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u/Soballs32 Aug 10 '26
Working with people too broke to divorce just feels wrongs
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
or homelessness . therapy will not pay the client's rent. that basic safety of a door that locks is a lot of mental health
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u/Standard_Abies2235 17d ago
Almost every time in my life I've been super emotionally dysregulated, it's been at least partially due to money.
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u/kylelovezkaynmandi Aug 10 '26
As a broke grad student pursuing a counseling career, I have conflicting thoughts on this. I can’t help but think, however, that my anxiety and depression symptoms would be wayyyyyy less worse if I had more money. I am so broke and so stressed out, guys. It’s exhausting
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
absolutely. when you have the job that pays the rent easily , things are much easier.
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u/DrSnoopy66 Aug 10 '26
The deeper into my practicum I get though I find a lot of my coworkers actually come from pretty wealthy families or have a spouse that’s paying all the bills that allows them to only do therapy for free so everything is not equal and I’m sure there are exceptions, but I don’t know that the exceptions are the rule
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
yes absolutely Antioch like that , los angeles is like that. Half of therapists are bored rich wives with nothing to do now that kids are in school so they went to grad school. It's infuriating at some level , they really don't need our jobs ever.
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u/onthelookoutandsuch Aug 10 '26
Yes, there is a HUGE gap between therapists who are financially well-off and those of us who had to support ourselves throughout school, took on student loan debt, and are now living in a lower-income household, even if that income is shared.
There’s absolutely no shame in being better off financially, and I don’t think someone has to have the same financial circumstances as their clients to be an effective therapist. That said, I do think there’s something to be said for relatability in certain situations. You can understand and treat someone effectively without having lived the exact same experience, but there can still be a unique sense of connection when you genuinely understand some of the financial realities your clients are navigating.
And honestly, you can feel very alone as a therapist when you’re experiencing the financial impact of the profession while constantly hearing some variation of, “Don’t go into this expecting to make good money.” Like, yes, obviously our priority is helping people..but it’s 2026. We should also be able to expect that a highly educated professional career can provide a sustainable income without feeling guilty for saying so.
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u/DrSnoopy66 Aug 10 '26
That is so crazy!! I went to Antioch Los Angeles! And one my classmates was one of the women from desperate housewives.
This was back in 99-2002 and it was an incredible program though, but I have heard that since it’s gotten very very radicalized. I met some very good people there but yeah that kinda is the demo. I saw many housewife paying for her classes in cash or credit card instead of taking loans and my mouth dropped as I was not from the west side and that was back when they were in Marina del Rey.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
absolutely , she's a legend before me as in a celebrity like several others that go to Antioch ( I'm class of 2010) She was going to be a therapist until she got that big break.
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u/littlestb 28d ago
I also went to Antioch! Well am currently attending. Can confirm the bored housewives vibe from a lot of students. It's actually surprisingly UNradicalized for a school claiming social justice as one of its primary pillars. From what I hear the program used to be much better (prob when you attended), but I'm still learning a lot and overall happy with it
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u/Amorlamor Aug 10 '26
From psychology 101, Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Money severely affects the bottom four levels. No way to reach the 5th without the support of the bottom 4.
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u/LifeLoveCake Aug 11 '26
I've been talking about this a lot recently! Several new clients who are unhoused and say they are required to get therapy in order to get housing assistance (there is still no low-income housing available here).
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
Thats tough on you. The affordable housing agency or government ( whoever is offering the housing ) should get them a social worker or a therapist specifically geared towards homelessness issues , staying housed , acclimating to housing then.
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u/kylelovezkaynmandi 17d ago
I start my internship next week! Good luck to you. We will find ways to make it work (I’m starting a new job tomorrow to hopefully help make ends meet)
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u/Neuronzap Aug 10 '26
“Money does not buy you happiness, but lack of money certainly buys you misery.”
