How to Survive the Holidays

• Posted on November 18, 2014
• by Catherine Boyer
• in NeurOptimal®, New York Neurofeedback
• Comments Off on How to Survive the Holidays

It’s time for our annual holiday post, not directly related to neurofeedback – other than that neurofeedback makes most things in life easier to navigate – but useful this time of year.

At family events, benefits from neurofeedback often mean more ability to choose how to respond rather than react. No one can get to us like our families can!

The suggestions below for surviving the holidays well come from my years as a psychotherapist. They have been tried, tested and added to for more than 30 years. I hope they help you have a good experience – or a least a better experience – of the holidays.

The healthier your family is, the less difficult holidays are. The more dysfunctional your family, the more important it is to have a survival plan. Include as much of the following as fits for you. If you have additional ideas, please post them in the comments section.

How to survive the holidays

• If you’re visiting or your family is visiting you, make sure you get time away from the house. Go for a walk, run an errand, see a movie. This is easier when you’re the visitor, but sometimes just five minutes alone in the backyard or a walk around the block can help.
• Have a support person lined up. That could be your good friend from where you live now, ready to remind you over the phone that you have a life outside your family. Get counseling if you need it.
• If you are the visitor and there are people you like who live in the same town or city as your family, make plans to see them on your own during the visit.
• Conduct an experiment: Study your family members as if you were meeting them for the first time. This will give you some helpful distance and perspective. And it can be surprising.
• Remember: You are not your family; you are your own completely separate person.