(HOUSTON) June 8, 2021 – Beyond Finance is taking unprecedented action to serve people challenged with financial debt. With psychological counsel from Dr. Galen Buckwalter, the behavioral expert who discovered Acute Financial Stress (AFS), the leading debt consolidation organization, will help clients with their mental health.

The Beyond Finance De-Stress Program is a series of 12 strategic emails based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Dr. Buckwalter’s pioneering psychometrics organization, psyML, created this series. Their goal was to help current and future clients manage their financial stress better.

“Acute Financial Stress creates many of the same negative stressors as PTSD. This is why we teach leveraging mental strength to temper our physical response to chronic stress,” said Dr. Buckwalter. “If you have experienced the nagging collector calls, the pain is familiar. Have you seen a stack of bills piling up, and no income to stop it? You know the painful effects of financial stress. This program helps people to learn to manage that emotional anguish.”

This series aims to teach Beyond Finance’s clients to use their minds to manage thoughts, feelings or emotions, and behaviors. Mastery of these techniques serve individuals in two dynamic ways:

  • Our bodies become less likely to react to those stressors that are not threats to us
  • In addition, our systems become more capable of returning to the levels they were at before we experienced the stressor

The Financial Stress Relationship to Debt

Financial stress is real and can destroy a relationship, if you allow it to do so.

“We believe debt is something you have, not who you are,” said Lou Antonelli, chief operating officer of Beyond Finance. “Life gets in the way of even the best of financial planning. Furthermore, there is a motivation to move people beyond debt here to spend their time and money on what matters most. And this undertaking will them all get there faster.”

Next week, the debt consolidation organization will initiate the Beyond Finance De-Stress Program for all current clients via email. Moving forward, this will become a permanent fixture to serve all future clients. Dr. Buckwalter aims to focus on the three main areas where financial stress attacks people the most – thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

“Broadening our reach for our clients is not what was wanted; it’s what is needed,” said Dr. Buckwalter. “We propose a journey of self-understanding combined with developing a sense of financial security. Our program helps every client leave Beyond Finance mentally and emotionally better than they were when they called.”

For more information, contact either Yolanda Schufford ([email protected]) or Shawn Paul Wood ([email protected])


About Beyond Finance, LLCBeyond Finance, LLC, based in Houston, is one of the nation’s largest, most successful, and most influential debt Help organizations. By standing alongside clients wherever they are in their debt journey, Beyond Finance uses personalized debt solutions and proprietary technology to give them the clarity, confidence, and tools they need to move beyond debt. Since 2017, they have serviced more than $3 billion in client debt. In June 2020, it merged with an affiliate to become the dedicated company it is today. They have additional offices in Fort Worth, Chicago, San Diego, and Irvine, California. For more information, visit BeyondFinance.com.