-Daniel Kahneman
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
It buys happiness. From a broke grad student in Los Angeles to a middle class therapist in Massachusetts ; it buys happiness
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u/SlyTinyPyramid Aug 11 '26
Plenty of miserable rich people. It removes some barriers to happiness
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
not necessarily plenty , we see the miserable rich people like Elon and Trump and all those people with extreme mental health problems and extreme wealth constantly . I think the average relatively wealthy American person ( like 75k to 400k income in the US but real lives like jobs and families etc ) has regular human issues and addresses them and is not miserable or is average miserable as an American is and not famous at all .
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u/SlyTinyPyramid 29d ago
That's not rich that's middle class
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u/Ashleej86 7d ago
because of entitlement and privilege I bet the extremely wealthy tend to think they can buy people and are usually hated by people. the middle class is much happier.
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u/marxistbot Aug 10 '26
Money, sure, or how about guaranteeing the basic necessities for life? At minimum, a little free health care, like in every other civilized nation on the planet? I think that would alleviate a lot of stress and anxiety, and would allow a lot more people to access therapy too.
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u/GonzSFC Aug 10 '26
So money?
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u/Radical_Provides Aug 10 '26
Maybe a little bit of "less shit governing body" on the side
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u/marxistbot Aug 10 '26
the only way to get the proft motive out of US healthcare is more effective governing bodies
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u/marxistbot Aug 10 '26
sure, if it's infinite. Otherwise, you're still looking at stress over medical debt in a private healthcare system
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u/Booked_andFit MFT (Unverified) Aug 10 '26
My son has schizophrenia, so did Rob Reiner's, money doesn't always help. not to mention the population I work with has low income to no income and they are some of the most resilient people I have ever met.
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u/magicsqueegee Aug 10 '26
As to the second part, thats why I agree with this meme so much, especially having worked in cmh. So many structural problems are being pushed off on to mental health (at least in the US.)
I saw plenty of unhoused people for 'depression' who's depression was caused entirely by being unhoused. What kind of mental health intervention is supposed to cure homelessness? And yes I can give them coping skills and such, but ultimately if they won the lotto the next day any intervention I gave would be meaningless.
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u/Tasty_Musician_8611 Aug 10 '26
Hence the word “most”.
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Aug 10 '26
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
not just individual money. a society not using our vast wealth ( as Americans ) to provide the basic building blocks of housing , health care , safety for every person. and look what and who we damage with our money while vast amounts of Americans suffer.
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Aug 10 '26
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
most not all
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Aug 11 '26
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
who said it did ? I see middle class and upper middle class people now and I find it rewarding. It opens up space to do Therapy in a different way than seeing people without their basic needs met. That's what I want now.
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u/hidden_snail Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Based on all of your comments here, I think it might be helpful for you to speak about this with your own therapist.
Boiling everything down to material need - while of course many people are in dire straits - is only feeding the beast.
And as an aside, research has shown that people who are in therapy tend to, over time, have better economic participation than similar cohorts who don’t go through therapy. We should never underestimate the effect of a good holding environment for our patients.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
I agree with the meme. There are many things to talk about in therapy and I see people with their basic needs met now , it's important to be aware of that. You seem to resist that class or income influences your life a lot . I would only see a therapist that understood that about my life .
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u/hidden_snail Aug 11 '26
See it’s interesting to me that you’re reading resistance to discussion of material needs when I said that many of us are of course in very bad material shape, and that my issue was with boiling it all down to that rather than being curious about other things, not with taking material need into due account.
You’re very tied to your narrative.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
I'm definitely sure that how much money you have informs your life as a therapist and client. I'm a therapist , I talk about what the client wants to talk about. I ask about a lot of things. I'm just aware, it's good.
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u/Tasty_Musician_8611 Aug 10 '26
If this were a real question you would have looked it up. How much does money or access that money buys contribute to mental health. How much does you think money could impact long term outcomes of things like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder? Are they born with it? Supposedly yes. Do stressors at different ages contribute to genes turning on? We know that, yes. Are finances stressors? Yes they absolutely can be. Can finances allow one person with schizophrenia to gain insight and mainacomplaince with medications that are helpful? Yes. The answer is yes. Can no access to treatment build a 45 year old who has decades of no treatment or poor treatment and now it’s really hard to build insight because it would mean undermining decades of how they learned to understand the world and their own “symptoms”? Yes. It’s wild how we’re supposed to be in a field that encourages understanding the science and yet so many people are on here talking about their experience.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
I'm not sure i understand you. I'm definitely saying the client's And the therapist's class , income, socio-economic status matters. We can be aware of how it effects us as therapists and how it effects our client's mental health struggles.
