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Embodied

Money Trauma … And How To Deal With It

By Anita Rao,
Gabriela Glueck, Amanda Magnus, Wilson Sayre
Published June 26, 2026 at 1:01 PM EDT
The logo for Embodied, which features a person with brown skin wearing yellow pants, a white shirt and white glasses pulling back a starry curtain of the silhouette of a person that is roughly twice as large as the person in yellow pants. The word "Embodied" is at the top with the WUNC logo directly underneath it and the PRX logo in the bottom righthand corner of the illustration. All of the text is in white, and the background of the illustration is light blue.

Seventy-one percent of Americans cite money as a major source of stress. A financial educator shares her belief that before you can fix your finances, you have to deal with your trauma. Plus, a financial therapist talks about her work with couples.

Money problems are rarely just about money. In fact, behavioral economists have found that many of our financial decisions are driven by emotion, not logic. Host Anita Rao talks to financial educator Chantel Chapman about her belief that some of our deepest money struggles are rooted in past experiences that have nothing to do with finances.

Chantel is the founder of the Trauma of Money Institute, a certification program for professionals to learn a trauma-informed approach to money. She’s the author of “The Trauma of Money.”

Anita also talks with financial therapist LaQueshia Clemons about how couples can work through money issues in their relationship. LaQueshia is a licensed clinical social worker and the founder and CEO of Freedom Life Therapy and Wellness.

Read the transcript

Embodied
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.
See stories by Anita Rao
Gabriela Glueck
Gabriela Glueck is a producer for Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, health and relationships.
See stories by Gabriela Glueck
Amanda Magnus
Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships and health. She has also worked on other WUNC shows including Tested and CREEP.
See stories by Amanda Magnus
Wilson Sayre
Wilson Sayre is WUNC's Director of Digital Content leading our podcasting strategy and initiatives. She has worn many hats in the audio world as an editor, producer, consultant and team lead. Wilson was Managing Producer at Pushkin (previously Transmitter Media) where she helped launch shows like Am I Normal, the TED Interview and The Heist. Before that, she served as Executive Producer at Capitol Broadcasting Company and lead reporter for The City podcast from USA Today. Prior to that, she covered social safety net programs at WLRN, Miami's NPR member station. There, she founded the station's youth radio program. Wilson's work has been recognized by the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize and national Edward R. Murrow Awards. Wilson grew up in North Carolina and enjoys playing banjo and eating chocolate, usually not at the same time.
See stories by Wilson Sayre