Today, I’m a speaker, author, and Professor of Financial Planning at the University of Georgia, where I hold the Betsy Barnard Sages Professorship in Financial Therapy and Financial Planning.  As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Financial Therapist™, my mission remains the same: helping people build better lives and stronger families. I get to live this out every day through teaching and mentoring students and professionals, conducting research, and consulting on cases that directly impact with individuals and couples. For over two decades, I’ve been passionate about preparing future financial professionals to blend solid technical skills with a genuine understanding of the human side of money. I've been referred to as the Godmother or mother of financial therapy. I'm honored and humbled whenever I hear this. 

People often ask how I ended up at the intersection of financial planning and therapy. Looking back, I was majoring in family relations and child development (the quintessential major leading into MFT) with a minor in business, but seriously contemplating switching my major to accounting and agricultural economics. As a typical undergrad, I crunched the numbers on a double major and realized it would add at least another 1.5 to 2 years. The extended timeline gave me great pause.

Around that same time, I attended a university presentation by a couple who were marriage and family therapists. They mentioned that money issues were one of the top problems couples face. I had never heard that before. On my walk home that night, it clicked! I could work with couples and families specifically around money. It felt like the perfect way to combine my love for marriage and family therapy with my growing interest in personal finance. (Little did I know this was NOT a career path!)

When it was time for graduate school, I only applied to programs that had both marriage and family therapy and financial planning programs—ideally in the same college or department. That search took me to Kansas State University (K-State), where I earned both my Master’s and Ph.D. During my Ph.D., I studied both MFT and Financial Planning. Afterward, I became a faculty member in the Personal Financial Planning program at K-State. Because no career pathway existed and the need was growing, I co-developed the nation’s first academic financial therapy program and the first hybrid financial planning Ph.D. program, early in my career. After spending 10 years on faculty at K-State, I moved to my current position at the University of Georgia (UGA). At UGA, I built the Behavioral Financial Planning and Financial Therapy emphases in the Financial Planning Master’s and Ph.D. programs, along with on-campus and online Graduate Certificates with the same title. The curriculum requires an experiential learning opportunity at the UGA Love and Money Center.

At the UGA Love and Money Center, I oversee financial planning students who provide pro bono financial planning, financial coaching, and financial therapy services to individuals and families across Georgia and beyond. It’s incredibly rewarding to watch students gain real-world experience while making a genuine difference for people who need support. 

Outside of campus, I love speaking about financial therapy and the psychology of financial planning, contributing to the media, and sharing practical insights from my work—including our most recent book, Psychology in Practice: Financial Planner Essentials, which was released internationally. I currently serve on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors and was a co-founding board member and Past-President of the Financial Therapy Association.

On a personal note, I’m grateful to share life with an amazing husband and our three wonderful kids. When I am not working, you’ll find us at a sports event or livestock show. In the summers, I head back to my family’s farm, where I might be driving a semi or combine during wheat harvest or working the fields on a tractor. These experiences keep me grounded and continually remind me why the human side of money and family life matters so much.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story—if you’ve made it this far, I truly appreciate it! Feel free to explore the rest of the site to learn more about speaking opportunities and my research, books, assessments, or other resources that might be helpful for your clients or work.