NASHVILLE, Tenn. — What do you get when you cross Dr. Phil and Dave Ramsey, author of "The Total Money Makeover"? This is no joke — it's the essence of the emerging field of "financial therapy."

Financial therapists analyze people's emotions and behavior through the lens of money. They say once they start asking people about their cash flow, they find it's connected to absolutely everything in their lives.

"It's connected to self-esteem. It's connected to our beliefs about what we are entitled to, about how the world works, about how safe we are, about our value to others," says B. Dodge Rea, a Nashville psychologist who practices financial therapy. "So when people are widely scared about money, they find themselves scared about all kinds of things."

The field of financial therapy has been around for a few years, but it has experienced a recent surge in interest because of the tanking economy.

Ted Klontz, a Nashville psychologist who is a pioneer in the field, says given the current economic climate, there are some things people can't control, such as whether they'll be laid off or how the stock market performs. Financial therapy, he says, focuses on what people can control — their decisions and attitudes about money.

"Most people say, 'If I just get the numbers straight, I'll be all right,' but that's only half of it," Klontz says. "The other half is behavior."

Linda Long says she and her husband had racked up about $60,000 in credit card debt when she attended a financial therapy course taught by Klontz.

Long, of Charlotte, Tenn., says she used to spend a lot of money buying friends and family little presents — books, CDs, videos.

"It was really about low self-esteem, wanting people to like me. Somewhere along the line I learned that things equal love," Long says. "It really just had a lot to do with me not liking myself very much."

Long says recognizing the root of her spending habits has helped her to stop the destructive behavior of spending money she didn't have and hiding credit card bills from her husband.

Counselors aren't required to undergo special training to advertise themselves as financial therapists. And that makes financial planners, such as Bill Garrett, owner of Garrett Financial in Brentwood, Tenn., a little wary.

"This sounds like a great way to make money if you're in that field because there are so many people hurting," he says.

"If this is a legitimate field of endeavor, and that remains to be seen, it's one that has been needed for years because no one spends with greater abandon than the baby boomers. They are used to having it now and not waiting. Delayed gratification is not part of their lexicon."

Klontz says he's working with a group of university officials, psychologists and financial planners to create a set of standards. And he stresses that financial therapy is not a replacement for going to see a financial planner.

"This will allow them to follow through on what a financial planner tells them to do," he says.

Garrett says he does have a group of clients who know intellectually what they can afford, but they continue to spend money they don't have anyway.

Still, Garrett says he believes most people don't need financial therapy; they just need to be taught how to manage their money. "Most people don't have a clue how to manage their money," he says. "It's not something we are taught."

Roughly 75 percent of adults say money is their No. 1 source of stress, according to a June survey by the American Psychological Association.

Nashville financial therapist Rea says 93 percent of therapists don't bring up money with their clients. He says money has long been considered a subject too taboo to talk about, even in therapy.

"People were willing to talk to you about their sex lives but not about money," Rea says. "The beautiful thing about this recession is that it's made it OK to talk about money. Everybody is talking about money right now."