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Silvia Gonzalez

Wise Finances is a website run by Silvia, a certified rehabilitation counselor with a background in accounting. Through her personal journey of overcoming financial difficulties and her expertise in meditation and mindfulness, Silvia offers guidance and workshops to help individuals develop a healthier relationship with their finances.

Silvia Gonzalez

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Description

I use mindful practices rooted in Chan/Zen to help clients reinvent a healthier relationship with finances.

I’ve had an accounting practice for 21 years, which has provided me with a clear understanding of how people manage their finances. I’ve listened to my clients reveal their underlying fears about their businesses and the financial difficulties they’ve encountered and learned the importance of focusing on the individual as a whole rather than just managing their books.

I’ve also been actively meditating daily for the past 19 years.  Five of those years, I practiced and volunteered regularly at Dharma Drum Retreat Center, a Buddhist Chan Center founded by Chan Master Sheng Yen. Through attending numerous intensive, silent retreats led by Master Sheng Yen’s lineage successors or monastic teachers, I learned the art of deep listening. In doing so, I am able to allow clients to discover for themselves how they have contributed to their circumstances and how to correct their reactions and responses to help themselves.

Additionally, I attended a weekend workshop dedicated to learning how to assist in facilitating retreats. This training was further enhanced by continuously attending retreats including a 21 day, silent retreat in Europe. During my volunteering,  I was assigned the mediation hall frequently which facilitated in broadening my understanding of mediation from the perspective of an observer.

My experience continues to grow as I provide workshops, classes, or volunteer at other centers co-facilitating Chan/Zen retreats.

I am a certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) with a master’s degree in clinical rehabilitation counseling and a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

I’m currently employed as a clinician at an outpatient treatment facility which provides individual, group, and family treatment for people with substance use disorder and  co-occurring disorders. I also incorporate mindfulness living, meditation and teach financial literacy.

I’ve combined my life experiences with money, work, and Chan/Zen practice to bring you Wise Finances.

I welcome you to my site and a new way of relating to finances.

Here’s my personal journey through finances:

My earliest experience with finances is waiting on line outside the welfare office waiting for the doors to open at nineteen. I was pregnant, the father had left, and I could not support myself let alone a child. The only solution I saw at the time was to get help from the state. I remember feeling trapped in my situation because I could not see past it. I stayed on welfare for three years while I went to a trade school and college. I graduated from the trade school and was able to find a job that could support us with the help of my parents. I was elated to have a job and not depend on the state. I can’t describe how I felt when I received my first check.

As the years went on, I noticed I was acquiring more and more debt. I started having difficulty paying my bills. I became very depressed and anxious about my financial situation. By the age of twenty-six, debt overwhelmed me and I filed for bankruptcy. Eliminating my debt took a lot of the stress away and it relieved me from the financial burden.

Then, at thirty-five, I found myself in the same position. I had accumulated $28,000 of debt that I again could not pay off. Only this time, I had an accounting degree and a successful accounting practice. How could this be? I questioned everything I knew about finances and my relationship with money. How could a bankruptcy not teach me anything?

My husband at the time was listening to Dave Ramsey and was insisting on us following his regime. We picked up his book, The Total Money Make Over, and I read it in one night. The next day, I implemented the regimen and getting out of debt seemed to be promising. However, I knew from past experiences there was more to finances than just the numbers; therefore, I started analyzing my situation and understanding the importance of my emotions in relation to my spending habits. Getting out of debt the first time through a bankruptcy had not taught me anything. It had erased the debt but had not healed the emotional side of my finances and that’s why I believe nine years later, I was in the same position.

I continued my journey by paying close attention to what drove me to spend money and how I felt when I did. I realized that every purchase had an emotional attachment to it. I didn’t spend money because I needed to. I spent money irresponsibly because there was something inside of me I was trying to ignore or stifle. I recognized how much my ego was involved in every purchase. I wrapped my identity around my possessions and my status in society. This new way of looking at my finances began the transformation. I began to look inside every time I spent money and it made all the difference. I began to heal myself and my relationship with money. It became friendly. I no longer hated my finances and blamed all the credit card companies. I began to accept how I had contributed to my financial downfall and let go of blaming everyone else for my situation.

Now if unexpected circumstances arise, I implement my method and I am able to handle my finances with ease.

I welcome you to my site and look forward to taking this journey with you.

Silvia


Reviews of Silvia Gonzalez

(5.0-star rating across 4 reviews)
  • Wise Finances (Virtual 6-Week Workshop)

    Anonymous review on 3/9/2024
    I just completed my class with Silvia, and I cannot say enough about how helpful the 6 week workshop was for me. The two prong approach confronting expenses tied to your emotions together with introducing the practical management of expenses through a very useful budgeting document allowed me to see the big picture and project how small changes in behavior can drastically affect my future finances. I am not someone who enjoys budgeting or numbers, but I looked forward to my weekly sessions with Silvia because she was approachable and happy to answer my questions (more than once). With strong backgrounds in accounting, counseling and spirituality- she is the perfect coach if you are ready for this unique journey! I highly recommend her course.
  • Virtual Wise Finances Workshop – Rebuilding Credit

    Anonymous review on 10/30/2022
    When you are ready to seek help financially, Silvia is for sure the right woman to email, text or call! In our first session I already know she is an excellent financial advisor because she is using her accounting and counseling background. I learned that many of my emotions are driving forces for my spending or savings. Silvia was very knowledgeable and professional because she informed me on the many skills to address fixing my credit, starting a budget all by visually showing me how and where to start. Silvia is a wealth of information and understood where I was coming from financially. As a single parent, I'm overwhelmed and come from a place of deprivation. I now see how even if I set aside a few dollars for fun, that is okay too! . I am excited to sign up for more classes and have a clearer sense of what I am doing with money and Silvia was the right person for me. She was thorough and realistic . Thank you Silvia!
  • Wise Finances (Virtual 6-Week Workshop)

    Anonymous review on 3/5/2022
    This was a truly transformative workshop series for me! I can not recommend it highly enough.
  • Virtual Wise Finances Workshop – Financial Planning

    Anonymous review on 5/3/2021

Review Summary by CourseHorse

Students who have taken classes with Silvia Gonzalez praise her for her expertise and knowledge in financial advising. They mention that Silvia can help individuals understand the emotional factors that influence their spending and savings habits. Students also appreciate Silvia's ability to provide practical skills and strategies for improving credit and creating a budget. Many describe the classes as transformative and mention feeling more confident and empowered in managing their finances afterward. Quotes: - "I learned that many of my emotions are driving forces for my spending or savings." - "I went from having fear and anxiety about my financials to being able to approach my finances with confidence." - "Silvia brings a very 'wise' perspective to this workshop with an integrated approach of mindfulness and financial knowledge."

Teachers at Silvia Gonzalez

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