11/14/2025
Around this time every year, we start to spend most of our time talking to clients about how difficult the holidays can be. The stretch of time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s can feel like a marathon test of our endurance for many reasons. According to the American Psychological Association, 38% of people experience increased stress during the holidays, and according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 64% of individuals experience a worsening of their mental health conditions during this same period. In short, if you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, or sad this season you are in very good company. In the past, we’ve written about how stressful it can be to manage the obligations, events, to-dos, and finances of the season. We stand by our belief that good boundaries will increase the magic of the season (you can read a previous newsletter on that topic here.)
But the busyness and burdens of this time of year are just one piece of the puzzle as to why you might find yourself in a bit of a holi-daze. This season is a perfect storm of impossibly high expectations and triggers. The nature of tradition means that we are surrounded by reminders of previous years. Many might bring up pleasant nostalgia, but others can thrust us back into painful ghosts of holidays past.
They say holidays make you feel like a kid again, but what if parts of your childhood aren’t something you’d like to relive? Our brains rely on our past experiences to determine how to respond to our present circumstances. Is it any surprise that after we spend weeks eating familiar food, watching the same movies, and hearing those same songs in every store that we find ourselves feeling a bit like our childhood selves? For those of us making pilgrimages back to our childhood homes the effects are even further magnified.
The truth is that not all of us will have a picture-perfect holiday that matches the cultural expectations, but we can all try to have the best holiday possible. Here’s some tips to navigate the emotional burdens of the season to maximize your joy. 💫💫💫
