Financial Therapist and Transformational Coach Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD

Many people are experiencing financial stress and debt after the holiday season. Dr. Erica Rasher, a financial therapist, suggests that taking care of ourselves emotionally and financially is important. Assessing our debt and making a plan can help us afford other expenses and save for emergencies. The average debt from holiday spending is over $1,500, which can be overwhelming. Dr. Rasher emphasizes the importance of addressing our emotional relationship with money and seeking support. She also warns against debt reduction scams and advises verifying information through trusted sources. Reducing financial stress involves connecting with ourselves and our values, acknowledging our emotions, and taking aligned action. Those seeking help can reach out to Dr. Rasher by emailing erasure@beyondfinance.com. Are you perhaps experiencing the phenomenon known as holiday hangover? The debts are beginning to pile up a little bit. Those bills are arriving. Maybe you did some unfortunate overspending during the holiday season. It can lead to some stressful times in our lives and some additional problems as well. But here to provide my audience, that would be you this morning here at the RNJ Morning Program, with some tips to maybe heal the relationship, if you will, between you and your money and your debt with a financial therapist with Beyond Finance. We have Dr. Erica Rasher who is with me here at the RNJ Morning Program. Dr. Rasher, good morning. It's Bert Barron, WRNJ Radio in New Jersey. How are you today? Good morning, Bert. I am wonderful. How are you? I'm doing great. Thank you. A survey was done recently. Fifty-seven percent of people expressed concern over paying for the holiday gifts and sixty-eight percent of people says it leads to increased stress levels. And this is kind of like, you know, we had the holiday season, we had some fun, you know, we got out of the pandemic and people wanted to celebrate and spend some money again and have some fun at the holidays. But now it's like as those bills start to become due and those interest rates certainly aren't going down any, it becomes a problem. What should someone do if they're starting to get inundated with these credit card bills? Dr. Rasher, what's your first piece of advice for those people? Well, considering that we are dealing with the holiday hangover and we're having a new holiday showing up for us next week, you know, the beloved Valentine's Day, I want people to remember that one of the greatest acts of self-love we can give ourselves is to take care of ourselves emotionally and financially and those two pieces are really highly correlated. And so being able to really assess where you're at with your debt helps you make a path forward and think clearly about how you're going to afford other things like emergency expenses or put money aside for savings. Yeah, there's so many other things. You never know what's going to happen from day to day, Dr. Rasher. You could have a medical emergency or something in your home or something happens, maybe you gotta buy a new appliance or something. You just never know what's going to happen. And looking at some of the other statistics, holiday spending up almost eight percent this past holiday season, up 24 percent with the debt from 2021. Average debt of over $1,500. That is a staggering number of debt for people to carry around. It absolutely is. And that is something in my experience working with clients at Beyond Finance and in my private practice as well, that is something I see is this shocking amount of debt that comes from specifically holiday spending. And right now as the year is getting underway, I've worked with so many people at Beyond who are having a hard time affording emergency expenses. And one of the things I think that everybody can relate to are the dreaded car expenses that come up, right? So it is a staggering figure. The statistics are there and the cost of everything has gone up from an inflationary perspective. But when we have that increase in rates as well, that certainly affects how much you're paying if you're carrying over debt on your credit cards month to month. Yeah, that's true. Well, Dr. Rasher, I'm familiar with the work of a physical therapist. I know what they do. And even a relationship therapist, I know what they do. Fill me in on the role of a financial therapist and how you help people navigate some rather tricky times. Absolutely. A financial therapist is really someone who is concerned with the human side of money and really exploring the relationship with you that you have with yourself and how that translates into your financial world. So we look at the emotional, relational, the brain aspects and the behavioral aspects of how we interact with our money and giving us an internal point of reference of what we need to review and deal with so we can be the best for ourselves in the way we show up for ourselves financially in the world. Yeah, very important. Dr. Erica Rasher is my guest this morning at the RNJ Morning Program, financial therapist with Beyond Finance. And we'll get some more information on how you could perhaps learn some more details from Dr. Rasher. There's scams out there, too, doctor, that we want people to be aware of, debt reduction scams that go after families and go after seniors. You've always got to be a little bit leery of everything that pops up and says, oh, here's a way to reduce your debt. What are some scams that people should watch for? Yeah, I think one of the biggest scams people need to look out for is anything that cannot be verified. One of the things, and again, that's kind of a, you know, more in-depth, I guess, explanation of that. But what I mean by something that can't be verified, really rely on your social and peer networks to serve as a point of reference to give you some accountability. And one of the things, you know, is really hard for us if we're dealing with that, there's a lot of shame involved with that. And so for a lot of us, we internalize that shame, and so we don't want to talk about the situation we're in, which makes us more susceptible to scams. So if you receive some communication that seems attractive, like, man, I really would love to get out of this debt, do try and verify with, you know, Trustpilot or other, you know, Google reviews, other things that can give you some perspective, and do your research to where you are comfortable to the point to being able to share where you're at with somebody else, even if it is just in a more kind of social or peer review type of aspect. Yeah, I'm glad you're bringing some attention to that, because I could see how someone, Dr. Rasher, may be dealing with some debt, and maybe for some people, it's kind of a private thing. There's maybe a shame or something that goes with that. Maybe you overspent your credit card, or maybe somebody is, you know, getting in trouble with doing some sports gambling, which in New Jersey is a perfectly legal thing to do, but maybe people say, well, this is a chance for me to get rid of this, and nobody finds out, and nobody knows anything, and the fact that it's on the QT might make me, might be a little bit of a red flag for me as well. But in terms of reducing financial stress, just to breathe easier and know that this is something that, hey, you got this, and you can kind of wrap your arms around this, how do we reduce that financial stress? I think financial stress and anxiety is really exacerbated when we neglect our personal and our financial values, and so we start losing our sense of self and how we fit into the world around us. So really, I encourage people to connect with, you know, themselves and others, not ignore their mental, their spiritual, and their emotional and physical well-being before they really kind of get in this process of, okay, I need to deal with this stress. First, look within, connect with yourself, look at those areas of your life, feel those feelings, those emotions, whether it be anger, sadness, or shame, and try to pinpoint where those things are coming from, and then you can take really aligned action from getting in touch with yourself to be confident and saying, okay, I need to move forward on this. This is not serving me, this debt is not serving me well anymore, and it primes you to be able to do the research you need to get you where you want to go. Really good information this morning. Some more resources are available, Dr. Rasher, and how does someone get some help and maybe reach out to you to learn some more about what it is you offer? Sure, you know, people can reach out to me by emailing me at erasure, E-R-A-S-U-R-E, at beyondfinance.com, and I'm always happy to have a conversation with somebody about getting some financial peace in their life. Good stuff, and you call it a holiday hangover, and you have to remember that no matter what type of hangover you've had, it doesn't last forever. You work through it, and the next thing you know, you feel better. I think it works for your finances just the same way, and with some good guidance and some good leadership coming from you, I think you can help people navigate a pretty difficult time in their lives. So, thank you this morning for joining me. Really terrific information. Thank you so much. You have a wonderful day, Bert.