(Andrew Moran from the Digital Journal via Google Images)

Transcription by Holly Smith

It loves me, it loves me not. It hates me, it hates me not. 'Financial Therapy' is a podcast about one woman's emotional relationship with money. Shameless Magazine's Web Producer Sarah Feldbloom takes part in a session conducted by accountant and founder of Loose Change Financial Therapy, Amanda Mills. Watch out! After this one you may find yourself face to face with your own relationship with dolla bills!

Take a listen here:

For a transcription of 'Financial Therapy' read on:

Sarah Feldbloom: Hi, I’m Sarah Feldbloom, Shameless Magazine’s Web Producer. The current issue of our print mag, on stands till the end of August, is on the theme of money, and so is this podcast. It’s the product of excerpts from a financial therapy session I participated in, that was conducted by Amanda Mills, who works as an accountant, and is the founder of Loose Change Financial Therapy. Mills has presented Loose Change workshops for social workers, teachers, psychotherapists, artists, anti-poverty activists, sex trade workers, women's groups, and the general public, recently she’s run workshops at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore in Toronto, that’s how we found her.

One of the goals of Loose Change, as Mills articulates it, is to help clients figure out whether issues they’re experiencing around money are caused by money itself or are the product of other matters that are playing themselves out in their lives. Before I went in for my appointment Mills had me fill out several forms that asked questions about my orientation toward money. To give you an example, one form had me explain what the word enough means to me.

Now, because this podcast centers around a personal therapy session, it focuses on my specific orientation with money, which is a privileged one, having grown up in Canada in the middle class, and without being a visible minority or having a visible disability, or being affected by several other elements that can make it hard for a person to make money.

There are some parts of the session that raise questions which we don’t address in a way that’s complete. For example, at one point Mills mentions that a person should be able to earn more with an education than without; while we didn’t go into more depth about this in the session, we acknowledge that of course race, gender and disability among other issues can affect whether this is true in all situations. There are other moments where the conversational element of our session leaves discussions around other topics incomplete, just a heads up for you, our listeners.

Now, get ready, because you’re about to learn a lot more about me!