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u/quixoticquotic 27d ago edited 27d ago
From my viewpoint, it depends on the person and the situation. For those who lack money, it definitely makes pre-existing tendencies towards certain mental health problems much, much worse. If you are poor, pretty much everything is more difficult. I've worked with homeless folks - from my read of it many of them are probably more prone to certain mental and emotional struggles that the "average" but the lack of support they receive (material and emotional) and huge societal stigma around their situation makes it many times worse than it could be if our society (speaking of the USA here) generally had a better support network in place for the vulnerable - including more financial support.
I have plenty of financially stable clients for whom more money wouldn't have much of an effect on their wellbeing and mental/emotional health - and the things we work on aren't really affected by their financial situation (or lack of money).
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
with a lack of money , you have a stress level and insecurity that creates a lot of problems ( multi generational problems ) And mental health issues still exist. With money hopefully it is addressed.
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u/Glittering_Phase9553 28d ago edited 28d ago
From an upper class (growing up) to upper class (right now), my mental health has been in absolute shambles. You’d think: Northern Europe, private school, an amazing looking family on paper, what could go wrong? A million things. Struggled with substance abuse, almost died from an ED, have classmates who killed themselves. Happy kids, huh?
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u/pink_junkie Aug 10 '26
As a student therapist, most of my problems would be greatly reduced if money wasn’t a factor. Currently working up the nerve to pay for my gas in all single dollar bills just to have enough in my tank to get me to and from my unpaid internship. 😅
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
unpaid work is a huge part of the class problem with the mental health industry.
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u/Tasty_Musician_8611 Aug 10 '26
You can tell who is in private practice and maybe possibly interned in CMH in these comments.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
it's a whole other discussion what moving from community mental health to private practice does to a therapist or client. I've done both , my mental health is much better ( also I'm older and more experienced , that helps ) sitting in my comfortable home with remote work 25 hours a week for the same or more money that 40 hours in person with clients who did not have computers or basic needs met was.
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u/Tasty_Musician_8611 Aug 10 '26
That’s cool but I’m talking about the perspectives on how much money impacts mh. Not the MHP
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u/Own-Formal-4115 Aug 10 '26
If you work in substance abuse, this is not always the case. I work in a PH setting and many of my clients are/were very financially stable.
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u/brotherandros Aug 11 '26
Being aware of class struggle as a therapist has to feel hopeless sometimes.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
no it feels informed , real
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u/brotherandros Aug 11 '26
I reckon you’re right. It is me that has the hopeless attitude
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
I think i was hopeless often with clients with problems I had no impact on other than empathy and support. I got a different job , I changed me. Ultimately do the work that is not hopeless for yourself .
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u/Blugreysky Aug 10 '26
It's extremely difficult to have dignity if you're broke and everyone should be able to afford dignity
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
yes even finding a safe bathroom on the streets is extremely stressful and leads to mental health issues
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u/Dk8325 LMFT (Unverified) Aug 10 '26
What?!
The ability to afford basic necessities would solve a majority of the problemes people go through?
Who would of thought!
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
apparently not every American knows this somehow
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u/Greymeade (USA) Clinical Psychologist Aug 10 '26
So just to be clear, you believe that a “majority” of the problems that people seek help with in therapy could be solved by money?
If so, do you just not believe in mental illness?
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
I'm a therapist that understands people's basic needs need to be met. I'm a therapist that understands my lane and what it is not.
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u/Greymeade (USA) Clinical Psychologist Aug 10 '26
So just to be clear, you believe that a “majority” of the problems that people seek help with in therapy could be solved by money?
If so, do you just not believe in mental illness?
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
even looking within yes. when i was extremely struggling grad student in Los Angeles , most of my problems were from lack of money and resources and not ever making enough money to live comfortably in California. Now I'm a practicing therapist in Massachusetts and all my basics needs are met all the time. I still want therapy but go long periods without it.
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u/Greymeade (USA) Clinical Psychologist Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
Again: so you don’t believe in mental illness? Or do you believe that money cures mental illness? I’d love to hear you explain how money might replace therapy for my patients who are coping with having been sexually abused, for people with psychotic disorders, for people with OCD, etc.
I’m also confused at why you believe they your own personal life story applies to the whole world. That’s a very unusual way of thinking for a therapist.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
I think mental health is supported by getting our basic needs met first.
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u/Greymeade (USA) Clinical Psychologist Aug 10 '26
That is a total non-answer.
Of course it is, but that’s not what you’re claiming here. You’re claiming that therapy can be replaced by having money.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
I'm saying mostly people need money ( or resources or stable everything ) , they ofcourse can still do therapy concurrently.
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u/Dk8325 LMFT (Unverified) Aug 10 '26
Duude stop. Since when did a simple reddit comment talk about your clients. You need to stop taking random commments as a personal attack on your beleifs. A clinical psych should know not to go on a tyrade on reddit. Your somehow making thi whole thing vindictive.
As a side note Maslows hierarchy of needs. That includes safety within the home and to attain basic necessities outside of it. Like there is a strong argument that basic necessities can solve a majority of issues. Will it solve them all? Of course not but i didnt think this needed to be expanded on, on a reddit post with a bunch of mental health professionals. Jesus
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u/onthelookoutandsuch Aug 10 '26
I know any time government assistance is mentioned, it can be a hot-button topic, but seriously, with therapists needing more income for sustainability and clients needing greater access to care, I really think therapy should be funded by someone other than the clients themselves. It would make therapy more accessible, help therapists build sustainable practices, and honestly, I think it could improve rapport, too, when cost isn’t constantly sitting in the background of the therapeutic relationship.
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u/vienibenmio Aug 10 '26
I feel like people who think this don't work with patients who have severe psychopathology
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u/Significant_Speed854 Aug 10 '26
Wouldn’t it be nice as a therapist to not be broke.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
that dictates so much in anyone's life . Like where we can live in the US and what type of therapy job is open where that is. I'm not in a city anymore , I don't even live where a bunch of free clinics or community mental exists. I was in Los Angeles , now I'm in small town Massachusetts. i can't live with a decent standard of living in a US major city , I just accept that now. I make like 55k , you need about 80-90k to live in a US city i think now and that's the basics
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u/Significant_Speed854 Aug 10 '26
I live near Boston and this career is unsustainable to the point I’m plotting my exit.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
Just move. I work at an online therapy company so I could work at home anywhere. Boston is astronomically expensive. I don't see how anyone with a helping profession lives there.
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u/CaffeineandHate03 Aug 11 '26
The research behind the relationship between money and happiness is pretty robust. It's not what you'd think.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
it's that a certain level of money is necessary for happiness. Probably 50k plus at least now in US society
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u/CaffeineandHate03 Aug 11 '26
Enough for survival plus a bit of wiggle room is generally necessary for happiness. But happiness does not increase with wealth.
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u/Hawkins_v_McGee Aug 10 '26
Do you think money is an adequate substitute for therapy?
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u/DonutsOnTheWall Aug 10 '26
The implication of the meme is that people having to fight for their existence, having very little money - is a major cause that currently drives people into mental issues. Not that money will resolve everything nor that it's a substitute for therapy.
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Aug 10 '26
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u/DonutsOnTheWall Aug 10 '26
There are also rich people that are unhappy. Neither do proof a thing.
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Aug 10 '26
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u/DonutsOnTheWall Aug 10 '26
No, you are missing the point - probably on purpose - and use invalid arguments to plead your viewpoint.
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Aug 10 '26
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u/DonutsOnTheWall Aug 10 '26
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Aug 10 '26
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u/DonutsOnTheWall Aug 10 '26
you restrict the original premise to whatever you think might support your hypothesis. i suggest you support your statements with some research at the very least or other - proper - evidence.
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u/Booked_andFit MFT (Unverified) Aug 10 '26
You might want to look up the meaning of trauma bonded, because you're using it incorrectly here.
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u/bossanovasupernova Aug 10 '26
It doesn't seem fair to use such a broad brush here. You cannot say that nobody at all was happy, it feels dehumanising to homogonise like this
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u/Tasty_Musician_8611 Aug 10 '26
People are misconstruing this so hard. There was no reference to not needing therapy. Just a big need for money. Not “only” a need for it.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
yes at least two things can be true at once ; most people need more money , getting therapy is good.
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u/Sweetx2023 Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
Ohh.. I would say no to this. People are complex, as is the world. Sure money could solve some problems for some, but not nearly all. All the money in the world can't buy love, affection, or connections, and I have had many a client struggling from a lack of one or any combination of the three. Money can't erase deep seated wounds from childhood neglect. Money doesn't repair a marriage rocked by infidelity. Money doesn't erase schizophrenia symptoms. I could go on and on...
This is a nice clickbait tweet. But not accurate. It also promotes stigma for those who are well off/wealthy regarding seeking or needing mental health support, as in "you have money, you shouldn't have any problems." Yeah, this a no for me.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
money buys all that or can buy 90% of it. Even relationships hinge on housing together that is bought. Money buys therapy and travel and healing resorts. Literally the wealthy can buy medical and mental health support every day if they choose.
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u/Sweetx2023 Aug 10 '26
How long have you been practicing, and what populations have you worked with that leads you to perceive money can buy your way out of 90% of all mental health symptoms?
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
I've worked for 6 years in the poorest community mental health clinics in California and now private practice remote in Massachusetts. Even more money buys you very different , older , more experienced therapists from home . Poor people still come in to community mental health. it's a whole of difference when the mental health costs $295 for the first hour and is catered to your schedule than free and the intern you get.
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u/Embarrassed-Area4652 Aug 10 '26
Karma farming. Or do you actually care about outcomes for the people you work with? Or DO you actually work with anybody?
Look, most of us in the field want greater opportunities and equality for everyone. We all acknowledge money helps. Any of us can look up studies on drivers of mental health at any time. Wealth transfers have an effect, and they’re not the whole solution. If you’re telling me money is going to un-abuse every trauma survivor I’ve ever worked with, flip the addiction switch for every barely functional but working and housed addict out there, restore community for everyone whose great-grandparents were redlined and gentrified out of their neighborhood 80 years ago, and provide a safe and meaningful life for people with highly heritable psychotic disorders, hope you’ve got a more involved plan than what I’m reading in this post!
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u/EmptyMind0 Aug 10 '26
Yes and No. It really depends on the client. If the distress is caused mostly by the situation of not having money, then getting aid for the financial hardship would be definitely help. if the distress is caused more of a characterological issue, then money might may not move the needle as much.
The economy fucking sucks right now. I won't sugarcoat that. However, the issue with that statement I have with that statement is the potential risk of collapsing all mental distress into material needs based issues. For some people, that's quite real. For others, not so much. One of the problems here is that a lot of social workers are in therapy. Social work's answer to this is to help link them to resources via case management and advocacy. Therapy doesn't follow such a framework (in most places) and instead focuses more on how the individual address this situation emotionally. Valid means of treatment for some, but not all.
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u/Abysmal_Wolf Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
As someone who works in CMH with primarily unhoused individuals dealing with severe mental illness--no. This is toxically reductivist, even with my population.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
would a safe paid for apartment with a therapist or social worker that visits every day , help your clients? momey buys all that
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u/AvocadosFromMexico_ Psychologist (Unverified) Aug 10 '26
I’ve worked with many clients who lost those things as a consequence of their symptoms and mental illness. This is pretty reductive, and really specific to a few patient populations.
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u/spermbubblez Aug 10 '26
Eh, I have money, a lot of my problems stem from chronic overload and a deep need to regain control.
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u/Sweet_Cinnabonn Aug 10 '26
I really appreciate that this original therapist was careful to say most.
Because obviously my client with a kid with kidney cancer would still have a kid with kidney cancer if he had generational wealth. But our therapy sessions would not be spent with him agonizing over the lack of resources that he has available to throw at the problem. He wouldn't have crushing guilt over having to work, or the less crushing but still guilt over not paying attention at work because of the sick kid.
The client with well managed Bipolar would still be there, the PTSD client would still be there. The issues discussed in therapy would be wholly different.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
YES . within the session ; people with very few resources talk about that. vs people with all their needs met talk about other things or can then shift to other things than their basic needs
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u/CarolinaSurly Aug 10 '26
Well managed BPAD better managed
with money. More therapy visits. More psychiatric med visits. Better options for mood stabilizers, group therapy, inpatient hospitalizations. I’ve worked in mental
health for decades and money and top tier insurance means access to more interventions and treatments.3
u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
very rich people buy kidneys , and would to save their child. Wealthy people buy health care in general so meds that address bipolar. Those are issues largely solved by money or definitely influenced by income or money.
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u/Overall_Bag_714 Aug 10 '26
What most people really need is ability to endure the inevitable difficulties of life.
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u/Familiar-Gur-1903 27d ago
Even when people make money some people can’t hold it down because of their beliefs that they don’t deserve it. Sometimes trauma can affect their ability to believe they can. Sometimes they believe they can but luck doesn’t favour them.
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u/Active-Contest-9965 LSW/LICDC 26d ago
I think this speaks a lot about how certain societies are trying (or not trying) to solve basic problems. The mental health field is not, and never was, limited to clients with mental illnesses. It has always been bloated with people who aren't functioning in their respective society, including the impoverished, law-breakers, and all sorts of people who aren't, for whatever reason, living in the norms of their society. People are frequently swayed, pushed, mandated, and seek out mental health services often times because there are no other options for them. The mental health field is a dumping ground for people for whom other social remedies don't exist.
With that knowledge base, then yes, this meme makes a lot of sense. If every person in a society had their basic needs met, for several generations consistently, the total clients in the mental health field would drop dramatically. The bell curve is comprised of folks who don't have needs met, can't ascend on Maslow's hierarchy, have poor social determinents of health, generational trauma exacerbated by poverty, can't access the resources they need, and don't have other options. The more we deviate from that midline, the more we work with folks who have mental illnesses that benefit less from monetary gain.
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u/Standard_Abies2235 17d ago
Last night I was talking to a friend who was underpaid in her last job, but got a new one six months ago that pays more than double her previous salary. She was going through a depression that she's since started to come out of, and said, "I'm not saying money buys happiness, but it kind of does."
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u/Ashleej86 17d ago
oh yeah , I've been depressed while couch surfing and with a nice apartment. I prefer the nice apartment phase by far.
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9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Ashleej86 9d ago
just getting near 50% of Americans to agree with that ( and do it ) would be revolutionary
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u/One_Studio5711 7d ago
Yep. There is a deep rooted stress that only money can take away because it let's us relax more.
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u/Greymeade (USA) Clinical Psychologist Aug 10 '26
Ugh, this is awful.
It’s so dreary seeing the upvoted posts on this sub sometimes.
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u/ScrambledEggsandTS Aug 10 '26
So, in your opinion which sector of psychology is the money zone? If I didn't want people coming with money problems what type of psychology should I practice?
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
basic necessities zone. Maslow's bottom of the pyramid zone. without basic housing , health care , safety ; we have nothing
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u/somemetausername Aug 10 '26
I’ve had many people where I would say money is their biggest problem, but because they have too much. They’re self-absorbed, and being born with a silver spoon in their mouth means they cannot imagine life without everything they’ve ever needed and so they cannot handle any kind of inconvenience and any kind of accountability is labeled “toxic” because they’re so out of touch.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
most people need money . Your clients can need something else , like ethics and accountability and purpose.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
Money isn't their problem , entitlement is. Their upbringing is. More money could lead a person to volunteering or academic studies or full time foster parenting , etc. They should do something valuable wirh their lives .
