Q+A: Chantel Chapman on the trauma of money

If you feel shame about money — especially shame about having money — it’s actually a sign you can be trusted with it.  That’s a message that Chantel Chapman shares with Native entrepreneurs who struggle with the conflicted feelings between building wealth and honoring community values.  

Chapman, who is not Native, knows this tension intimately. The founder of The Trauma of Money Institute grew up in poverty, surviving abuse and trauma while watching money stress tear at her family. As an adult, she became a financial literacy educator who knew all the rules about money — but couldn’t change her own destructive behaviors around money.  

Her search for answers led her to create a certification program that acknowledges colonial and capital systems as sources of trauma. The approach has resonated deeply with Native and First Nations communities — many Indigenous people have completed the certification and now offer trauma-sensitive financial training within their own communities.  

Chapman  spoke with Tribal Business News about her upcoming book, set for release Sept. 23, and why healing our relationship with money requires honoring rather than abandoning cultural values. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. 

What is the Trauma of Money Institute?

The Trauma of Money Institute certifies professionals — everyone from trauma therapists and psychologists to financial professionals and people working in economic justice — in using a trauma-sensitive approach to money.

When we say “trauma-sensitive,” we include acknowledgment of economic systems as a source of trauma. A lot of Western psychology or trauma-sensitive work completely leaves out the systems we live in—the harmful systems of capitalism and colonialism. 

What led you to create this program?

I created this program because of my own curiosity for healing. I grew up in poverty, in social housing, with a single mother. I experienced multiple forms of abuse, was around substance abuse and addiction, and survived sexual abuse.

As an adult, I started to reflect on the choices I had made in my life and noticed strong patterns. One thing about complex (post-traumatic stress disorder) is that it can give you pattern recognition as a sort of superpower. I realized I had two competing strong beliefs: “If we’d had money, I would’ve been safe,” and “You’re not worthy of money.” I heard the stress of money growing up, so I linked money with safety. 

These two narratives played out in my life — chase money (and) become a workaholic, but in the moment you can not hold it, you have to overspend. 

How did this manifest in your behavior? 

I had a lack of boundaries around money, and was constantly people pleasing with money. I was a workaholic but also underearning at the same time. Essentially, I was operating from a trauma response, and it would manifest in my relationship with money. 

I was a financial literacy educator. I knew what to do and what not to do with money, but I couldn’t change my behaviors. 

I started seeking trauma therapy, and every time I brought up money, they would shy away from the topic. I quickly learned that most mental health practitioners aren’t trained related to money—even though it's one of our biggest stressors.

What was missing from existing approaches? 

I started researching financial psychology, trauma healing and addiction recovery — all of these modalities. But there was one big missing piece: the dominant economic environment we live in. 

I went on my own journey to understand: What is capitalism? How was it created? How does it rely on colonialism? Once you learn the truth of that history, you can’t go back. That had to be the center of what we were teaching.

What’s different about your approach to money and trauma?

Because I’m a white woman who’s only had certain experiences with money, and because I carry privilege because of my identity, it became a very strong value that Trauma of Money, as a school and training, has to have multiple voices.

Our first cohort had five teachers. Now, entering cohort 13, we have 25 faculty members. That diversity ensures many people can see themselves reflected in the work.

Why has your work resonated with Native communities? 

I don’t think it’s something I strategized or planned. I live from a value system of authenticity, being honest, and being a student. Every time I’ve had the opportunity to connect with First Nations people, it was easy to take the role of student—especially around healing and money.

I noticed First Nations people had a closer connection to community values—values that don’t exist in the dominant economic system. When I taught in those spaces, I made sure to re-center them in their own lived experience as the teacher.

How does this philosophy shape your methodology? 

That's a really important value in the work that we do. Our tagline is: Everything we do is meant to decrease shame, and increase discernment. 

The Trauma of Money methodology is all the teachers. It would not be what it is without the First Nations women who have contributed to it. It feels (alive) because it constantly just grows and becomes part of whoever is immersed in it … a space co-created through learning and reciprocity. 

What message do you want to share with Native entrepreneurs?

One thing we always say in Trauma of Money is this: If you feel shame about money — especially shame about having money — it’s actually a sign you can be trusted with it.

There are so many values taught through dominant economic systems that conflict with community or cultural values. We’re programmed to reduce the importance of those cultural or community values when it comes to money. But we think you should uplift those values and apply them to money.

That gets you on the pathway where you can deeply embody: “I can be trusted with money.” And the more people who hold that conscientious awareness, the better for the entire economic system. That’s how we reimagine the economic system: by getting more money into the hands of people who can truly be trusted with it.

How can communities access this work? 

We have many certified First Nations practitioners who can come into community spaces — or communities can send someone to be trained and bring it back. We teach in a non-prescriptive way, so the programming can be adapted to different needs.