Emotional Currency: A Woman's Guide to Building a Healthy Relationship with Money

Financial well-being starts with an emotional tuneup, writes Levinson, psychotherapist and creator of the Emotional Currency Workshops. She encourages women to become more conscious of money and how their emotions influence their financial behaviors with her exploratory questions and a "money memoir." Her exercises guide women to overcome their learned helplessness about money and to recognize its symbolic and actual functions in our lives: money can be a way to express self-worth and provide care—or we can abuse the power it gives us to hurt others. Levinson gently guides readers to consider how their families of origin shaped their relationship to money and how to get past the taboos they've learned regarding talking finances. Though the tone can occasionally cloy—readers are encouraged to consider their feelings about the feminine and masculine attributes of money—this is a comprehensive primer on unpacking years of emotional baggage regarding financial health. (Apr.)