Money is one of those things that makes otherwise thoughtful people act totally insane. And it’s not unwarranted: it’s one of the most fraught, loaded subjects in our culture!

Daemonic (how’s that for a cool moniker) helps people engage in what he calls financial shadow work: tracing the web of emotions and relationships underneath their money fears and aspirations, then integrating them as a way to flourish and grow.

Informed by Internal Family Systems and Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, his premise is that our money behavior, even if it feels irrational on the surface, makes sense when looked at in a larger context. Accordingly, he helps people look at their financial attitudes with a little more curiosity and a lot less judgment.

(I actually did a Money mapping session with him a few years back, which we filmed, so you can get a sense of what they’re like. If you’d like to book your own session, you can see his availability here)

Aside from being a great Twitter follow (@daemonhugger), Daemonic has a YouTube channel where you can join him in diving into the research and phenomenology of finance.

In this very meaty conversation, we cover:

The most common money hangups that bring people to Daemonic (and the especially thorny one around charging money)
When money fears are “justified” vs when they’re problematic and self-sabotaging

The relationship dynamics that complicate giving money and help

What exactly we mean when we say that money gives us “security”

His younger self’s assumption that “people who handle money know how the world works” and why that brought him to this type of work

Money’s place as the “bridge” between our “emotional” and the “hyper-rational” parts, and why it may be the main driver of feeling shame around finances

Big Quit Energy

Money is Never Just Money