2012). Disordered money behaviors: Development of the Klontz money behavior inventory. Journal of Financial Therapy, 3(1), 17–42. https://doi.org/10.4148/jft.v3i1.1485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B., Britt, S., Mentzer, J., & Klontz, T. (2011). Money beliefs and financial behaviors: Development of the Klontz money script inventory. Journal of Financial Therapy, 2(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.4148/jft.v2i1.451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B. T. & Canale, A. (2016). When helping hurts: 5 recommendations for planners with financial-enabling clients. Journal of Financial Planning, 29(3), 25–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B. T., & Horwitz, E. J. (2017). Behavioral finance 2.0: Financial psychology. Journal of Financial Planning, 30(5), 28–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B. T., Horwitz, E. J., & Klontz, P. T. (2015). Stages of change and motivational interviewing in financial therapy. In B. T. Klontz, S. L. Britt, & K. L. Archuleta (Eds.), Financial therapy: Theory, research & practice (pp. 347–362). New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B., Kahler, R., & Klontz, T. (2008). Facilitating financial health: Tools for financial planners, coaches, and therapists. Cincinnati, OH: The National Underwriter Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B., Kahler, R., & Klontz, T. (2016). Facilitating financial health: Tools for financial planners, coaches, and therapists (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: The National Underwriter Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B., & Klontz, T. (2009). Mind over money: Overcoming the money disorders that threaten our financial health. New York, NY: Broadway Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B. T., Seay, M. C., Sullivan, P., & Canale, A. (2014). The psychology of wealth: Psychological factors associated with high income. Journal of Financial Planning, 27(12), 46–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klontz, B. T., Sullivan, P., Seay, M. C., & Canale, A. (2015). The wealthy: A financial psychological profile. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 67(2), 127–143. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawson, D. R., Klontz, B. T., & Britt, S. L. (2015). Money scripts. In B. T. Klontz, S. L. Britt, & K. L. Archuleta (Eds.), Financial therapy: Theory, research & practice (pp. 23–34). New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2002). Motivational interviewing: Preparing people of change. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nabeshima, G., & Klontz, B. T. (2015). Cognitive behavioral financial therapy. In B. T. Klontz, S. L. Britt, & K. L. Archuleta (Eds.), Financial therapy: Theory, research & practice (pp. 347–362). New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newcomb, M. D., & Rabow, J. (1999). Gender, socialization, and money. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29(4), 852–869. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb02029.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Positive Psychology Center. (2017). PositivePsychology.org . Retrieved from http://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/

  • Prochaska, J. O., Norcross, J. C., & DiClemente, C. C. (1994). Changing for good: A revolutionary six-stage program for overcoming bad habits and moving your life positively forward. New York, NY: William Morrow and Company, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sages, R. A., Griesdorn, T. S., Gudmunson, C. G., & Archuleta, K. L. (2015). Assessment in financial therapy. In B. T. Klontz, S. L. Britt, & K. L. Archuleta (Eds.), Financial therapy: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 69–85). New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, G. K., & Burchell, B. J. (2012). Measuring financial anxiety. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 5(2), 92–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C., Klontz, B., & Britt, S. (2016). Reliability and convergent validity of the Klontz money script inventory-revised (KMSI-R). Journal of Financial Therapy, 6(2), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1100

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Klontz, B.T., Lawson, D.R. (2019). Identifying Problematic Financial Behaviors and Money Disorders. In: Durband, D., Law, R., Mazzolini, A. (eds) Financial Counseling. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72586-4_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72586-4_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-72585-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-72586-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics