Community Spotlight: Dr Katja Windheim, The Money Psychologist

What does our relationship with money have to do with our wellbeing, our professional boundaries and the way we build our practices?

In the first of our new Community Spotlight conversations, I talk with Dr Katja Windheim, clinical psychologist and founder of The Money Psychologist.

Katja’s interest in money psychology began through her own experience of working with a financial adviser and becoming curious about the very different psychological responses she and her husband had to questions about money and risk. That curiosity led her into the research and, eventually, to a much bigger question about why money remains such a difficult subject to talk about openly.

In our conversation, we explore some of the tensions that can arise for psychologists and other helping professionals when being of service also has to coexist with running a financially sustainable practice. We talk about the psychology that can sit underneath pricing, cancellations and financial boundaries; the influence of family, professional and cultural messages about money; and why financial wellbeing belongs alongside the other forms of wellbeing we pay attention to as practitioners.

We also get into a wider conversation about independent practice and the role that small, professionally led businesses can play within communities. Katja and I talk about the difference between seeing a community primarily as a group of consumers and developing a practice that remains responsive to what people are actually experiencing and need.

Katja is continuing to develop The Money Psychologist through workshops, writing and conversations around issues including fee-setting, money stories, cancellations and working with money in therapy.

You can find out more about her work at TheMoneyPsychologist.com and connect with Katja on LinkedIn.

Watch our conversation below. 

About Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight is a series of conversations with members of our Leading Practitioners Community about the work they are developing and the people and communities they hope it will serve. These conversations explore the evolving relationship between a practitioner, the work they are developing and the people it is intended to serve.