Olivia Mellan
Encyclopedia
Olivia Mellan, is an American therapist and consultant, specialized in money conflict resolution. Since 1982, she has been a leader in the field of money psychology. She is the author or co-author (with Sherry Christie) of five books about money and relationships. She is also a monthly columnist for Investment Advisor
Investment Advisor (magazine)
Investment Advisor magazine is a U.S. based monthly business-to-business publication reaching independent financial advisors, registered investment advisors as well as insurance based broker-dealers...

magazine. She has been interviewed frequently on The TODAY Show, Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....

, and ABC's 20-20, as well as on nationwide TV, radio and in the print media. In 2006, Investment Advisor
Investment Advisor (magazine)
Investment Advisor magazine is a U.S. based monthly business-to-business publication reaching independent financial advisors, registered investment advisors as well as insurance based broker-dealers...

 magazine named her one of the Top 25 – those leaders who had the most influence on the financial advisor industry.

Early life and education

Olivia Mellan was born on October 14, 1946 in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York, to Eli Mellan, an attorney (and later District Court Judge in Nassau County, New York), and Sara Mellan, a secretary and housewife. She was raised in Wantagh, Long Island. Mellan was salutatorian
Salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...

 of her MacArthur High School graduating class, and won a full scholarship to attend Mt. Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...

. She graduated with honors in 1968 magna cum laude with a degree in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

. She studied in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France, and choreographed plays in Paris and in America. She attended Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

's School of Language and Linguistics (also winning a full scholarship there); and earned a Masters in French, minoring in Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society...

, in 1972. Mellan studied for six years in training institutes to become a psychotherapist. She studied Feminist Therapy for three years at the Washington Women's Center Feminist Counseling program, and graduated in 1974 from the Washington Community Therapy Guild's 3-year training program in Washington, D.C.

Early career

Olivia Mellan has been in private practice since 1974 as a psychotherapist specializing in women's issues and in couples conflict resolution. Since 1982, she began specializing in money psychology and money conflict resolution, when she and attorney and friend Michael Goldberg, realized that "money was the last taboo in the therapy office and in life in general." They coined the term "money harmony" and offered a workshop at Sevenoaks Retreat Center in Madison, Va., leading a money psychology group at a Money Conference where Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips (consultant)
Michael Phillips is the key person who created MasterCard in 1966. He is a published author of eleven books and a founder of the Briarpatch Network...

 was the keynoter. Impressed by their work, Phillips sponsored a trip to California for Goldber and Mellan to train other therapists in money psychology work.

An article in the Washington Post's Style section about "Money Madness" appearing around the Christmas season mentioned Mellan (under her previous married name - Mundra) and Goldberg's money personality types. This led to many radio and print interviews, and several years later, Mellan self-published a workbook, Ten Days to Money Harmony. This book came to the attention of George Gibson, head of Walker Publishing in New York City, who invited Mellan to expand her workbook into her first published book.

Money Psychology Work

Since 1983, Mellan's private practice expanded to include money-related issues for both individuals and couples. By the 1990s, over half of her practice was money-related. She taught Money Harmony courses at the Washington Ethical Society (for both individuals and couples), and after a financial planner
Financial planner
A financial planner or personal financial planner is a practicing professional who helps people deal with various personal financial issues through proper planning, which includes: cash flow management, education planning, retirement planning, investment planning, risk management and insurance...

 (John Cammack) took one of her workshops, he invited her to speak to local and national financial advisor groups about money and relationships. Mellan developed a specialty in gender differences around money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...

, and couples polarization patterns and money, and began presenting workshops to therapist groups as well (at the Family Therapy
Family therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...

 Networker Symposium, now the Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...

 Networker Symposium, where she spoke almost yearly,) among others. She spoke to women's groups, large and small, around the country.

Writing and Bibliography

Select Investment Advisor Columns

Books
  • Money Harmony: Resolving Money Conflicts In Your Life and Relationships. Walker & Company (1994).
  • Money Shy to Money Sure: A Woman's Road Map to Financial Well-being. Walker & Company (2001).
  • Your Money Style: The Nine Attitudes to Money and How They Affect Happiness, Love, Work and Family. Fine Communications (2001).
  • Overspending: A Winning Plan for Spenders and their Partners (with Sherry Christie). Money Harmony Books 2009).
  • The Client Connection: Helping Advisors Build Bridges that Last (with Sherry Christie). The National Underwriter Company (2009).

Chapters in Other Books

Olivia Mellan had a chapter on Overcoming Overspending in April Benson's book: To Buy or Not to Buy: Compulsive Shopping and the Search for Self. (year):

In 2008, Mellan's chapter on "Money Harmony" appeared in Peak Vitality: Raising the Threshold of Abundance in Our Material, Spiritual, and Emotional Lives, edited by Jeanne House.

In 2009, Mellan's chapter on "Money Harmony" appeared in Breaking Through: Getting Past the Stuck Points in Your Life, edited by Barbara Stanny, an anthology of inspiring essays from over 60 expert coaches, financial advisors, therapists and other professionals. And in 2009, the Love Book: The Top 50 Most Trusted Experts Reveal Their Secrets for Relationship Success by Scott Braxton, features a chapter by Olivia Mellan on Moving toward Money Harmony (and also features Dr. Phil, Harriet Lerner, Pat Love, John Gray, Tony Robins, Dr. Ruth, and Dr. Laura.)

Television and Radio

Mellan has appeared frequently on The TODAY Show, on Oprah, and on ABC-s 20-20. She hosted her own radio show in Philadelphia, "Money Harmony with Olivia Mellan, on WWDB-AM, the Valley's only "money talk radio station", in 2007. Her video, In the Prime: Couples and Money with Olivia Mellan, stems from her appearance on the PBS series, "In the Prime." She has been interviewed on Marketplace
Marketplace (radio program)
Marketplace is a radio program that focuses on business, the economy, and events that influence them. Hosted by Kai Ryssdal, the show is produced and distributed by American Public Media, in association with the University of Southern California...

; on NPR; and across the country on radio and local TV. She has appeared several times on Kelvin Boston's PBS Series "Moneywise."

Citations and Notes

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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