Why psychology-driven financial planner believes industry is ripe for change

investmentnews.com:

Financial advisors aren’t always trained to address their clients’ emotional reactions about finances, while therapists aren’t necessarily equipped to discuss the impact of finances on a person’s well-being. Financial psychology acknowledges the inextricable link between the two.

The efforts of Sonya Lutter, one of this year’s judges of the InvestmentNews Women to Watch Awards, to bridge the gap between financial advice and therapy led her to become director of financial health at Texas Tech University’s School of Financial Planning. 

Lutter is enthusiastic about this year’ conference, which takes place Nov. 7 at Tribeca 360 in New York City.

“It targets the people that need to hear from their peers and understand the diverse perspectives,” she says. “At the conference, women can see female leadership that they can look up to and see a role model. It gets you thinking, ‘If this person did it, so can I.’

“We need more events like this and any time there’s an opportunity to cheer on women, I love it,” Lutter said.

Nominations are now closed but a full rundown of the awards can be found here. To register for the event, click on this link.

Lutter started out with the goal of becoming a speech language pathologist, but felt financial planning was a better career fit given her love for numbers. However, as she prepared to become a financial planner, she realized a gap in her of knowledge of relationships, conflict and emotions.

“Once I got over to marriage and family therapy, I realized that my new fellow therapists knew nothing about money,” she says. “They wouldn’t even engage in conversations with their clients about financial issues.”

In her efforts to marry the two, Lutter finds that thepsychology of financial planning is