Therapists and the Holiday Blues: How To Stay Balanced While Helping Others

The holidays bring unique pressures to behavioral health practices as clients may have an increased need for support for coping with grief, family tensions, or feelings of isolation. This can lead to longer, more emotionally-fraught days, not to mention the personal seasonal challenges you might have of your own.

Providing emotional labor when you’re already feeling drained is a tall order, and can even lead to the ‘holiday blues,’ so how do you keep from sidelining your own well-being in the process?

Who Gets the Holiday Blues?

According to Psychiatry.org, during the winter months, 41% of Americans say their mood gets worse, while only 22% say their mood gets better. Seasonal affective disorder often spikes during late fall and early winter, and it affects nearly 13 million people (about five percent of American adults).

For behavioral health professionals, emotional exhaustion can creep in when you spend so much time absorbing the stress and sadness of others, causing the line between professional empathy and personal depletion to become thin. With the added whirlwind of your personal holiday obligations, longer therapy sessions, and a heavier client load, self-care easily gets pushed to the back burner.

Self-Care Tips for Therapists Struggling With the Holiday Blues

Self-care isn’t just a nice-to-have for behavioral health professionals, it’s a must-have if you’re going to do your job effectively. While you likely know some, if not all, of these strategies, it’s easy to forget them during busy times. Now is the time to avoid setting unrealistic expectations for yourself by bringing these tips to the forefront. If you haven't been great about maintaining healthy habits to this point, make it a goal to put these into practice regularly:

1. Set Healthy Boundaries

Setting boundaries is a skill you already teach your clients, but setting healthy boundaries for yourself during the holiday season is a must. Block off time for yourself, limit the number of sessions you conduct per day, and fight the urge to overbook. Remember, saying ‘no’ to one thing too many is saying ‘yes’ to your mental health. Clear boundaries protect you from burnout and help you to deliver top-notch care.

Instead of accommodating more individual sessions, consider opening up group sessions during the holiday season. Those experiencing the holiday blues because they are remembering loved ones who have passed on or are dealing with a heightened sense of stress may find solace in knowing others are struggling too.

2. Embrace Personal Holiday Rituals

The antidote to holiday depression or negative emotions during this time of year is holiday cheer! Fall back on what brings you joy during the holiday season. Whether it’s baking cookies, watching feel-good holiday movies, or taking a walk to admire the lights, lean into the rituals that make the season special for you. This personal time doesn’t have to be indulgent — it can be incredibly restorative.

3. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a game-changer for staying present and managing stress. A short morning meditation, deep breathing exercises between sessions, or even a mindful cup of tea can help you stay grounded and centered. The key is to find small, consistent ways to check in with yourself amid the holiday hustle.

4. Engage in Personal Self-Care Rituals

During the holiday season, it's even more important for your mental health to take time for relaxing, meaningful activities. Here is a quick list of ideas:

• Getting enough sleep
• Doing restorative yoga
• Reading a book by the fire
• Cooking a special meal
• Taking a walk in nature
• Journaling
• Having coffee or hot chocolate with friends 
• Going ice skating at an outdoor rink
• Exercising regularly doing an activity you enjoy, such as dancing or kickboxing

Having something to look forward to outside of work that recharges your batteries will keep you from draining them.

5. Lean on Your Support System

Everyone needs the support of others, but therapists often find themselves being the ‘rock,’ even in their personal lives. Prioritize connecting with family, friends, or colleagues and let them know that work is tough right now. Let yourself be vulnerable by talking about a tough day, for example, and admitting any holiday sadness or other negative emotions you may be feeling.

Laughter is also great therapy, so seek out the comedians in your life for a healthy dose of holiday cheer! These connections bring a much-needed sense of relief and perspective. 

Maintaining Professional Boundaries and Compassion

You can’t pour from an empty cup, especially during the holidays. It may not always feel like it, but it is possible to find the sweet spot where you can give quality care while keeping your own mental health in check. Keep these strategies in mind for preserving both your compassion and your well-being:

Set Clear Boundaries With Clients

First, adjust your hours or set only specific times when you’re available for sessions. This helps protect your personal time and lowers your risk of burnout. Next, let your clients know your availability in advance. Consider setting up an automated email response for when you’re unavailable.

Acknowledge when you're unable to take on additional cases or when your schedule is full. This will help you avoid overextending yourself during a typically high-demand season.

Practice Detached Compassion

Continue to be present for your clients, but avoid taking on the emotional weight. Acknowledge your clients’ pain, but practice detachment by reminding yourself that while you are helping them address their challenges, those challenges don’t belong to you. You are guiding them toward solutions, but it’s their hard work that will bring the results they seek. 

Know When To Take Breaks

Avoid booking clients too closely together. This will give you time to practice deep breathing and mindfulness before and after sessions, resulting in better balance for yourself and better service for your clients. 

Also, take full days off when possible. Scheduling consistent, regular breaks will help you balance your energy levels. Take advantage of the scheduling tools you have access to, ensuring that you take those valuable breaks. 

Delegate Non-Therapy Tasks

If possible, delegate scheduling, billing, or other administrative tasks to a trusted colleague or assistant so you can focus on client care. If not, ensure you have robust billing tools that minimize the need to do tasks manually. Additional tools such as automated reminders will also free up your mental ‘real estate.’

Seek Counseling or Therapy for Yourself

Turn to a supervisor or mentor to review difficult cases and reflect on your professional growth. This takes away the emotional strain of carrying that burden alone. Seeking support from a professional is a powerful form of self-care and enables you to better care for others.

Learn a New Technique for Well-Being

The dopamine rush we get from novelty certainly applies to learning a new technique for well-being, but it also enables you to gain a valuable tool for your own well being as well as your patients’. For example, the HeartMath technique is easy to learn as well as teach, and it can be done anytime, anywhere without anyone even knowing. You can incorporate it easily into individual behavioral health sessions, but you could even start group sessions so several patients can learn this new technique together.

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