Our Emotional Finance Model
A framework for trust, connection and collaboration in financial advice
The Emotional Finance Model sits at the heart of everything we do.
It translates key principles and skills from psychotherapy into the world of financial services - offering financial professionals and firms a clear, practical framework for building stronger, more human client relationships.
While traditional training focuses on the technical, this model focuses on the relational: the everyday skills, presence and behaviours that build trust, deepen connection, and turn advice into genuine collaboration.
It’s structured around three rings — each one essential to sustainable, successful client work.
Trust: The Foundation
Here’s a snapshot of the four behaviours create the conditions of trust:
Competence
Competence is about demonstrating the knowledge, skill and professional judgement clients expect. It’s not just what you know, but how confidently and clearly you apply it — making complex information feel digestible, relevant and reassuring. When competence is felt, clients relax into the process and trust your guidance.
Integrity
Integrity means doing what you say you’ll do - consistently, reliably and with care. It’s visible in follow-through, reliability and the way you hold boundaries. When integrity is present, clients feel safe. They know they can rely on you, not just for expertise, but for steadiness.
Transparency
Transparency is about being clear and open — with information, process and expectations. It helps clients understand how decisions are made, why recommendations matter, and what comes next. Transparency removes pressure and uncertainty, creating a sense of partnership rather than hierarchy.
Benevolence
Benevolence is the felt sense that you are genuinely on the client’s side. It shows up in the small moments - generosity of attention, warm curiosity, and choices that prioritise the client’s best interests. Benevolence softens defensiveness and builds the trust that unlocks deeper conversations.
“Trust is the hidden ingredient that affects everything.”
Connection: The Relational Middle
Here is an outline of the key emotional and relational capabilities that support meaningful connection:
Dialogue
Dialogue is the skill of creating conversations that deepen understanding — listening fully, asking thoughtful questions, and responding in ways that move the client’s thinking forward. It transforms meetings from information exchanges into meaningful, reflective conversations.
Authenticity
Authenticity is showing up as a real human being, not a polished professional mask. It’s speaking honestly, owning what you don’t know, and engaging with clients in a way that feels natural and grounded. Authenticity fosters genuine connection and invites clients to show up more openly themselves.
Presence
Presence is the ability to give clients your full, undivided attention - cognitively, emotionally and relationally. It creates a sense of spaciousness in which clients feel seen, heard and understood. When presence is strong, clients think more clearly and engage more deeply.
Bracketing
Bracketing is the practice of noticing and suspending your own assumptions, interpretations or emotional reactions so you can better understand the client’s perspective. It keeps the conversation centred on the client’s world, not your projection of it, and supports more accurate, empathetic advice.
Collaboration: The Working Alliance
The following descriptions introduce the key practices that facilitate a strong working alliance between adviser and client and turn advice into a duet rather than a monologue:
Co-Creation
Co-creation is the practice of building advice with clients rather than for them. It treats planning as a shared process where both parties bring essential insight — the adviser with technical understanding, the client with lived experience, values and goals. This shared ownership increases clarity and follow-through.
Balancing Support & Challenge
Support and challenge work hand-in-hand. Support creates safety; challenge allows for change and creates momentum. Balancing both helps clients move through ambivalence, address avoidance and make confident decisions. It’s about being steady and compassionate while still inviting clients into honest, forward-moving conversations.
Reflective Practice
Reflective practice is taking time to step back — noticing what’s working, what feels stuck and what might need attention. It can happen within the meeting or between meetings, and it restores clarity for both adviser and client. This reflection helps refine decisions and strengthens the partnership.
Acting in Service Of
Acting in service means holding the client’s best interests at the centre of every interaction. It’s the stance of curiosity, care and alignment that underpins ethical, client-centred practice. When advisers act in service, clients feel respected and empowered, and the relationship becomes a place for meaningful change.
Hi - I’m Emma
Founder of Emotional Finance
As a former psychotherapist now working within financial services, I translate relational intelligence into the heart of the profession.
I support financial professionals and firms to lead the industry’s shift toward more human, connected, trust-centred financial advice; strengthening client relationships and driving better outcomes for clients and businesses alike.
If this sounds like the kind of support or partnership you want in your world, get in touch — I’d love to explore how we could work together.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
