Developed by Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD, CFT, the Financial Wellness RESET Framework, Assessment, and Curriculum make professional-grade financial wellness tools freely available to help Americans move beyond survival mode and build healthier financial lives amid record household debt
CHICAGO, July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As U.S. household debt reaches a record $18.8 trillion and debt becomes a more chronic source of financial and emotional strain for many Americans, Beyond Finance launched the Financial Wellness RESET™ Framework, Assessment, and Curriculum — a proprietary clinically-informed financial wellness program developed by Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD, CFT™, Beyond Finance’s chief financial wellness advisor.
The framework is designed to help people make the practical work of financial change — saving, budgeting, paying down debt — actually stick by addressing the behavioral, emotional, and nervous-system patterns that typically prevent financial strategies from producing lasting results. The framework, assessment, and curriculum are available free to anyone through the Beyond Finance website, regardless of whether they are a Beyond Finance client.
Dr. Rasure is one of a small number of practitioners in the country to hold both a doctorate in Personal Financial Planning and the Certified Financial Therapist (CFT) designation. The Financial Wellness RESET Framework is the only publicly available financial wellness framework developed by a practitioner holding both credentials.
“Debt doesn’t just affect our bank accounts — it affects our nervous systems, our relationships, our decision-making, and how we see ourselves,” said Dr. Rasure. “For years, I’ve watched people blame themselves for financial struggles when, in reality, they were trying to make healthy financial decisions while operating in survival mode. The Financial Wellness RESET helps people understand that lasting financial change — saving, paying down debt, building a financial life that actually works — isn’t about perfection or willpower. It’s about creating the conditions that allow that change to happen.”
Released Amid Record Household Debt
The framework launches amid historic financial pressure on American households. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, U.S. household debt reached a record $18.8 trillion in early 2026, including approximately $1.25 trillion in credit card balances. Household debt has increased by roughly $4.6 trillion since the end of 2019, while delinquency rates remain elevated.
“Most financial wellness programs begin with information and hope behavior follows,” Dr. Rasure said. “Financial Wellness RESET starts by acknowledging that people under financial stress often don’t have the emotional bandwidth to absorb information or make lasting changes. By helping individuals stabilize first and then build from there, we can create progress that lasts.”
Beyond Finance’s release of the framework, assessment, and curriculum for free marks the 15-year anniversary of the company, which has helped more than 1.3 million Americans, and resolved more than $15 billion in client debt since 2011.
A Framework Grounded in Behavioral Research and Financial Therapy Principles
The Financial Wellness RESET Framework was developed through Dr. Rasure’s doctoral research, clinical work as a Certified Financial Therapist, ongoing review of peer-reviewed research in financial therapy and behavioral change, and her work with Beyond Finance clients and her observations of their successful financial wellness transformations.
The framework’s five pillars (RESET: Recenter, Examine, Simplify, Empower, and Transform) guide individuals through interconnected dimensions of financial change:
- Recenter — Create the conditions for change. Recenter creates the internal calm that makes every other financial change possible — teaching you to recognize survival mode and return to a state where clear, intentional decisions become possible again.
- Examine — Understand why you do what you do. Examine gives you a clear view of the patterns shaping your financial behavior — where they came from, what they’re trying to do, and which ones to keep.
- Simplify — Make the right thing the easy thing. Simplify brings focus and structure to your financial life so the right decisions become the easy ones — removing complexity and focusing energy on one priority at a time.
- Empower — Build proof that you can trust yourself. Empower builds the one thing that actually changes financial behavior long-term: self-trust backed by real evidence — accumulated through small, consistent financial actions.
- Transform — Grow into your financial self. Transform consolidates the work of all four preceding pillars into a conscious, articulated financial identity you can name, live from, and build on deliberately.
The companion Financial Wellness RESET Assessment is a 20-question diagnostic that measures where an individual stands across the framework’s five dimensions. The Financial Wellness RESET Curriculum is a five-module self-paced educational program (each module taking 2 to 4 hours) that guides learners through the work of each pillar.
