Purposeful Planning Institute (PPI) and the Human Side of Wealth

As a newer member of the Purposeful Planning Institute, I arrived at my first Rendezvous curious about the people, the conversations, and where a psychologist might fit within this interdisciplinary community.

I left with a much clearer understanding of what makes PPI distinctive.

The gathering brought together professionals from philanthropy, wealth management, private banking, financial planning, family governance, law, coaching, psychology, and family enterprise consulting. Each person arrived through a different professional doorway. Across those disciplines, I heard a shared commitment to understanding the human beings, relationships, histories, and hopes that surround wealth.

This commitment shaped the entire experience.

The conversations moved easily between technical expertise and deeply personal questions. How do families prepare children for responsibility? How do parents communicate values alongside assets? How can a family preserve wisdom, connection, and purpose across generations? How do culture, identity, caregiving, grief, and belonging influence the decisions families make?

These questions have always been central to my work as a psychologist and financial therapist. Every financial decision is also a human decision. Money can carry stories about safety, love, sacrifice, status, freedom, obligation, and survival. Wealth can expand possibilities while introducing complex questions about identity, trust, responsibility, and relationships.

At Rendezvous, these dimensions were part of the central conversation.

Relationships as Part of the Program

The relational design of the gathering stood out to me. Connection was built into the structure through an assigned buddy, small-group meals, thoughtful introductions, and space for one-on-one conversations. The experience encouraged people to slow down, listen, and understand one another’s work.

Some of the most meaningful moments happened outside the formal presentations. A conversation over dinner could move from professional practice to family history, caregiving, cultural expectations, or the experiences that led someone into this field. A brief introduction could become a deeper discussion about how psychology might support rising-generation development, family communication, philanthropy, or succession planning.

The people I met were generous with their knowledge and genuinely interested in learning across disciplines. Wealth advisors were thinking about emotional readiness. Philanthropic professionals were considering identity, meaning, and family values. Family enterprise consultants were exploring relational patterns and intergenerational dynamics. Banking professionals were reflecting on trust and stewardship.

Each discipline offered a different lens. Together, those lenses created a fuller picture of the families being served.

Returning to a Familiar Place

Attending Rendezvous in Boulder also carried personal meaning.

Nearly twenty years ago, I lived and trained in the Denver and Boulder area during graduate school and the early stages of becoming a psychologist. Returning brought me back to a landscape connected to an earlier version of myself—one who was still discovering what kind of psychologist she hoped to become.

At that time, I understood my professional path primarily through the language of mental health, development, trauma, culture, and family systems. Those foundations continue to guide me. Over time, my work has expanded into financial therapy and wealth psychology, where the same human questions appear in new settings.

How do I care for the people I love?

How do I raise grounded children?

What does it mean to have enough?

What makes a life wealthy?

Returning to Boulder allowed me to see the continuity in that journey. The setting was familiar, while my professional perspective had grown. I returned as a psychologist working at the intersection of wealth, culture, identity, and family systems, surrounded by colleagues who also recognize that families need more than a single discipline can provide.

Making the Hidden More Visible

Much of my work centers on bringing hidden stories into view.

Families often have highly developed systems for managing financial assets. Their emotional inheritance may remain harder to name. Beliefs about money can travel quietly across generations through observation, silence, family roles, cultural expectations, migration, loss, and survival.

Children begin learning about money long before anyone formally explains it to them. They notice who makes decisions, what creates tension, whose needs come first, what can be discussed, and what remains private. These early lessons shape how they understand security, contribution, responsibility, and belonging.

Professionals who work with wealth have an opportunity to help families engage these stories with greater awareness. Psychologists and financial therapists bring knowledge of development, behavior, trauma, communication, and family systems. Advisors, attorneys, bankers, philanthropic professionals, and family enterprise consultants bring complementary forms of expertise.

Interdisciplinary collaboration allows us to see more of the family and serve them with greater depth.

Rendezvous gave me a community where this collaboration already feels possible. It expanded my understanding of where psychology can contribute and introduced me to colleagues who are committed to thoughtful, humane, and responsible work.

Leaving With a Larger Professional Community

I came to Rendezvous ready to learn and connect. I left with new relationships, new books, new questions, and a stronger sense of professional belonging.

I also left encouraged by the number of people who are asking how wealth can support human flourishing. They are helping families prepare the next generation, navigate transitions, clarify values, care for aging relatives, practice meaningful philanthropy, and define legacy in ways that extend beyond financial transfer.

The experience reinforced my belief that the future of wealth advising will be increasingly interdisciplinary. Families are complex systems. Their financial lives are intertwined with emotional, cultural, developmental, and relational realities. Serving them well requires curiosity, humility, and the willingness to learn across professional boundaries.

My first Rendezvous felt like both a return and a beginning: a return to a place connected to my own formation and the beginning of a deeper community within the wealth and family enterprise field.