NAMI Ask the Expert: Ask Us About Money – Financial Wellness to Enhance Recovery OD025

An on-demand video and transcript of the presentation are available here [opens in new tab].

About The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. They are an alliance of more than 650 local Affiliates and 49 State organizations who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education to people with mental illness and their loved ones. Through awareness, advocacy and education, NAMI is committed to building stronger communities and a better future for everyone affected by mental illness.

Course Summary

Practice Level: Intermediate

This course, based on the Ask the Expert webinar series by NAMI, presents a recovery-oriented approach to financial wellness that integrates peer support with practical money-management skills (budgeting, saving, banking, understanding credit/debt) to reduce financial stress and support mental health recovery. Presenters describe a six-session “Building Financial Wellness” curriculum, highlight common spending triggers, and demonstrate goal-setting and follow-up “booster” supports that reinforce behavior change. Learners explore how the financial dimension of wellness interacts with emotional, social, physical, and other wellness domains and how strengthening financial skills can enhance overall recovery and functioning. Emerging empirical evidence—including a recent randomized controlled trial—supports improvements in financial well-being and reduced financial distress among adults receiving mental health services.

The course, with an intended audience of social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors, then presents concrete, skills-based strategies and peer-delivered tools that can be integrated into routine clinical practice and care coordination to address financial stressors linked to anxiety, depression, and relapse risk.

Course Format

This course contains a participant guide, practice test, and on-demand video (with a slide deck of the presentation). When you’re ready, purchase the course by clicking the “Add To Cart” or “Enroll” button. This will let you take the test, complete the course evaluation and receive your certificate for CE credits.

Learning Objectives

1. Define financial wellness and its relationships to other wellness dimensions.
2. Identify evidence-informed budgeting, saving, banking, and credit/debt strategies that reduce financial stress for clients in recovery.
3. Apply a six-month, stepwise financial goal-planning process with peer-support “booster” follow-ups to enhance adherence and outcomes.

Course Syllabus

• Financial Wellness in Recovery
• Money Management Foundations
• Banking, Saving, and Consumer Protections
• Credit, Debt, and Goal-Based Planning

Current References

BMC Medicine. (2024). The effectiveness, implementation, and experiences of paid peer support approaches for mental health: An umbrella review. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03260-y [opens in new tab]

Cook, J. A., Steigman, P. J., Jonikas, J. A., Brice III, G., Johnson, S., Cortez, C., … Swarbrick, M. (2024). Building Financial Wellness: Randomized controlled trial of a financial education and support intervention. Psychiatric Services. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20240210 [opens in new tab]

Dote Pardo, J. S., & Parra-Domínguez, J. (2025). The mind–money connection: how financial health shapes mental well-being (and vice versa). Mental Health and Social Inclusion. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-03-2025-0101 [opens in new tab]

Folorunsho, S., & Okyere, M. (2025). The impact of neglect, physical, and financial abuse on mental health among older adults: a systematic review. Aging & mental health, 29(4), 567-577. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2024.2436468 [opens in new tab]

Kahura, J., & colleagues. (2022). Financial stress and depression in adults: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 17(3), e0264041. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264041 [opens in new tab]

Nasir, A., Javed, U., Hagan, K., Chang, R., Kundi, H., Amin, Z., … & Javed, Z. (2025). Social determinants of financial stress and association with psychological distress among young adults 18–26 years in the United States. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1485513. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1485513 [opens in new tab]

Nettle, D., Chevallier, C., De Courson, B., Johnson, E. A., Johnson, M. T., & Pickett, K. E. (2025). Short‐term changes in financial situation have immediate mental health consequences: Implications for social policy. Social Policy & Administration, 59(2), 293-308. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13065 [opens in new tab]

Pollack, H., & coauthors. (2024). Improving financial security for people with disabilities: The promise and challenges of ABLE accounts (Research brief WI23-10). Retirement & Disability Research Consortium. https://rdrc.wisc.edu/files/research-briefs/WI23-10_Research_Brief_Pollack-et-al_4.24.pdf [opens in new tab]

Psychiatric Services. (2024). Systematic review of financial interventions for adults experiencing behavioral health conditions, 75, 570–579. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20230271 [opens in new tab]

Stapleton, D. C., et al. (2024). ABLE account use among Supplemental Security Income recipients. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 60(1), 1–15. https://worksupport.com/research/documents/pdf/jvr_2024_601_jvr601jvr230059_jvr60jvr230059.pdf [opens in new tab]

Wolf J. (2025). Changing the Game? Increasing the Impact of Peer-Run Organizations. Community mental health journal, 61(2), 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-024-01273-8 [opens in new tab]

Instructors

Nerissa Jones, Community Wellness Center Manager, New Dimensions Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ) 

Nerissa Jones is the New Dimensions, Community Wellness Center Manager, in Salem County, New Jersey. Jones has worked at CSPNJ for 18 years and completed the CSPNJ Peer Support Specialist training in 2020 and CRSP 2015. She completed the Building Financial Wellness program in 2021.

Adam Chrone, Community Wellness Manager, Park Avenue Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ)

Adam Chrone is the Park Avenue Community Wellness Center Manager in Plainfield, New Jersey. Chrone has been working at the CWC in roles including mentor and resource specialist. Chrone participated in the CSPNJ Peer Support Specialist training and Building Financial Wellness program in 2022.

George H. Brice Jr., Program Development Specialist Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ)

George H. Brice Jr., MSW, is a part-time program development specialist at CSPNJ. George has worked for many years in a variety of roles including coordinator of a peer recovery and wellness education program, wellness coach, wellness trainer, and supported education and employment specialist. George worked 10 years as a faculty member at Rutgers University. George earned an associate degree in criminal justice/psychology at Burlington County College and both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work at Rutgers University-Camden.

Peggy Swarbrick, PhD, FAOTA , Wellness Institute Director Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ)

Swarbrick has worked for over 25 years at CSPNJ, where she developed the strengths-based eight-dimensional wellness model to promote recovery from mental health and substance use. She is known for collaborating with the peer community and family groups to identify and address social determinants that are barriers to recovery and wellness. Peggy is also a professor at The Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and Associate Director of the Center of Alcohol Abuse and Substance Use Studies.

Nicole Errickson, LCSW

Nicole is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the state of Georgia. She brings over 19 years experience in the social work field, primarily working in school systems as a school social worker and with the McKinney-Vento grant. Over her career, Nicole has had several opportunities to help develop and execute professional development events. Nicole has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Alabama and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Alabama.

Accreditation Approval Statements

CE4Less.com is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE4Less.com maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE4Less.com, provider #1115, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 8/8/24-8/8/27.

Social workers completing this course receive 1 general continuing education credits.

We are committed to providing our learners with unbiased information. CE4Less never accepts commercial support and our authors have no significant financial or other conflicts of interest pertaining to the material.