About
Hi, I’m Rebecca Ward, LPC
I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) based in Portland, Oregon, and I’ve spent over ten years working in community mental health. My work has taken me everywhere from crisis response to long-term support, and along the way I realized something huge: money shows up in every single story. Stress about bills, guilt around spending, confusion about retirement, fights about finances with loved ones—it all comes back to money.
That realization is what led me to add formal training in financial planning to my counseling background. I’m now a financial therapist and coach, blending the practical world of numbers with the emotional world of, well, being human. Because let’s be honest: money isn’t just math. It’s values, it’s family history, it’s mental health, and it’s the little voice in your head telling you to buy the thing on sale right now.
Outside of work, you’ll usually find me in the garden, baking experiments with seasonal flavors, knitting, or hanging with my two cats, Yitzi and Yalla. They provide excellent comic relief and occasionally questionable financial advice—like insisting on investing in a different bag of food the minute a new one is opened.
What I do
Money is one of the most common sources of stress, shame, and conflict. And yet most people are expected to just “figure it out” without ever being taught how to navigate it in a healthy way. That’s where financial therapy comes in—it’s not just about making a budget, it’s about untangling the emotions and patterns that keep you stuck.
I believe everyone deserves to feel safe, capable, and confident with their money. That doesn’t mean being perfect—it means having tools, strategies, and support that help you move forward even when life feels chaotic. When your money aligns with your values, everything else gets a little easier: decisions feel clearer, relationships feel steadier, and the future feels less like a giant question mark.
If you’ve ever thought, “I wish someone could help me with money without making me feel dumb, ashamed, or overwhelmed,”—this is the space I’ve created for you. I bring humor, compassion, and a whole lot of real-life experience to the table, because I know money is messy.
So why does this work matter? Because money touches everything—our choices, our mental health, our relationships. And when you heal your relationship with money, you’re not just balancing a budget. You’re building a life that actually feels like yours.
I help people reset their relationship with money. Not by handing over a one-size-fits-all budget, and definitely not by lecturing you on your latte habit. Instead, I meet you where you are—messy middle and all. I don’t separate the practical from the emotional. Budgets don’t work if they ignore your stress triggers. Financial plans fail if they don’t reflect your values. My job is to help you align your numbers with your life so that your money starts to feel like a tool—not a burden.