Menu

linda circle

Hi, I'm Linda Samson.

Registered Psychotherapist, Registered Marriage and Family Therapist

354785linda textI help people in many areas of therapy
Individual and marriage counselling, grief and depression, stress and career changes, addictions and anxiety, self esteem and assertiveness and more. I help people lead more satisfying lives.

Linda Samson, secluded, private officeYour privacy is important to me
Come and feel the comfort and quiet of my office overlooking a hundred year old forest - a sanctuary, nestled in among 13 acres of woods, gardens and ponds - designed to assure privacy, peace and recovery.

Linda Samson, Registered marriage and family therapist, GeorgetownCan you relate to these stories?
Fighting over money, fading desire, infidelity, grief, anxiety, loneliness or career changes are experience by many. I created my blog to share with you how you can overcome the troubles life brings your way.

Linda Samson, Registered marriage and family therapist, GeorgetownMore about Linda
I have a MSc in Family Studies from Guelph University. I am a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. I am also a registered psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. I have been doing this work for over 30 years.

How do you help couples who fight over money?

One  observation I’ve made over the years, about people is that they can more readily talk about sex than about how much money they make. Opposites attract and so couples often fall into polarized styles of money personalities. I use the following four categories in my work with couples,  to enable them to communicate with less hostility about their differences and battles (Mellan,1992).

HOARDER vs SPENDER
Hoarders feel secure and safe when saving money, budgeting and planning. Spenders feel alive and free when spending money. When the spender spends, he feels happy and taken care of. But, his spending makes his wife feel anxious and angry. When the hoarder  saves, she feels secure but her saving makes her husband feel deprived.

PLANNER vs DREAMER

Dreamers tend to be passionate idealists. Planners tend to be concrete,  nitty- gritty detail types. The planners get anxious and panic without a detailed plan. Planners don’t even take the time to indulge their personal fantasies (unlike dreamers!)

MONEY AVOIDER vs MONEY WORRIER
Money avoiders cannot tell you how much money they earn. They don’t balance their cheque books and can’t tell you what their regular expenses are. Money worriers constantly worry about not having enough.

MONEY MONKS vs MONEY AMASSERS
Money monks believe that money is the root of all evil and so they choose to be virtuous have-nots. This however results in self-deprivation and powerlessness and not much real happiness. Money amassers, on the other hand, think the more money you have, the happier you can be.

My challenge with couples therapy is to help each person understand that their personal growth lies in their ability to understand and accept each other’s emotional style and relationship to money. Doing this goes a long way to resolving their differences.