Hello! Happy New Year! Welcome back to the blog! You made it to a new decade, congratulations! The holiday season is usually marked by family gatherings, which come with their own set of challenges depending on varying factors. While some families spend an overall neutral and pleasant time, the majority of family gatherings feature at least one negative experience. Some families experience the holidays while grieving the loss of a loved one, others may have had to re-live traumatic incidents of dysfunctional dynamics, among other things. Though enjoyable, most people report breathing a sigh of relief after wrapping up the celebrations.
Now that all the festivities are dwindling though, a lot of folks report feeling a sense of emptiness. This is often combatted by setting resolutions for the new year- which is a great way to motivate oneself to incite change. An issue that commonly arises however is when we link our value to how well we adhere to the aforementioned resolutions. While viewing the new year as a chance to start anew is a great sentiment, change is not limited to a specific date or time. In fact, your decision to incite change could be made on a random Wednesday night while reading your favourite therapist’s blog ;). The first step of overcoming that feeling of stuck-ness we might experience when attempting to set new goals is to take a step back and unpack the contributing factors. Employ self-introspective techniques to explore motivators and hindrances, logically challenging negative thoughts as they arise.
If you or anyone you know are having trouble coping with the situational stress following the holiday season, you may want to consider seeking talk-therapy to help introduce tailored coping skills. To continue this conversation, feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns, elaboration requests, or private consultations. Additionally, if there are other topics you would like me to post about in the blog, send me your recommendations. I can be confidentially reached at hello@therapywithmarys.com or at (647) 493-2991. Until then, remember: It is never too late to start something new. See you next Wednesday!
-Mary
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