Conscious Coupling; mind, money & matrimony | Aragon House
We curated a panel discussion between leading private client practitioners across three disciplines of psychology, finance and legal.
The discussion was led by Lottie Leefe and our panellists were Melissa Lesson (Family Partner at Mishcon de Reya LLP), Holli Rubin (Psychotherapist at The Soke), Andrea Solana (Financial Planner at Maseco) and Nicola Sharp-Jeff, founder of charity Surviving Economic Abuse).
Each discipline helps something different; what underpins them all is how someone feels about their situation as well as what it means for them to avoid or seek help. Our intention is to reveal the psychological intersection of how these distinct disciplines are interwoven and held together by how they are experienced throughout their lives. We encourage women to seek financial and emotional security and independence, inside and outside of marriage or partnerships. Our panel shared their insights and expertise with examples and tools to help navigate your own journey. Proceeds of this event went towards Surviving Economic Abuse: the only UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of and transforming responses to economic abuse.
ABOUT SURVIVING ECONOMIC ABUSE (SEA)
SEA work in partnership with the frontline organisations that directly support victim-survivors. They support them to identify and respond to economic abuse. Although they don’t provide direct support to victim-survivors, they are an associate member of Women’s Aid and endorse its aims.
SEA focus on making change by working in four key areas:
Public understanding and behaviour change: We work to raise public awareness of economic abuse and to begin tackling public behaviour changes.
Professional response and systems change: We work with women’s sector professionals to help them understand and respond to economic abuse, and drive improvements across the financial services sector that support victim-survivors of economic abuse.
Legal, regulatory and public policy change: We work with decision-makers for changes in legislation, policy and regulation in the financial services and women’s sectors, and influence government policies and practices.
Survivors, partnerships, evidence and equality: We work closely with survivors and conduct high-quality research to ensure all our projects and partnerships reflect their needs and promote equality.
The charity is led by their founder and CEO, Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, who is supported by a growing team and Board of Trustees. Nicola is an expert in economic abuse as it occurs within the context of coercive control. She has worked in the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector since 2006 in both policy-influencing and research roles.
In 2016, Nicola was made a Winston Churchill Fellow and travelled to the United States and Australia to explore innovative responses to economic abuse. It was her determination to ensure that women in the UK have access to the same responses that led her to establish SEA. Read more about her work as part of the Winston Churchill Fellowship.
Nicola is also an Emeritus Research Fellow in the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU), London Metropolitan University.
In 2020, Nicola was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to victims of domestic and economic abuse in recognition of her work. She was the 2020 winner of the Third Sector Award for Rising Chief Executive and also named ‘Rising Leader of the Year‘ in 2021 by the Charity Times Awards.