CPAacademy.org Check-In | Episode 7: Joyce Marter

Beryl

Today I am excited to invite Joyce Marter onto the CPAacademy Check-In but before we dive in to getting to know Joyce and giving her today's questions, I do want to tell you a little bit more about her. So Joyce Marter is a licensed psychotherapist with 25 years of experience and an entrepreneur who founded and successfully sold Urban Balance a national outpatient mental health company in the US. She is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, an international speaker, blogger for Psychology Today and a mental health thought leader specializing in the psychology of money. Joyce Marter routinely consulted as a mental health experts in the media and has been featured in such outlets as US News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal, CNN and MTV. Her book The Financial Mindset Fix was published by Sounds True in July of 2021 and has been featured and Business Insider, Money Geek, US Weekly, Thrive Global, Forbes and more. So with that out of the way, Joyce, I just want to say welcome.

Joyce Marter

Oh my gosh, Beryl. Thank you so much for having me. And I'm so grateful to CPAacademy. I've loved giving webinars for you all and just really appreciate the work that you do in the world.

Beryl

We appreciate your work as well. And this is mental health awareness month and we're gonna get into that in a little bit. But first, we would love for you to tell us a bit more about your background and how you became a licensed psychotherapist. 

Joyce Marter

Well, I'm a Buckeye. Originally, I'm from Ohio, and I attended Ohio State University. And I was super grateful that as somebody who had an undeclared major, they had a program to help students really figure out what they wanted to study. And they encouraged us to study what we love. And I was super interested in why we think the way we do, how we behave, how we are connected to each other and the world around us. And so I chose to study psychology, and I quickly learned that if I didn't want to be a waitress forever I needed a master's degrees. So, I ended up at Northwestern University, which is what brought me to the Chicago area. And I have been so grateful for my work, I have found it emotionally, intellectually and spiritually rewarding, and financially rewarding, which, like you said, is something I'm interested in. And I'm super passionate about it. So I'm a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, of course, had to go through some supervised experience working in mental health community mental health centers in the Chicago area. I also worked in addictions. And I just love it. I'm super passionate about this profession.

Beryl

As a psychology major myself, I can relate to that need for a Master's, I went the education route instead. But moving along, you have written extensively on the topic of mental health stigma. So what can we do to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues? 

Joyce Marter

Well, the first thing that we can all do is start having conversations about mental health, and have those with honesty and vulnerability. We all have mental health, just like we have physical health. And it's really on a continuum, from wellness to disorder, just like with physical health. And we move throughout that continuum, depending on what's going on in our lives, you know, our levels of stress, and our levels of support. And I believe we all experience at different points in our lives, mental health conditions, like anxiety or depression, certainly stress, burnout, grief and loss. So if we talk honestly and vulnerably, and we talk with our loved ones, and we're really paying attention to our language. So we want to avoid language that increases stigma like crazy, wacko, insane, et cetera, and really use language that's compassionate, and normalizing and validating that that's really important, like CPAacademy does. You all, provide trainings, and promote mental health awareness, and your newsletters and your podcast and your communications. That's how we can each be advocates and allies, sharing on social media, even voting for bills that support mental health and the treatment of others and ourselves, in our communities.

Beryl

Yeah, we're gonna get into that in a little bit. Because, you know the accounting industry can be a very stressful career field. And we do want to talk about that. But before we do, I'm actually want to ask you about your book. You wrote a book called The Financial Mindset Fix, which discusses the relationship between finances and mental health, which may come as a little bit of a surprise that there is this connection. Can you explain that more for our audience?

Joyce Marter

Yes, absolutely. So early on, in my practice in Chicago, I noticed that as my clients started to make progress in therapy, they started to earn more money. And I was kind of confused. I was wondering why this was happening. And I realized, it's because in therapy, we're always working on our underlying self worth or self esteem. And as we feel better about ourselves, we put ourselves out in the world with greater confidence, and assertiveness, we're willing to expand our comfort zone, silence our inner critic and our inner saboteur, and negotiate and all of that has a financial return. So as an entrepreneur, I became interested in the psychology of money, how our thoughts, emotions, belief systems, behaviors with money, shape our financial reality. And there's this intrinsic relationship between mental health and financial health when our finances are poor, it can trigger depression, anxiety, money, anxiety, and even financially triggered PTSD or suicidal ideation. And then when our mental health is poor, it can impair our financial health and wellness in terms of having lower productivity, or not feeling as confident. And so my passion is to root remove the shame and stigma from both mental health and financial struggle, and really provide people with practical tools to improve both and live a holistic life of success.

