Several prominent publications, as well as NPR’s Morning Edition, recently quoted Matt for his expertise in financial therapy, including financial couples therapy and financial family therapy.

In The New York Times’ “Sex, Death, Affairs: Everything People Would Rather Talk About Than Money,” Matt explained that finances remain one of the most taboo topics in therapy, even though everyone has their own unique emotional history and relationship with money. “People tell me about really profound intimate details of their lives—they tell me about all kinds of fantasies, affairs, sexual escapades,” he observed, “…the one thing that has historically persisted as outside what people will open up about, even in the context of long-term therapy, has been mentioning salary.”

Even outside of the therapy room, many people tend to be hesitant to talk about money. For “When It Comes To Marriage and Money, Opposites Attract” in The Wall Street Journal, Matt emphasized the importance of discussing different approaches to finances, especially for couples. Couples that talk openly about money “are better able to make decisions together.” Though finances may not seem like the most fun conversation, Matt pointed to a couple who set aside their free time driving to a weekend trip as the perfect moment to share thoughts about future financial plans.

Some conversations about finances are more challenging than others, including when an older parent or relative is struggling with dementia or other cognitive issues and can no longer take care of their own finances. On NPR’s Morning Edition, Matt listed several things money can mean, which is what frequently makes older adults reject help from family. “What we discover in being close to people who are struggling with something like dementia,” he said, “is the ways money can represent stability, control, power, autonomy, and safety.”

Finally, in The Cut’s “‘I Inherited Millions From My Mother, and Everyone Knows,” Matt helped answer a question from a reader struggling emotionally with what it means to get an inheritance from a mother with whom they had a complex relationship while others around then have less. As Matt noted, this isn’t an uncommon problem: “I’ve had a number of patients wrestle with questions around inheritance, especially when it’s the result of a difficult relationship…” Like the reader, these patients ask themselves: “Do I deserve this money? Is it tainted somehow? Will other people judge me for it?” Matt offered that the reader’s feelings about others’ judgment may be “projective identification.” He explained, “You’ve got your own feelings about wealth that may be bound up in your feelings about your mother, and you’re imagining that other people share those opinions.”