For education and research
The Trauma of Money™ Institute.
We train professionals to understand the emotional, relational, systemic, and embodied roots of financial behaviour.
In the press
FORTUNE
Marketplace · NPRshondaland
REAL SIMPLE
Forbes
So Money with Farnoosh
The Social
FORTUNEMarketplace · NPRshondalandREAL SIMPLEForbesSo Money with FarnooshThe SocialAbout TOM™
Reshaping how we understand money, power, and value.
The Trauma of Money™ (TOM) Institute of Education and Research offers an internationally recognised certification program that has trained thousands of professionals across more than 22 countries. The TOM Method situates people within a broader collective context, including societal and systemic trauma, rather than focusing on “fixing” the individual.
This approach provides frameworks for healing both individual and collective wounds, laying the foundation for financial agency and wellbeing. The Institute also offers professional training through private workshops, organizational partnerships, and an online education series.
Trauma of Money Method™
Certified Practitioner
Human-Centred Financial Method™
Certified Practitioner
Three programs
Three ways to train with TOM™.
Whether you are a practitioner, an organization or a community, TOM™ offers training pathways that bring more depth, dignity, and discernment to money conversations.
For practitioners
TOM™ Professional Certification
An 18-week live cohort for a mixed field: therapists, coaches, financial advisors, debt professionals, economic-justice leaders and educators. Learn to hold money conversations through a trauma-sensitive lens.
- 18-week live cohort taught by TOM™ faculty
- Nine competencies across Belonging, Discernment and Reimagining
- Certified Practitioner badge and alumni directory listing
- A global community across 22+ countries
Every graduate earns the mark and a live, searchable profile in the alumni directory.
For organizations
TOM for Organizations
Training and consulting for companies, foundations, post-secondary institutions and community organizations. Trauma-sensitive financial wellbeing, delivered where your people already are.
- Private workshops and keynote sessions
- Bespoke program design and consulting engagements
- An online education series for teams
“The TOM training absolutely blew our audience away — we have received such wonderful feedback so far.”
Shaina WallaceProgram Manager, Industry Events, Farm Credit Canada
For financial professionals
The Human-Centered Financial Method™
HCFM™ is the certification for financial advisors and wealth firms navigating the Great Wealth Transfer and an AI-driven financial world. Eight live modules across three pillars.
- Client psychology: see the full picture
- Relational attunement: meet clients where they are
- Vision and sustainable action: build what lasts
8 live modules · 2 hours each · Founding partner: SheMoney · CE credit approvals in progress
The HCFM™ Certified Practitioner mark, for advisors and wealth professionals.
What makes TOM™ different
A six-layer model of what shapes our relationship with money.
Beyond “financial trauma”: the TOM Map situates each person inside the layers of generational, relational, societal, and systemic experience that influence financial behaviour, alongside the laws of nature and financial literacy.
What looks irrational on the surface often makes sense in context.
Generational
Inherited money, beliefs, and patterns across the family line.
Relational
How early relationships shape financial trust and security.
Societal
Cultural conditioning around money and what success means.
Systemic
The barriers faced by communities who have been systemically marginalized.
Laws of Nature
Using biomimicry to shape money frameworks rooted in reciprocity, collaboration, diversity, and life-affirming design, rather than scarcity.
Financial Literacy
Making financial information accessible through trauma-sensitive design.
The roots
Six Layers of Integrated Inquiry.
The TOM™ Method sits at the centre, surrounded by six layers of inquiry that help us understand money behaviour in context. Drawing from neuroscience, shame resilience, financial psychology, systems analysis, biomimicry, and integrative frameworks, each layer supports a deeper way of seeing what shapes our relationship with money. Every question, practice, and tool is designed to decrease shame, increase discernment, and support more dignity, agency, and repair.
Neuroscience & Body
8 disciplines
Explore →Trauma & Attachment
8 disciplines
Explore →Psychology & Self
7 disciplines
Explore →Culture & Systems
11 disciplines
Explore →Relationships
6 disciplines
Explore →Behaviour Change
8 disciplines
Explore →Key disciplines integrated
The TOM™ impact
A global destination at the intersection of entrepreneurship, mental health, wealth advising, and economic justice.
