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Anxiety from finances can
lead to violence in the home
'We are presented with daily scenarios of conflict' —Steve Wesley,
manager and credit counsellor
Wednesday October 9,
2002 Roderick Benns
The stress of high debt loads can bend the
back of civility and restraint, leading to domestic violence, says a veteran
credit-counselling manager.
Steve Wesley is the manager and counsellor for the credit counselling
program arm of the Community Counselling and Resource Centre in Peterborough.
He said they tend to see people who have had a significant change in status
in some way; health changes, layoffs and divorce are the biggest themes
encountered, producing an underlying state of stress.
"But then you throw in financial burdens - and by the time they see
us we're often talking about months in arrears - then you have a recipe
for stress erupting," says Wesley.
"We're seeing a large amount of stress. We can sense the desperation
and the potential for violence," he says.
Wesley says the stress can surface within the family or at work, but in
either way it is completely non-productive for their lives, he says.
Wesley says they are acutely aware of the potential for stress-related
conflict when a client is sitting before them.
"When you have two people sitting across from you, you can sometimes
feel the mounting tension. The catalyst are the finances and then there
is desperation over debt. The finances are the hub and we try to deal
with at least that part," says Wesley.
Wesely says often issues of conflict and/or violence are not disclosed.
In this event, counsellors have to trust their instincts.
"We sometimes subtly suggest that if they need help in this area
[violence prevention or conflict resolution] help is available,"
he says.
In turn, many other community-based groups - including Peterborough Regional
Health Centre - will sometimes call them first if they think they can
help alleviate a situation, says Wesley.
The manager notes that it would be an understatement to suggest that the
business of credit counselling is growing.
"This is my 17th year. We had 20 case files at first, and I handled
them all. Now, we have four people with 420 ongoing case files for debt
management," he says.
As well, says Wesley, they have an additional 800 clients per year who
may only be seen once or twice.
One of the most frustrating issues that confronts Wesley in his job, and
a situation that causes a high amount of stress for clients, is the proliferation
of student-loan debt.
He says that ever since the government closed the bankruptcy act a couple
years ago for student debts it has created a great deal of stress when
there is no other way out of the debt maze for young people.
"Now we're getting young people here with debt loads of anywhere
between $20-60,000 because the jobs may not be there that they expected
or the wages may not be in line with what they expected," he explains.
The new student loan policy of not being subject to bankruptcy lasts 10
years under the new legislation, so it hasn't even been tested yet, says
Wesley.
"I saw three students yesterday who were very stressed out. These
are people who don't want to have kids now because they don't think they
can afford to. They should be out there purchasing goods to keep the economy
moving" but who feel they can't because of debt load, he explains.
Wesley says that there are certainly success stories in terms of debt
management - people who have been on the edge with stress and conflict
and who have been able to come back through hard work and resolve.
He says the program can work something like this: if a person has four
or five credit cards totalling about $30,000 in debt and it has gone to
collection agencies, the credit counselling organization can sometimes
have the debt reinstated with the original lenders.
At that point, clients can then make a monthly payment to the credit-counselling
group, often with interest frozen.
"But the client has to turn in all credit cards and sign a waiver
that they won't get any credit until all this credit debt has been eliminated,"
says Wesley.
Wesley says their mandate is try to share as many options as they can
with clients before the stress erupts too heavily within their lives.
_______________________
Community Counselling and Resource Centre (CCRC) is a multi-service
agency offering a range of services and resources that strengthen individuals
and the community. Formerly Family Counselling Service &Volunteers and
Information Peterborough (FCSVIP), CCRC has been an important part of
the community since 1956.
Contact them at:
459 Reid St
Peterborough, ON K9H 4G7
Tel: 705-742-4258
Web site: www.forinfo.com/vip
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