Money and Meaning

 Earn 5 CE Contact Hours

As therapists, we often avoid and miss opportunities to talk about money due to our own discomfort around the meaning of money and class in our families and society. This discomfort can manifest in setting fees and discussing billing, especially when we work with clients with less or more financial resources than ourselves.

This workshop will help therapists explore the beliefs we hold and the premises we have internalized around when and how we speak about money and how it relates to social standing, class and internalized feelings of superiority and inferiority. Participants will be guided in exploring the thread of money and class identity through a multigenerational emotional mapping of patterns in their family history with the goal of developing fluidity and comfort with guiding one’s self and clients to a deeper understanding of the meaning of money in our lives. Registration is limited to 10 participants.

Learning Objectives:

• Invite conversation and exploration of money and meaning in a neutral safe environment
• Follow the thread of money and money/class identity through a multigenerational mapping of patterns, family histories and class identities
• Get greater understanding of one’s money identity to offer a fuller location of self around class and economic circumstances
• Feel more at ease in setting fees with clients

Who Should Attend:

Mental health professionals, therapists, social workers, and counselors who want to deepen their self-of-the-therapist work and develop greater comfort and clarity in addressing money, class, and financial dynamics in clinical practice. This workshop is particularly relevant for clinicians seeking to explore how personal and multigenerational beliefs about money and class shape therapeutic relationships, fee setting, and conversations with clients.

Meet Judith Stern Peck and Keren Ludwig:

Judith Stern Peck, LCSW, is a prominent family therapist and family business consultant. She is co-author of Follow the Money: A Guide to Talking About the Last Taboo Topic with Your Clients. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the workshop. Judy is the Director of the Money and Family Life Project at the Ackerman Institute for the Family, was a participant in the consultant referral service on the Council on Foundations’ Family Foundation Services department, and received “Fellow” status by FFI, the professional organization for Family Business Consultants after her 20+ years of experience working with family businesses and family foundations. Judy’s received a BA from Finch College, an MSW from Yeshiva University, and received a post-graduate certificate in family therapy from the Ackerman Institute for the Family.

Keren Ludwig, LCSW is a past faculty member at the Ackerman Institute for the Family. She has collaborated on the Children and Relational Trauma Project, the Multi-Racial Family Project, the Couples and Intimacy Project and the Money and Family Life Project. She is a New York-based psychotherapist, trainer and consultant, and is on the faculty of the Columbia University School of Social Work. In her private practice she sees couples, families, and individuals, and specializes in issues of inter-personal trauma, family life cycle transition and adolescent development. Keren has experience working in schools and community-based agencies serving children and families involved in the foster care system, managing life-threatening illnesses, and navigating various forms of trauma.