For many of us, the holidays may not have been the experiences we had hoped for or planned for. Often the holidays can bring out the worse in people around us. The stress, frustrations, and expectations can take over and create challenging circumstances and stressed relationships. If your holidays were not what you had hoped for, it is good to take some time to reflect on your emotions, experiences, and expectations. It’s also a great time to consider individual therapy for relationship issues.
It Is Absolutely Ok to Feel However You Feel.
There is no one way to feel after experiencing the holidays. Some holiday seasons may be easy and full of fun and joy, while others may feel heavy, overwhelming, and with sadness, stress, and frustration.
Acknowledge Your Emotions.
The first step in dealing with your emotions is acknowledging them! Do not minimize them, try to push them away, or make excuses because you do not want to talk about them. These choices make it much harder to move forward in dealing with your emotions and circumstances and can cause more anxiety and issues than if you were to acknowledge them to begin with.
How Can I Start to Work Through My Emotions About the Holidays?
A great way to start moving forward is to acknowledge your feelings without trying to understand or move past them. This allows you to feel what your emotions are without judgment. One way to do this is to keep a journal. You can either write them in paragraph form or even make a list. Just write and let your emotions flow.
Be Gentle with Yourself.
Remember to be gentle with yourself as you look back over your feelings. It is vital to better understand your emotions and your responsibilities so that you can move forward to dealing with the people or circumstances that made the holidays difficult. Every situation will have many aspects to be evaluated.
Accept That Others May Not Feel the Same.
Holidays can bring stress, frustrations, and conflict into our relationships. While we may be upset or hurt in some of these interactions, often, the other person may not acknowledge, accept, or apologize for their part. It would help if you focused on your own healing.
Boundaries May Need To Be Set Using Individual Therapy for Relationship Issues
For some relationships and circumstances, appropriate boundaries may need to be placed until you can work through your emotions or the situation that occurred. This is a healthy step that will allow you to have the needed time and space to process. Individual Therapy for Relationship Issues can help you set and establish the boundaries you need to set for your own happiness.
Take Some Time to Evaluate Your Expectations.
Sometimes our expectations of what we expect the holiday to be can be more than the actual holiday. Often, we hope and dream of things being different than they have been in the past or we want them to be what other holidays have been. When we have these expectations and the holiday looks much different, it can be difficult.
If this is happening, it might be good to revisit your expectations and determine if they were realistic for this holiday with the people and circumstances that were present.
Surround Yourself with Life-Giving People.
During this time, it is good to not withdraw or isolate from people who are healthy for you. Surrounding yourself with life-giving people will encourage and help you as you move forward. If you do not have people close to you who can do this, our relationship therapists are here for you.
Know When to Reach Out! Individual Therapy for Relationship Issues in Greenville, SC can help.
Often, it can be challenging to move past our complex experiences. If you cannot work through what caused the holidays to be complicated or if other concerns have arisen from the holidays, it might be good to reach out for help from a therapist. It is so important to have someone who can listen to what you are experiencing and feeling and then help as you work through your options moving forward. Our therapists are here to help you work through why the holidays were hard and if needed, what you may want to do differently to help create your best life.
Begin Therapy for Relationship Issues in Greenville, SC
We hope this blog has helped answer some of your questions about therapy. These are only a few things to consider when deciding on a therapist. Our team of Greenville therapists would love to help with your mental health concerns. We are happy to offer support from our Greenville, SC-based practice and across the state. To start your therapy journey, please follow these simple steps:
- Contact Upstate Restorative Counseling
- Meet with a caring therapist in Greenville, SC
- Start addressing the mental health concerns affecting you most!
Other Services Offered with Upstate Restorative Counseling
Our team understands that you may experience other mental health concerns. This is why we are happy to offer support with various mental health services in-person and online. We are happy to offer support, including therapy for depression, trauma, anxiety, life transitions, resolving relationship issues, and support across the state via online therapy.