Beryl

I love that so much. And along that same vein, which we already brought up, the accounting industry is known for being highly stressful with long hours and high pressure to meet deadlines. So I'd love to know what tips you have for accountants, especially to manage that stress and avoid burnout in this type of work environment.

Joyce Marter

Yeah, we're at unprecedented times in terms of stress and challenges with overwork and burnout. So, really prioritizing your own mental health and well being above everything else, making sure that you are well rested, that you have boundaries around your sleep, that you're carving out time for self care, including proper nutrition, exercise, your hobbies and leisure activities. And of course, in my trainings with CPAacademy, I talk a lot about mindfulness practices about meditation, deep breathing, and yoga, which is meditation with movement or getting out in nature. All of this kind of reboots our operating systems and helps us function better personally and professionally. Accessing support is also really important, especially for people who work remotely, it's important to connect with others to ask for help and support to share how you're feeling to facilitate community and to collaborate, so that your batteries get recharged. And then we need to use assertive communication to manage our time and set healthy limits and boundaries, both at home and at work, and financially and in our relationships. And it all takes practice. But help is available.

Beryl

Perfect. And I know you have a popular webinar on CPAacademy that dives a little bit deeper into the tips for managing stress and burnout. So I encourage everyone to check that out if they're interested in going a little bit deeper. Before we wrap up, I have another question for you. And I'd love for you to clear up some misconceptions about therapy, especially because there are several out there. So are there any particular myths that you would like to dispel?

Joyce Marter

Yes, I think the the biggest one is, I am often asked, How do I know when I need therapy. And there's this misconception that we have to be suffering a certain amount before we seek help. And we wouldn't wait to get a root canal or to see the dentist until we need a root canal, we would go preventatively and proactively and it's the same with mental health. So getting a mental health tune up from time to time is really a healthy thing to do. Also, if you're going through life transition, like you're getting married, or you're moving in with your partner, you're having a baby or you've lost someone or you're going through a job transition. Those are always great times to start therapy and just get some extra help and support. I think another thing that misconception is that people think that therapy is about blaming your parents and blaming your past. And it's really about honoring your life experience and how it's shaped and molded you but also empowering yourself and giving you tools to really take responsibility for your life going forward and succeed personally and professionally. So it's not about blame. And I guess another one would be I think sometimes people imagine that therapy is just paying somebody to listen to you. And that's not the truth. The truth is you have a professional expert in mental health and wellness and relationships, emotional intelligence, and they are going to give you their undivided, undivided presence and attention. And really help you understand yourself on a deeper level. We all have blind spots as part of the human condition. They're going to increase your self awareness and really empower you to take better care of yourself and live a greater life. So it therapy is effective. I practice what I preach. I've been in therapy several different times in my life, and it's been transformational.

Beryl

Thank you so much for sharing those. I loved all of them. But I especially love the first tip about not needing to be suffering in order to go seek therapy. So I appreciate you sharing all that wisdom, but especially that first tip as we get ready to wrap things up. Is there anything else that you would like to share with our audience about how to find out more about you, your webinars or anything else that you offer out there? Feel free to go ahead and let everyone know.

Joyce Marter

Yes, I would love to connect with listeners on LinkedIn. And my website is joycemarter.com My book is available on Amazon, Target, Walmart, Indie Books, you name it. And I'm super grateful to CPAacademy for marketing my digital course and making that a VIP offer for your members. I think that's fantastic and really grateful to you all.

Beryl

Excellent. Well, be sure to share the link to that course. With everyone listening, it is fantastic. And Joyce, I've had the pleasure of moderating webinars for you. I absolutely enjoy being on your sessions. And we surely do appreciate the content you bring to CPAacademy mental health awareness is so important. And hopefully, some of our listeners today will be on a future webinar with you. All right, we're gonna go ahead and get ready to wrap things up for this episode today. I am going to turn things back over to Christine to close us out. Thanks again.