The Whole Person Approach

Person-Centered Financial Education

Why am I in a class about money when I don’t have any?

Person-Centered Financial Education© (PCFE) is an educational approach that incorporates the tools of basic finance and economics into an understanding of a person’s psychological, emotional and cultural relationship with their finances.

PCFE sees the participant as a whole person, with unique challenges, motivations, needs and interests. It is informed by the latest research in learning strategies, behavioral economics, psychology and neuroscience, positioning the learner as an active collaborator and expert on themselves.

With PCFE, service providers can discuss financial and economic concepts more confidently and in a way that does not traumatize or re-traumatize their participants.

Financial & Economic Stress

“I’m so tired of feeling stressed about money all the time.”

The Causal Loop

Financial stress is something many people experience. According to the American Psychological Association:

The top significant sources of stress in 2023 among 35-40 year olds were money (77%) and the economy (74%).

Financial stress can, and often does, impact a person’s overall health, which in turn impacts your finances, leading to even more stress. It often requires spending additional money and time to address and restore health, perpetuating a cycle that’s difficult to break. We call this our Causal Loop.

FHI’s curricula and programs are designed with the goal of helping participants mitigate financial stress rather than focusing on improved financial literacy,

FHI’s programming is built on a person-centered educational approach that assumes the need to reduce financial stress to improve a person’s overall health. We center each person’s unique experiences and provide evidence-based learning that is trauma-informed.

what’s the difference?

Traditional Financial Literacy programs don’t meet you where you are.

Traditional financial literacy is often neo-classical in origin and presents a strong bias toward middle and upper middle-class goals and values. Neoclassical economics believes that

“A rational decision maker only decides to take a certain action if… the utility of the action is bigger than the… costs.”

It represents an ideal of a perfectly rational individual, one who is always able to make decisions based on only rational analysis. This framework overlooks the reality that people make financial decisions based on a wide range of factors, including limited information, resource inequality and emotional thinking.

How does FHI differ from other programs exactly?

At FHI, we create financial education that recognizes the unique circumstances of all human beings by putting each person at the center of their learning.

Understanding The Audience

At FHI, we use the best strategies in adult learning to better serve our participants. Our programs embrace an Integrated Learning model, offering busy adults a structured environment for thoughtful growth, combined with the flexibility and autonomy they need for efficient learning.

Traditional Financial
Literacy Programs

FHI’s Approach to
Financial Education

The Asset Building Continuum

“How can I have assets if I don’t have any money?”

At FHI, we believe in a holistic approach to financial well-being. While traditional financial literacy emphasizes income, savings and investing, we focus on stabilizing all of a person’s assets to create a stronger foundation for financial stability and growth. Rather than simply advising clients to budget or save, we provide a framework that enables them to see and understand their entire economic situation comprehensively.

Looking At the big Picture

Our Asset Building Continuum (ABC) was developed to help people recognize, value and utilize their current tangible and intangible assets. In the process, participants move away from a scarcity mindset, helping them to see their own financial situation in a broader and more empowered economic context.