Financial Social Work: Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Practice explores the intersection of financial behavior, emotions, and social work. Featuring a biopsychosocial perspective, it explores concepts such as money attitudes and beliefs, the link between emotions and financial behaviors, and chronic financial stress. The book elaborates on the implementation of financial social work at individual and organizational levels, addressing financial stress, trauma, and anxiety, and advocating for inclusive financial practices and policies. This book is structured to systematically build student competence through theoretical foundations, application in practical settings, and case examples. With a focus on promoting financial resilience, it provides strategies to empower clients and foster healthy financial mindsets, while also dealing with the macro aspects of policy development and advocacy for economic equity. The text emphasizes the importance of cultural humility in financial social work and discusses innovations and future directions in the field. Financial Social Work is suitable for graduate-level instruction, specifically for students pursuing their Master of Social Work degrees. It aligns well with courses such as advanced interventions in social work education and is intended for both specialized financial social work courses and broader social work curriculum elements, including macro social work practice, financial policy advocacy, and ethical practice. Watch Reeta Wolfsohn speak to how the textbook can strengthen social work curriculum and help the next generation of social workers to become authentic financial change agents who are capable of addressing credit, debt, consumerism, and economic injustice through a lens of empowerment, ethics, and equity. The book fills a critical gap in the literature by providing readers with practical tools, a behavioral framework, and the advocacy strategies necessary to promote financial stability and systemic change. Visit Reeta Wolfsohn's website, Center for Financial Social Work, an organization that has been creating original, interactive, and holistic Financial Behavioral Health (TM) programs for over 20 years. Visit the site to access resources, sign up for webinars, and learn more about the importance of financial social work.
Reeta Wolfsohn is the founder of Financial Social Work and the Center for Financial Social Work. She is a National Association of Social Work Pioneer inductee for creating this behavioral, psychosocial discipline at the intersection of financial issues and social work practice. She holds an MSW from Stony Brook University. Matthew L. Schwartz, DSW, LCSW, MBA, CFSW is a solution focused brief therapist, a certified financial social worker, and an implementation scientist. He is a private practice therapist at Horizon Health Services in Buffalo, New York. He holds his Doctor of Social Work degree from the University at Buffalo School of Social Work.
