Dennis Harhalakis: Understanding the Emotional Side of Money

Dennis Harhalakis is a Certified Money Coach (CMC)®, Money Coach Trainer, and the founder of Cambridge Money Coaching. He spent 30 years in financial services before training as a Money Coach, then launched Cambridge Money Coaching to help people better understand and manage the money in their lives.Money Coaching provides a framework for understanding our patterns, behaviours, and emotions around money. Through building awareness in these areas, Dennis helps individuals and couples make better financial decisions, reduce anxiety and negative emotions, and communicate more openly and healthily about money.Drawing on his experience as a Money Coach Trainer, Dennis runs workshops and training programs for financial professionals, helping them understand client money behaviour, engage in more open money conversations, and build deeper trust and connection.He also delivers Financial Wellbeing webinars for employers seeking to support employees’ financial lives, and created “Money Coaching for Parents,” a unique program that helps parents teach their children how to develop a healthy relationship with money.In this episode, Leonard and Dennis discuss:Why financial advice often fails when it ignores emotions and behaviorHow early childhood experiences shape lifelong money beliefsThe difference between money and finance and why it mattersWhy many families avoid conversations about money (and the cost of silence)The role of advisors in helping clients feel seen, heard, and understoodKey Takeaways: Money is rarely just about numbers. For most people, it represents safety, trust, control, belonging, or freedom.Advisors who talk only to “the money” (spreadsheets, plans, projections) miss the deeper issues driving client decisions.Our money behaviors are often rooted in childhood experiences, long before logic or financial education enters the picture.Open, honest conversations about money, free from shame and judgment, create healthier families and stronger financial outcomes.Compassion is critical: growth begins when people realize there’s nothing “wrong” with them for struggling with money. “Money isn't finance. That's finances. Money is security, or freedom, or safety, or power, or belonging, all of those things.”- Dennis HarhalakisConnect with Dennis Harhalakis:Website: https://cambridgemoneycoaching.uk/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-harhalakis/Email: [email protected]  Connect with Leonard Raskin:Website: https://www.raskinglobal.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardraskin/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaskinGlobal Email: [email protected] notes by Podcastologist: Francine PobleteAudio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.