0%
Reported a significant or extreme positive shift in their relationship to money.
Of attendees in the TOM™ training for the Collective Abundance Fund, after five sessions.
0+
Professionals trained worldwide
Integrating TOM™ approaches into financial services, mental health, community development, and organizational leadership.
0
Countries reached
Bringing human-centred financial education into diverse cultural, economic, and institutional contexts.
Organizations we have worked with
Testimonials
In their own words.
“Trauma of Money is the book we all need! Whether you’re a consumer, a provider, or both, the insights in these pages will help free you from the treadmill you didn’t realize you were stuck on. Too often, we internalize the failures of capitalism and ask ourselves, “What’s wrong with me?” This book offers a powerful, compassionate answer, while breaking down how, where, and why money can be so traumatic. We’ll all be better off mentally, emotionally, and financially for reading this gem.”
Aja Evans
Financial Therapist, President-elect of the Financial Therapy Association, and author of Feel Good Finance
★★★★★
“After decades working in the financial sector, on Wall Street, in philanthropy, and as an investor; I’ve seen that no amount of wealth or experience shields us from the emotional barriers we face around money. The Trauma of Money names what so many feel but can’t articulate and offers a path toward greater financial health and agency.”
Jacki Zehner
Founder at SheMoney, Investor, Philanthropist and Former Partner at Goldman Sachs
★★★★★
“TOM has enriched my life in so many ways. This course provides so much value, I honestly would recommend it to anyone… It allowed a safe space to remember where I have been with money so that I can build a different, more conscious future for myself.”
Brenna Ardron
Certification course graduate
★★★★★
“The Trauma of Money is the work we need right now! It’s thoughtful, thorough and for me personally it has been transformational… I recommend the course to every entrepreneur and leader I work with. I can’t shut up about it.”
Jaqueline Jennings
Certification course graduate
★★★★★
“I had a life-changing epiphany. While I could see how the pattern of not feeling “worthy” showed up in many areas of my life, I was blind to how it was showing up in my finances… This is a brilliant foundation from which to set out on my next venture.”
Leah Rowntree
Workshop participant
★★★★★
“The Trauma of Money program was a real eye opener for me… It expanded my vision of what my relationship with money could look like: that it could be healthy, wealthy and wise. I would highly recommend this workshop to anyone from any walk of life.”
Dr Liesa Norman
Workshop participant
★★★★★
Faculty
Meet some of our faculty.
Learn from interdisciplinary faculty across trauma, somatics, financial psychology, Indigenous economic development, social justice, addiction, facilitation, and systems change.
Chantel Chapman
Author · CEO of The Trauma of Money™ Institute
Jaime Gloshay
Indigenous Economic Empowerment Consultant
Dr Joi K. Madison
Psychologist & Emotional Intelligence Coach
Sunnie Townsend
Trauma Practitioner
Maceo Paisley
Time Philosopher & Consultant
Dr Shahar Rabi
Psychotherapist · Professor, Trauma & Addiction
Dr PennElys Droz
Biocultural Engineering Design Expert, NDN Collective
Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik
LCSW · Somatic Trauma Therapist
The network
A worldwide community of certified practitioners.
Graduates of the certification work across finance, therapy, coaching and community. Every profile is real, searchable, and one click away.
The book
The Trauma of Moneyby Chantel Chapman
Mapping Compassionate Pathways to Healing Financial Trauma and Disempowering Financial Shame. A comprehensive exploration of how trauma, generational, relational, societal, or systemic, shapes our financial behaviours, and introducing the six-phase Trauma of Money Method™ to decrease financial shame and reclaim agency.
Next steps
Three ways to begin.
For practitioners
Become TOM™ Certified
For practitioners ready to train in the method.
Next cohort starts Sept 23, 2026
Explore the certificationFor organizations
Bring TOM™ to Your Organization
For teams, institutions, and communities.
Explore organizational training