In this episode of Financial Behavior Thought Leaders, host Dr. Mary Bell Carlson sits down with Dr. Kristy Archuleta, a true pioneer in the field of financial therapy. Dr. Archuleta is a licensed marriage and family therapist, certified financial therapist, and professor of financial planning at the University of Georgia. As a cofounder of both the Financial Therapy Association and the Journal of Financial Therapy, Kristy has played a crucial role in integrating mental health and personal finance. Her groundbreaking work is reshaping how financial professionals understand stress, anxiety, and the emotional experience of money.

The episode takes you behind the scenes as Kristy shares her journey from growing up in a service-oriented farm family to breaking new ground at the intersection of therapy and financial planning. She discusses her early passion for helping people, her academic path, and the powerful “aha” moment when she realized that couples’ money issues were a critical—yet overlooked—factor in relationships. Kristy and Mary also explore the evolution of her career from nervous public speaker to sought-after keynote presenter, and why integrating psychology into financial services is more essential than ever.

During their conversation, Kristy unpacks her most popular keynote, "Managing Financial Stress and Anxiety,” and reveals why financial professionals must understand both their clients’ and their own emotions. Through engaging stories from her work and research, she illustrates the difference between stress and anxiety, and offers practical tools for making complex psychological concepts accessible and actionable for advisors and their clients.

Five Key Takeaways:

1. Merging Mental Health and Money is Critical—for Clients and Advisors Alike: Dr. Archuleta emphasizes that finance is fundamentally a people business. She highlights how unresolved mental health dynamics—like stress, anxiety, and conflict—shape financial decisions. Yet, traditional financial training rarely addresses these issues, making it vital for today’s advisors to develop emotional intelligence and counseling skills.
2. Financial Stress and Financial Anxiety Are Not the Same Thing: A central message from Kristy’s keynote is that financial stress (triggered by specific stressors that can be resolved) is distinct from financial anxiety (an ongoing, generalized worry—even once stressors are removed). Understanding this difference helps advisors target their interventions more effectively and develop true empathy for clients’ struggles.
3. Your Emotions Directly Impact Your Clients’ Experience: Citing research and her own experience, Kristy reminds professionals that their own unaddressed stress and anxiety can “show up in the room” and affect their clients. Self-awareness and personal emotional regulation are therefore just as important as technical knowledge in building trust and promoting client well-being.
4. Therapeutic Tools Can Be Adapted for Financial Planning: Kristy discusses how frameworks from psychology—such as solution-focused therapy—can be adapted to advising and planning. By making these well-researched tools practical and relatable, she empowers advisors to support real behavioral change, without stepping outside their scope of practice.
5. The Power of Story—Both in Client Work and on Stage: Through memorable stories from the University of Georgia’s Love and Money Center, Kristy shows how collaborative, integrative approaches can make a dramatic difference for clients. She also reflects on making “hard things normalized” in her presentations, holding space for vulnerability and growth, and encouraging advisors to get comfortable with the emotions that inevitably arise in financial conversations.

If you’re looking for an engaging, insightful speaker for your next event—someone who can address the emotional side of money with clarity and compassion—you can learn more and book Dr. Kristy Archuleta at keynote.financial/kristy-l-archuleta.

Thanks for joining us on this episode of Financial Behavior Thought Leaders. Join us next time for more insightful discussions with the voices influencing the financial industry.

Additional Resources:

• Financial Therapy: Theory, Research, & Practice
• Financial Planning & Counseling Scales
• Graduate Certificate in Behavioral Financial Planning & Financial Therapy