Meet Financial Therapist Lora Sasiela

I wasn’t always financially smitten.
Not by a long shot.

In fact, it took a major money meltdown for me to get evicted from the cozy little money fog I’d been living in. There is truth to “ignorance is bliss,” but then all of a sudden it isn’t.

For years I’d been rocking and rolling with a successful private psychotherapy practice in Manhattan. As an eating disorder specialist, I was busy helping women get empowered in their relationship to food and their bodies.

But then the Universe started sending me these messages about how I was ignoring my money. It was trying to break through my thick-as-pea-soup money fog, but I really didn’t pay it any mind. As could be expected, the messages started getting louder and louder, until finally I had to ‘wake up and smell the financial coffee.’

And that breaking point, that ‘breakdown before the breakthrough,’ was a sobering call from my accountant. I was sitting all cool in my Manhattan office when I got the news that I owed the government A LOT of money…money that I had not anticipate owing them.

My practice income had skyrocketed the year prior and I was so out to lunch I never thought to alert my accountant to this fact. I’m not even sure it crossed my mind that I would have needed to adjust my estimated tax payments accordingly. {Duh!…but I can say that NOW.}

So there I was, feeling like I’d been kicked in the stomach. Sick to my stomach. BUT, it was also one of those moments of transformation. I had hit bottom. I was now hearing the message loud and clear. Enough with the fog. I needed to find out exactly what was going on with me and money.

And so the journey began.

So what did I do? I reached out for support and guidance from esteemed mentors in the money psychology field. I read everything I could find about women and money. I took workshops and attended professional trainings.

I stuck a little pink post-it in my wallet that had the balances of all my accounts. I raised my fees, I opened a savings account {actually a few of them, including one just for my taxes!}. I started to have very different kinds of conversations with my financial advisor. Ones where she didn’t have to note the point at which my eyes glazed over!

And this is when some interesting stuff started to happen. As I got more grounded in my own financial life, it allowed me to help others look at theirs. All of a sudden my clients were talking about their money ‘issues’ in sessions. And I started to notice these parallels with how my clients related with food and how they related to money.

  • I learned that I was able to leverage all the years of empowering women in their relationship with food to empowering them in their relationship with money.
  • I learned that no one–no matter how much money they have—is immune to ‘issues’ with money.
  • I learned that with the right guidance and support, women ARE able to move out of fear, guilt, and shame regarding money and take control of this part of their lives.

And, along the way I fell in love with this work, this new mission to help women all over the world get conscious, clear, and confident when it comes to money.

HERE ARE SOME ‘looks good on paper’ DEETS:

I’m a New York University alum through and through. My undergraduate degree is from the Stern School of Business. I later returned for graduate school {once I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up!} and have an MSW from the School of Social Work.

I did my post-Masters training at the Women’s Therapy Centre Institute and the National Institute for the Psychotherapies. I was also awarded a fellowship at New York University’s Psychoanalytic Institute {yes..NYU for post-Masters as well!}. I have taken classes at the Financial Recovery Institute, the Women’s Earning Institute, and have studied the Conscious Bookkeeping Method.

I am a proud member of the following professional associations:

  • Financial Therapy Association
  • Association for Financial Counseling, Planning and Education
  • Women’s Mental Health Consortium

I am pleased that the media is starting to acknowledge the contribution of financial therapy and am honored that my work has been featured in magazines such as Glamour and Marie Claire.

AND SOME FUN STUFF {because there should always be some fun stuff!}

Ten Things You May Not Know About Me:

1.    I have a kick-a** finger puppet collection.
2.    While growing up my nickname was LJ. Going through an adolescent “artsy” phase I spelled it “Eljay.”
3.    Watch out if you challenge me at backgammon, ping-pong, or foosball.
4.    I’m a calligrapher.
5.    I make my own eco-friendly-essential-oil-delicious-smelling housecleaning supplies.
6.    I was one class shy of a religion minor during college.
7.    I cook killer scrambled eggs…with a secret ingredient.
8.    Mozart is my favorite composer.
9.    I’ve been to Venice, Italy four times.
10. I adore working in my home office, affectionately referred to as Financially Smitten Headquarters. {To have a look-see click here.}

Would you like to work with me? Click here to find out how!