A Category-Defining Approach
Beyond Finance is among the first major debt consolidation companies to integrate support from certified financial therapists directly into its program. The company’s financial wellness programming now includes the Financial Wellness RESET Framework, which serves as the foundation of both the assessment and curriculum.
Industry Leaders Express Support
Industry leaders say the framework reflects a broader shift in how financial wellness is understood.
“Financial wellness is about more than reducing debt — it is about helping people build the habits, confidence, and knowledge needed to achieve long-term stability,” said Jason Mulvihill, president and CEO of the Association for Consumer Debt Relief (ACDR). “The Financial Wellness RESET Framework recognizes that lasting progress often requires addressing both the financial and behavioral challenges consumers face, making it a valuable contribution to the broader conversation about wellness.”
As the first academic institution to embrace the framework, Maryville University is partnering with Beyond Finance to help students develop the financial confidence and resilience needed to thrive both in college and beyond.
“The RESET Framework represents an innovative approach to helping students develop lifelong financial habits that support both immediate success and long-term well-being,” said C. Oliver Tacto, DSW, MSW, MPH, CHES®, dean of student wellness at Maryville University and president-elect of the American College Health Association. “At Maryville University, we believe wellness extends beyond physical and mental health. Financial well-being is an essential dimension of student flourishing, and the RESET Framework provides a practical pathway to build that foundation.”
“Financial wellness shouldn’t be reserved for those who can afford expensive coaching or specialized services,” Dr. Rasure said. “Whether someone is trying to get out of debt, rebuild after a setback, improve their money habits, or simply feel more confident managing their finances, they deserve access to tools that can help them thrive. That’s why we’re making Financial Wellness RESET™ available free to everyone.”
The framework draws on peer-reviewed research from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Financial Therapy, and the behavioral economics literature on decision fatigue and self-determination theory. It addresses the behavioral, emotional, and nervous-system dimensions of financial wellness alongside the practical ones — including concepts such as the Financial Nervous System, Survival Mode Money Responses, and Financial Self-Trust.
The Framework, Assessment, and Curriculum are available at https://www.beyondfinance.com/blog/reset-framework/.
Hear from Dr. Rasure on what makes the Financial Wellness RESET different from traditional financial literacy programs and the real reason those programs don’t work.
About Dr. Erika Rasure
Dr. Erika Rasure, PhD, CFT™ is an internationally recognized financial therapist, educator, and researcher with over two decades of experience helping people transform their relationship with money. She holds a doctorate in Personal Financial Planning from Kansas State University and is a Certified Financial Therapist™ — one of a small number of practitioners in the country to hold both credentials. As Chief Financial Wellness Advisor at Beyond Finance, she leads five weekly financial wellness sessions with clients navigating debt and is the creator of Beyond Finance’s Financial Wellness RESET™ Framework, Assessment, and Curriculum — a proprietary, clinically-informed model that addresses the behavioral and emotional reasons financial advice so often fails to stick, helping people change not just what they do with money, but how they relate to it. She serves on the Financial Review Boards of Investopedia, The Balance, VeryWell Family, and VeryWell Parents, chairs the Financial Therapy Clinical Institute Research Board, and her expertise has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, CNBC, CNN, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron’s, the Associated Press, and USA Today.
About Beyond Finance
Beyond Finance is a leading financial wellness and debt consolidation company that has helped more than 1.3 million Americans, and resolved over $15 billion in client debt since 2011. Beyond Finance’s financial wellness programming includes the Financial Wellness RESET™ Framework — a proprietary, clinically-informed model developed by Dr. Erika Rasure that addresses the behavioral and emotional dimensions of financial change alongside the practical ones — alongside five weekly live financial wellness sessions led by certified financial therapists, available to all enrolled clients. Beyond Finance holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received recognition, including the Organization of the Year award from The Business Intelligence Group’s Excellence in Customer Service Award, the Gold Stevie Award for Outstanding Customer Service Department, the Banking Tech Award for Financial Wellness Champion, the Best In Biz Gold Award, and three ConsumerAffairs Buyer’s Choice Awards. Beyond Finance has offices in Chicago, Atlanta, and Houston. For more information, visit BeyondFinance.com.
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SOURCE Beyond Finance