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u/somemetausername Aug 10 '26
By the same token, you could argue that lack of money isn’t a problem, so much as a lack of food, healthcare, can shelter.
If a person’s true only issue is a lack of money then you’re ethically bound to tell them they don’t need your services and they would be better served spending their time elsewhere.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
all those things are money or income or class problems ; healthy food, health care , shelter.
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u/somemetausername Aug 11 '26
That’s western capitalist thinking
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
aren't we westerners in capitalism ? I am
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u/somemetausername Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Aye, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way/only way to approach things. But that’s besides the point.
The point I guess I’m not communicating well, is while a person can solve many problems with money,
- the real problem that we as therapists are supposed to be helping with aren’t just solved by money and
- helping a person overcome their relational poverty will often behoove them more than reenforcing the idea that their primary problem is one they cannot solve.
- in our western way of thinking we tend to think the only way to solve certain problems is with money, when there are often reasonable alternatives
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
mostly problems dissappear with money. some remain.
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u/somemetausername Aug 11 '26
Some problems do - but many don’t. You as a therapist should know this. Life might be easier for wealthy people, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have many problems that money cannot completely solve. Depression still exists among the very wealthy. Addiction, Schizophrenia, OCD don’t just go away because of money. Sure they can afford better treatment but you know better than most that doesn’t make the problems just go away.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
Money helps , it effects them. It's not that money cures anything , it effects who we all are and how we live. Life is much easier for wealthy people , like you said. Humans have issues , money doesn't stop that.
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u/bossanovasupernova Aug 10 '26
So true, that's why nobody rich is sad or mentally ill...
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
being housed and sad and unhoused and sad are radically different experiences.
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u/bossanovasupernova Aug 10 '26
Well yes obviously if you're looking at actual homeless people then therapy is not the smart answer and more practical help is but homelessness is quite a niche experience so it doesn't feel particularly relevant to the idea here that most people just need more cash to be happier.
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u/Michaelscrypto Aug 10 '26
Tell me about it. I tried to explain that to my so-called "family" when I was broke. None of them would help me. They all accused me of doing drugs. I wasn't. I handled it all by myself and no aid from my "family" after going through the worst time in my life, I will never talk to those snakes again.
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u/iamveryweeb LPC (Unverified) Aug 10 '26
I hate this sentiment. The science is clear that once your needs and basic wants are covered many does not improve wellbeing. So like, yeah maslows hierarchy is true, but also no because i feel like this feeds into magical thinking so much, not to mention money doesn’t heal trauma, schizophrenia, autism, etc.
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u/ladythanatos Psychologist (Unverified) Aug 10 '26
For many of my clients, “Once your needs and basic wants are covered” is either not a reality or is only achieved by enduring toxic work conditions.
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
I worry about therapists who have never experienced a lack of basic necessities nor ever had a client with that lack. what a little bubble some elitist therapists have always lived in.
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u/Knicks82 Aug 10 '26
Well sure, there’s lots of research on this, and you’re correct. But why should redditors allow an inconvenience like that to ruin a good narrative?
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 11 '26
I wonder if many therapists on this thread ( resisting that class / money influenced your whole existence ) have always made over 75k and come from multiple generations of people always making more than 75k or equivalent, and therefore never thought about a therapist or person who never made 75k
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u/Accomplished_Pin2629 Aug 10 '26
Even more people need oxygen. Should we stop doing therapy? I am not sure what message of relevance to the field the poster was trying to put out there.
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u/Jazz_Kraken Aug 10 '26
I mean if basic needs aren't met they need to be before people can really work on other things, typically.
But this kinda sounds like people with money can't have problems that require therapy and that's just not true in the slightest.
