Helping Clients Manage Money Anxiety

Do you have clients in the grips of money anxiety--especially in the face of market volatility?

Your goal is to help your clients make prudent financial choices.

However, please remember that many of your clients respond to financial losses as if they're being chased by the saber-toothed tiger. Their nervous systems are responding as if their life is threatened.

Managing money begins with managing the body's fight-fight-flee response.

This podcast episode offers tips about how to do this.

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Transcript

Welcome to the Engaging Doctors Podcast

Dedicated to helping financial advisors accelerate their practice growth by serving more doctor clients.

I'm Dr. Vicki Rackner, your host. Today, I'm diving into a fascinating topic that impacts every client you work with: the connection between money anxiety and the nervous system.

In today's volatile market environment, understanding how your clients' bodies physically respond to financial stress isn't just interesting—it's essential for helping them make better decisions. I'm excited to share insights from my upcoming book How Doctors Build True Wealth that can help you better understand what's happening when your clients feel anxious about their money decisions.

The Science of Financial Anxiety

Let's begin with the basics—what actually happens in our bodies when we experience money anxiety?

It all comes down to our autonomic nervous system (ANS). This system is constantly answering one question:

"Am I safe right now, or am I in danger?"

When your clients check their portfolio after a market drop or face unexpected expenses, their nervous system can trigger what we call the danger response:

• Increased heart rate
• Changed breathing patterns
• The body prepares to fight, flee, or freeze

This is the same physiological response our ancestors had to physical threats like predators. Today, though, our bodies respond to financial uncertainty in the same way.

That explains why clients sometimes make impulsive decisions during market volatility—they're literally in survival mode.

I experienced this myself during the pandemic. I remember walking into a grocery store and seeing completely empty shelves—no toilet paper, no paper towels, nothing. My heart started racing. I felt cold in my gut and I froze. My body was responding as if I were facing a life-threatening situation.

This is exactly what happens to your clients when they perceive financial danger.

The Three Zones of Autonomic Regulation

The autonomic nervous system operates in three zones:

🟢 Green Zone – Safety

• Physiologically balanced
• Calm, rational
• Able to think long-term
• Full access to the prefrontal cortex (the planning brain)

🟡 Yellow Zone – Stress

• Responds to immediate challenges (like exercise)
• Manageable and temporary
• Returns to green zone after stress is resolved

🔴 Red Zone – Danger

• The body prepares for fight, flight, or freeze
• Nervous system becomes dysregulated
• Clients only have access to their reptile brain, focused on immediate survival

Critical Insight for Advisors:

Clients make their best financial decisions in the green zone. When they’re in the red zone, they need help getting back to calm before making any decisions.

The more time clients spend feeling safe, the faster they will build wealth.

Understanding Financial Trauma

Financial trauma occurs when a client’s nervous system gets stuck in the red zone—even when the financial threat is in the past.

Examples:

• People who lived through the Great Depression
• Clients who experienced losses during the 2008 financial crisis

Signs of Financial Trauma:

• Extreme risk aversion
• High emotional response to financial topics
• Seemingly irrational financial behaviors
• Difficulty making even minor decisions
• Persistent anxiety despite objective financial security
• Extreme responses to market fluctuations

Trauma isn’t about what happened to someone, it’s about what happened inside them as a result.

Two clients can experience the same setback but process it differently.

Helping Clients Regulate Their Nervous Systems

Recognize when a client is in the red zone.

Signs include:

• Rapid speech
• Difficulty focusing
• Emotional reactivity
• Shutting down completely

Techniques to Help Regulate:

1. Create a Safe Environment
   Comfortable seating, proper temperature, and minimal distractions matter.
2. Use Pacing and Timing
   Don’t jump into data. Start with connection, validation, then move to strategy.
3. Teach Simple Tools
   Introduce square breathing:
   • Inhale for 4 counts
   • Hold for 4
   • Exhale for 4
   • Pause for 4
4. Validate Before Educating
   Say: “It makes sense you’re concerned about this.”
5. Normalize Physiological Responses
   Help clients recognize the danger response as common.

Dealing with Deeper Financial Trauma

1. Go Slower
   Healing takes time. Break plans into manageable steps.
2. Gradual Exposure
   Build tolerance to financial triggers slowly.
3. Know When to Refer
   Some clients may need a financial therapist or psychologist.
4. Use Written Plans
   Concrete, written strategies reduce anxiety.
5. Containment Strategies
   Help clients set specific times to think about finances.

Framing Conversations to Promote Regulation

Use the Connection Before Correction framework:

1. Connect First
   Build genuine rapport before diving into data.
2. Name What You See
   “I notice this conversation seems to be causing you worry.”
3. Normalize
   “Many of my clients feel exactly the same way.”
4. Offer Regulation Tools
   “Would it help to take a moment before we continue?”
5. Educate After Regulation

Phrases That Help Maintain Regulation:

• “Let’s explore this together.”
• “We’ve prepared for this scenario.”
• “This feeling is temporary.”
• “Your reaction makes total sense.”
• “We have options.”
• “Let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture.”

Phrases to Avoid:

• “Don’t worry.”
• “You shouldn’t feel that way.”
• “This is nothing compared to…”
• “You’re overreacting.”

Managing Your Own Nervous System

You can’t regulate someone else if you’re dysregulated yourself.

You want your clients to catch your calm, not for you to catch their chaos.

Tips for Advisors:

• Develop a Regulation Practice
  Meditation, breathing, exercise
• Create Transition Rituals
  Reset between client meetings
• Monitor Your Triggers
  Notice which clients or situations raise your anxiety
• Maintain Buffers
  Don’t overload high-stress meetings in one day
• Seek Support
  Peer consultation or professional supervision

Your regulated presence is one of the most valuable services you offer.

Key Takeaway

Financial advising isn’t just about managing money—it’s about managing nervous systems.

The most sophisticated financial plan is useless if your client’s nervous system won’t let them follow it.

By helping your clients regulate their nervous systems, you become more than an advisor—you become a guide.

You’re helping them navigate not just their finances, but their relationship with money and security on a physiological level.

When clients are regulated, they have access to their full intelligence and wisdom—that’s how you help them build true wealth.

Thank You for Listening

I hope you found value in this episode, and that it makes an even bigger difference in your clients' lives.

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Until next time, this is Dr. Vicki wishing you success in growing your practice and serving your doctor clients.