How Psychotherapy Can Help With Dealing With Stress Over The Holidays

The holiday season, while often filled with joy and celebration, can also bring about significant stress. Between family gatherings, financial strain, and high expectations, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Psychotherapy offers a meaningful way to manage holiday stress and helps you find a balance that allows you to truly enjoy the season. Here’s how psychotherapy can make a difference if the holidays are feeling less “merry” and more exhausting.

Understanding What Triggers Holiday Stress

For many, holiday stress isn’t just about a busy schedule or gift-giving. It can also be triggered by unresolved family dynamics, a sense of loneliness, or feeling pressured to meet certain expectations. Sometimes, the festive season brings up old patterns or emotional wounds that we may not confront at other times of the year. Psychotherapy offers a safe space to explore these feelings and uncover what may be causing stress on a deeper level. By working with a therapist, you can start to understand your triggers and explore ways to respond to them with greater self-awareness.

Building Emotional Resilience

One of the core goals of therapy is building resilience, the ability to navigate life’s challenges with a sense of balance. During the holidays, resilience can help you feel more grounded and less reactive to stressful situations. A therapist can guide you through mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques, which involve bringing your attention back to the present moment rather than being swept away by anxious thoughts. Techniques like deep breathing, guided imagery, and other body-centered practices can help you stay calm, even in the middle of holiday chaos.

Learning to Set Boundaries

Family gatherings are a significant source of holiday stress for many people. Whether it’s dealing with difficult family members or simply feeling drained by social obligations, setting boundaries can be essential. Therapy provides a space to practice and explore ways to communicate boundaries that feel right for you. Your therapist can help you learn to say “no” when needed and support you in prioritizing self-care, allowing you to enjoy the company of others without feeling overextended.

Reducing Self-Criticism and Shame

During the holiday season, it’s easy to fall into the trap of comparison, feeling like you need to measure up to other people’s lives or holiday experiences. Therapy can help you recognize and reframe the inner critic that may emerge during these times. A therapist can teach you how to cultivate a kinder, more compassionate inner voice, reducing the power of self-criticism and allowing you to engage in the season with greater self-acceptance.

Get Started Today

Psychotherapy offers a pathway to better understand and manage the challenges of the holiday season, turning stressful moments into opportunities for growth. The tools you develop in therapy are there to support you not just during the holidays but throughout the year, allowing you to create boundaries, practice self-care, and handle difficult emotions.

If holiday stress feels overwhelming, reaching out for help is a strong and positive first step. Set up a free 20 minute phone consultation with Oakland psychotherapist Elana Morgulis

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