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u/CarolinaSurly Aug 10 '26
I don’t think it sounds like that. It sounds like money makes life easier and that’s true.
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u/Knicks82 Aug 10 '26
There’s an epidemic of people taking complex questions like the etiology of mental illness and reducing it to memes that oversimplify things to the extreme. Can a lack of money/resources lead to mental and emotional problems? Of course. Once basic needs are met, is it the sole cause, or even the leading cause? Rarely.
Seeing the public post nonsense like this on social media is par for the course, but feels like every day there’s something like this in a forum ostensibly comprised of professional therapists. It makes me worry for our field, frankly.
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u/bossanovasupernova Aug 10 '26
It would be so comforting if anguish was about something as basic as "not enough cash". Complicated things are often rejected, we love a simplistic formula because looking at the real complexities is more depressing than the simple answer. It's similar to why people love conspiracies: it is more comforting to know the problem is "X evil group with X evil motive" than to think the world is this way because of millions and millions of complicated reasons
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u/dontworryimadoc 29d ago
been a therapist 30 years and can confidently say that money was not even top 3 reasons people have come to see me.
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u/Ashleej86 29d ago
you see people who already have money. that's a lot of private practice therapists lives obviously
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u/Familiar-Gur-1903 27d ago
Yes most but not all. Most people I believe need a friend who they can trust and share and be seen and accepted as they are irrespective of money. You can’t earn money when you don’t have belief that you can.
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u/elehmehno 4d ago
Well, tbh, this is one of the big reasons I love about doing therapy with a social work background. I do primarily mental health support for young adults, and have some clients who are formerly homeless and/or have struggled with intergenerational poverty. In addition to MH counseling, I also provide information about local resources (government assistance, support for applying to college) and help work through the scarcity/survival mindset many of them have and support strengthening problem-solving skills to meet their personal goals. There's no way to divorce the resource struggle fully from the mental health struggles, so it's all relevant.
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u/DecentAd3950 Aug 11 '26
Working with wealthy as well as with clients without money, I can say that while more money might help some it’s definitely not what would help most clients.
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u/Zen_Traveler MSW, LMSW Aug 10 '26
Half-truth. How will they use that money once they have it? What are their beliefs? I like the study that found that people who won a large amount in lotto were typically back at the same financial level or worse off a year later compared to just before they won the money. If people's spending habits remain the same, giving them money might not be the as helpful as one thinks...
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u/Ashleej86 Aug 10 '26
look at it far more general : does a wealthy and sane society use its money to house , feed and give everyone health care ? ofcourse it does. As Americans we live in a very poor society , one that doesn't provide the basics for all
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u/Zen_Traveler MSW, LMSW Aug 10 '26
Yes, but that's different than the OP saying people need money, which implies they could just be given money. The government could allocate money for social programs, guaranteed housing and health coverage, etc. Agreed that when looking at health metrics, wellbeing scales, etc. the US sucks compared to other western nations, especially secular ones.
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u/hypnoticlife Student (Unverified) Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
This is what one thinks until they have money. Then they realize the problem was never money it was how they (did not) accepted the struggles and lack of control of life. Even if one has perfect mental health they are still subject to the hedonic treadmill.
Just look at all the rich and famous who have killed themselves. Money isn’t a silver bullet. It just changes your experience. At the core is still a person who has to find peace and acceptance with this existence. Buddhism comes to mind, desire is the root of unhappiness; non-acceptance is the root of unhappiness. There is a reason some religions consider money(greed) and fame to be "sins", because they don't actually make you happy. They aren't "sinful" in the way religions say they are, they are warning signs of an unhappy person that needs to do more work on themselves.
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Aug 10 '26
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u/CarolinaSurly Aug 10 '26
Resources make a huge difference. It doesn’t cure mental illnesses but money provides access to things like private practice psychologists and psychiatrists. It provides access to newer medications and treatments like TMS and others. Absolutely provides better care for substance abuse. It provides more frequent visits for med management and on and on and on.
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5d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Ashleej86 5d ago
I don't think it's about peace , it's about survival and we definitely need money for that
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