Welcome to ENLITE

About ENLITE

We offer:

1. Courses for consumers like Love & Money for couples wanting to enhance their relationship.
2. Courses for professionals like Managing Client Conflict for financial planners wanting to expand their skill set.
3. A community for financial planners interested in integrating psychology of financial planning and therapeutic techniques into their work.

As a catalyst for change, ENLITE bridges the gap between financial planning and mental health. We believe that any single issue is more complex than it initially appears and that a systemic approach will result in the best outcome. It is difficult to isolate a client issue to a single person—family, social groups, work dynamics, and the financial planner all contribute to client outcomes.

About Sonya

ENLITE owner, Dr. Sonya Lutter, CFP®, LMFT, co-founded the Financial Therapy Association, has worked in private practice and within a small practice management consulting firm, has built academic training in financial therapy and the psychology of financial planning, and served in academic administration of a multi-disciplinary department before forming ENLITE. Throughout her career as a therapist and within the financial planning sector, she saw a need for professionals to learn from complimentary professions to become better leaders for their clients and their teams.

Dr. Lutter built ENLITE to further bridge the gap for professionals through personalized training, research, and conversations. By recognizing what wellness looks like, sounds like, and feels like, we become more comfortable in our ability to effectively communicate when anxiety and conflict arise with clients and the teams we lead.

Have you been looking for a PROCESS?

The most frequent questions I get asked are “what is financial therapy/the psychology of financial planning” and “how do I do it?”

We created FinPsych to provide answers and resources.

Here, we bring together financial planners interested in the behavioral, relational, and emotional side of money to create meaningful connections and build a supportive community, so that we can better understand the impact of psychology on financial decision making and improve client outcomes.

What Else Do You Do?

ENLITE is actively engaged with field-changing research with professional organizations and corporations. If you are interested in thought-leadership or research to guide your teams, let us know. We take limited projects that are rewarding for all parties involved.

Contact us at [email protected].

If you are just getting started as a financial planner, you might not yet be ready to make the investment in FinPsych. We trust that when you start working with clients, you will see the value in a deeper understanding of the psychological, emotional, and behavioral elements of the planning process. Until then, please join us in the Open Access platform for community.

Our community, courses, and memberships are pretty special. We’re focused on the ways it will make a huge difference in your life.

Here are a few of the things you’ll be able to do as a member of ENLITE:

• Connect with like-minded financial professionals to broaden your network and enhance your understanding of the psychological aspects of money.
• Gain insights and support from community experts to improve your client relationships, foster empathy, and encourage better financial decisions.
• Participate in discussions and collaborative projects that explore innovative approaches to addressing the behavioral, relational, and emotional challenges in finance.

When You Join FinPsych by ENLITE

You gain access to an entire community dedicated to increasing the well-being of clients and YOURSELF for the cost of the average client session. It’s like treating yourself to one client session per month.

For $175/month you get:

• Guidance on a clear process to use with clients
• Community
• eCourses
• Exercises, flowcharts, and prompts to use with clients
• A seat in an elite study group

...while experiencing increases in your own well-being.

If you have thought about engaging in individual coaching/therapy/consulting but have not wanted to commit, ENLITE is a good option for you. The techniques you will learn not only help your clients, they help YOU.

Why stop at improving the lives of your clients? Improve your well-being with ENLITE!

Benefits of increased well-being according to the CDC:

• Higher work productivity
• Feeling better—psychologically and physically
• Less illness/injury
• Faster recoveries from illness/injury
• More community engagement
• Longer, happier lives!

What other people have said...

Sonya’s background, academic and clinical experience makes her an ideal resource for financial planners, investment advisors and their respective firms seeking to enhance client communication skills and by extension help their clients achieve their life goals and live happier and healthier lives. 

--Neal Van Zutphen, M.S., CFP®, FBS®, CRPC®, Partner and Senior Planner, Intrinsic Wealth Counsel, Inc.

Sonya is a pioneer in the practical application of behavioral finance. A rare combination of talent, empathy, and professional credentials she blends a unique, creative and insightful energy to her work.

--Ted Klontz, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Practice @ Creighton University and co-founder of Klontz Consulting and the Financial Psychology Institute

Sonya’s work on the behavioral side is very insightful and takes the relationship with the client to the next level.

--Jamie Bosse, CFP®, RFC, Aspyre Wealth Partners

Curious what a couple has said about the FinPsych by ENLITE Process?

As supporters of mental health, we neglected to think about the role of finances in affecting our mental health as well as our relationship dynamics. Participating in financial therapy with Sonya helped to bring focus on some of the strategies we've used to alleviate relationship stressors brought on by money and introduced us to new strategies to strengthen our marriage and family. While talk of money definitely was a part of therapy, learning how to communicate honestly with each other about our fears and joys in general and developing a team mentally are some of the main take-aways from our work with Sonya. We continue to apply some of the techniques we learned, such as expressing gratitude to each other and setting up regular monthly meetings to manage our finances and set goals. We especially appreciate Sonya's inclusive mindset; as a queer couple, we felt seen and valued.

--Tom and Richard, clients

ENLITE Expertise

Money has consistently been a top stressor for individuals and families. The impacts of COVID have further elevated stress, which has hurt overall well-being. With heightened stress comes more negative communication, which can stand in the way of developing a purposeful long-term financial plan. Integrating stress reduction strategies to the office environment, client-planner communication, and leadership development results in an increased ability to produce more effective client outcomes, empathize with team members and clients, and increase satisfaction and retention rates.

Learning how to recognize your own physiological stress by skin temperature will indirectly decrease client stress through the stress transference process.

As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Dr. Lutter has spent years working with couples on improving their relationships. She developed and tested a Love & Money curriculum which shows financial planners alternative ways of interacting with couples to produce lasting reductions in financial and relational stress. Extensive studying with independent financial planners and couples’ therapists indicates that couples experience a reduction in the stress finances put on their relationship with sustained effects after completing the exercises.

Did you know that Love & Money can be customized for financial planning firms and given as a gift or small groups could be utilized to cover the content.

The basis of many conflicts is physiological stress and the inability to adjust communication styles. Communicating across generations can be particularly challenging with different viewpoints and preferences leading to conflictual moments.

Learn to recognize and deescalate stress to make forward progress.

It’s $40 per week to expand your knowledge, increase your confidence, and create change for your entire system.

When you join FinPsych by ENLITE, you’ll get access to our:

• Managing Client Conflict eCourse: Dive into our videos and chat features to explore the psychology behind financial conflict. Enhance your confidence in navigating client conflict to achieve better outcomes.
• Study Group: Participate in emotionally-charged and thought-provoking discussions to learn effective communication techniques that foster trust and understanding with clients. Improve your ability to assist clients in overcoming emotional barriers to financial success.
• Networking: Check the daily feed for posts on the desktop and on the go through our app. Discuss shared experiences and exchange valuable insights, furthering your personal and professional growth within the community.
• And more: We are constantly adding content to the platform. We welcome your feedback as you explore and identify needs.

Sonya Lutter, Ph.D., CFP®, LMFT

~Bridging the gap between financial planning and mental health~
Founder – ENLITE