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Spanish Speakers
| Financial Educators and Counselors
| Financial Planners and Advisors
| Counselors, Coaches, and Therapists
Marriage and Premarital Educators
| Individuals, Couples, and Parents
| Teachers and Youth Leaders
| Business Consultants |
Military
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Marriage and Premarital Educators
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Money issues are consistently ranked as a key problem area for couples, yet frequently
they're not adequately discussed in couples' courses or private counseling
sessions. Typically, money is a topic clients want to avoid because they don't
intuitively feel or see the connection between habits and attitudes about money
and the
ir relationships. The reality is that money issues are rarely every about finances
but are related to what money represents to each person in the couple - security,
freedom, control, power, independence, etc.
Money Habitudes cards provide an easy, non-judgmental and non-threatening way to
address financial issues with your clients - and beyond that, to explore your own
views of money and how they may affect your conversations with your clients.
Your clients will associate the cards with the familiar, enjoyable social entertainment
of playing cards, which allows them to engage more readily. People like
manipulating the cards so they relax, let their guard down and are more open to
having productive conversations. The cards also provide non-judgmental language
which makes it easier to discuss difficult topics.
Money Habitudes Solitaire is the most frequently used activity. The deck of cards
includes 54 statement cards that are associated with one of the six Money Habitudes:
Security, Status, Selfless, Free Spirit, Targeted Goals and Spontaneous. The client
(or you) completes a simple sorting process, placing cards into piles identifying
behaviors as "like me," "not like me" or "sometimes like
me" (a process that takes about 15 minutes). At a glance, you and your client
will get a sense of the Money Habitudes that are dominant. By using the interpretation
cards, you will gain valuable clues about thoughts, feelings and patterns of behavior.
The cards also include suggestions for next steps based on each habitude.
Pre-marital and couples counselors have reported that they quickly get to the heart
of their clients' true issues using the Money Habitudes cards. The non-judgmental
language of the cards and the specific statements stimulate rich conversations.
Marriage counselors and educators using the most well-known marriage education programs
can improve their effectiveness by including a discussion of money. Dr. William Bailey's paper "How to Use
the Money Habitudesâ„¢ Cards in Marriage Education Programs" discusses
how to incorporate using the cards with:
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PREP (Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program) by Markham, Stanley, and
Blumberg
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Couples Communication I and II by Miller and Miller
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PREPARE/ENRICH 2000 by Olson and others)
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GREAT START by Olson, Miller, and Miller
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Click here to read more.
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To help new clients overcome the long-standing gag rule on talking about money,
life coach Syble Solomon has developed Money Habitudes, a set of playing cards that
make it quick and easy to uncover the underlying or even unconscious attitudes that
shape our financial lives. - Diane Sollee, Executive Director, Smart
Marriages
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Using the cards created a safe space for exploration and exposure of the emotional
connection couples have with their own handling of financial matters and how money
was handled in their family of origin. - Catherine Riley Wineburg,
LCSW, MFT, Licensed Imago Therapist
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My husband and I talked for hours after using the money habitudes cards while we
diligently worked on the budget, taking into account all the things we learned about
each other from the cards. I can honestly say we made more ground—on this very difficult
issue—than we have ever made in our 24 years of marriage! - Renee Colclough
Hinson, ACME (Association for Couples in Marriage Enrichment)
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One shortcoming of premarital and marriage enrichment programs is the lack of educational
session devoted to specific topics…such as money. Money is one of the most conflict
creating issues experienced by couples over the life course of their relationships.
The Money Habitudesâ„¢ cards are a vital, dynamic tool that can supplement ms and
others. These cards give a marriage educator a process by which to examine money
values, beliefs, and behaviors. When using the cards, the couple is engaged in a
familiar, non-threatening activity. The cards use a non-judgmental language that
encourages the couple to discus the most taboo topics in our culture. It allows
the facilitator of a marriage education program to quickly get to the heart of the
issue of money. I encourage you to use the Money Habitudesâ„¢ cards to supplement
the marriage education program of your choice. I know that the couples in your program
will benefit from this experience. - William Bailey, Ph.D., Family
Sciences, University of Arkansas, Co-author of
You Paid How Much for That!? (with Jenkins, Stanley, and Markman,
2002)
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