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Contact: Hillary Angel
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Economic Recession Can Burden Family Relationships:
Tips for Coping with Financial Stress

San Diego, June 23, 2008 – Studies on relationships consistently rank financial stress as a primary contributor to family conflict. Rising symptoms of economic recession such as unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies, increasing gas prices and inflation can create strain on family relationships .

“Issues related to intimacy, finances, child-raising, and communication are the four major concerns of couples that I counsel,” says Michael Riskin, Marriage and Family Therapist. “When families deal with a financial crisis effectively, it can actually be a springboard toward stronger relationships in all those areas of potential conflict.”

The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists offers the following tips for coping with financial stress as a family:

• Don’t allow financial discussions to dominate the marriage relationship. Strengthen your marital friendship outside of financial problems. When financial discussions need to take place, set yourself up for success by making sure you have time to talk about it. If the conversation becomes too emotionally heated, take a break and continue the conversation later.

• Help your kids understand what is going on. Children are often affected by the stress of their parents, expressed by tone of voice, late hours and lack of attention. Help your kids understand what is contributing to the changes in your attitude and schedule, and use it as an opportunity to teach them healthy ways to deal with stress.

• Make family time a priority. The temptation to spend all of your time and energy at work often accompanies financial stress. Instead of helping the situation, this may actually lower your productivity and put a strain on family relationships. Plan family time that will serve to relieve stress. Connection to the family can provide social support that you cannot get anywhere else.

• Make the best of the situation. See financial difficulties as temporary and include the family in coming up with creative ways to approach the situation. While extremely frustrating, time off work due to unemployment may be additional time to spend with the family. The higher price of gas may be an opportunity to encourage the family to walk or ride bikes for local errands.

Financial pressures often test the stability of a relationship. It takes dedication and commitment to ensure that misunderstandings and disagreements do not come between you and those you love. A Marriage and Family Therapist can help your family develop communication strategies and approaches to conflict that will result in stronger relationships. To learn more about family therapy, or to locate a therapist in your area, visit California’s online mental health resource, www.therapistfinder.com.

About CAMFT
The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, with 27 chapters throughout the state, is an independent professional organization, representing the interests of licensed marriageand family therapists. CAMFT provides TherapistFinder.com as a resource to the public looking for marriage and family therapists located in California. For more information about CAMFT, please call (858) 292-2638 or visit www.camft.org.