As the end of the year approaches, family calendars often quickly fill with school events, holiday gatherings, travel plans, and extra to-dos. With the excitement and special moments of the season, it can also leave parents, caregivers, kids, and teens feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or stretched thin.
At Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, we know how challenging it can be to find balance during such a busy time of year. Today we are sharing a few tips to help your family manage stress, navigate big emotions, and find some rest and connection amid the end-of-year rush.
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Big Feelings in the Holiday Season
The end of year and holiday season can bring up so many different kinds of big feelings for kids and teens, from excitement and joy to anxiety, frustration, and overwhelm. Changes in routines, busy schedules, family gatherings, and high expectations can make it harder for children to manage their emotions.
At Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, we know this can be tough to manage when there is so much going on and, sometimes, the expectation that the whole season should be fun.
Read more about how to manage and support your child’s big feelings this time of year in these holiday blog posts:
Big Feelings in a Busy Season: Validating Your Anxious Child During the Holidays: Today Compassionate Counseling St. Louis Owner and Founder, Kelsey Torgerson (formerly Kelsey Torgerson Dunn) and Compassionate Counseling St. Louis Senior Therapist, Molly Shaffer are sharing some of their insights on validating and helping your anxious child throughout this holiday season.
Mindfulness for Kids During the Holiday Season: By slowing down and tuning in to their senses, kids (and their parents) can find calm and connection, even amid the holiday hustle and bustle. The St. Louis therapist team at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is skilled and experienced at helping kids, teens and college students tame anxiety, overwhelm, and anxiety-driven anger using mindfulness expertly combined with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
Grief Around the Holidays
The holidays can bring up complicated feelings for kids and teens who are navigating grief or the loss of someone they love. While this time of year is often filled with joy and connection, it can also highlight the absence of a loved one and bring up feelings of sadness, anger, confusion, or loneliness - which could look like irritability, withdrawal, or difficulty participating in holiday traditions.
As a parent or caregiver, you can help by making space for these feelings without pressuring your child to feel happy or participate in every activity. Consider creating new traditions, honoring a loved one in a meaningful way, or giving your child choices about which celebrations feel manageable. Most importantly, remind them that there is no right or wrong way to grieve and that moments of happiness and laughter can exist alongside sadness.
You can read more about navigating loss and grief around the holidays in these blogs:
Missing Them at the Table: Helping Kids Grieve During the Holidays: Children often experience grief differently than adults. They might not have the vocabulary to name their emotions or the confidence to easily talk about them.
Helping Kids Navigate Different Kinds of Loss Around the Holidays: Often when we think of grief and loss, we think about the death of a loved one. But for children, grief can come from many kinds of loss. A child might experience grief after moving to a new house, changing schools, parents separating or divorcing, losing a pet, or when a close friend moves away.
Navigating the Holidays as Parents
The holiday season can offer time to create wonderful family moments and memories along with extra stress for parents and caregivers. Between managing routines, navigating big emotions, and trying to make the holidays special, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
At Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, we understand these challenges and offer St. Louis parent coaching to help families build helpful strategies, set healthy boundaries, and navigate the season with greater confidence and connection. With the right support, you can create a holiday season that feels more manageable and meaningful for your whole family.
You can read more about navigating this busy season as a parent in these blog posts:
Anxious Kids Need Calm Grownups: Self-Regulation Tips for Parents on Halloween: When children are feeling dysregulated, they often look to their caregivers to decide whether something is safe or not. During the holidays, and especially around the costumes and energy of Halloween, it’s important to navigate your overwhelm in order to help them navigate theirs.
How Can Divorced Parents Navigate the Holidays?: There’s a lot of pressure during the holiday season to have it all together and look like the “perfect” family, but it’s important to remember that no family is perfect.
Wrapping up the Year and the Holiday Season
As the year comes to a close, your family may be balancing holiday celebrations, changing routines, and the emotions that come along with completing another year. And sometimes this leaves kids, teens, and parents feeling tired, overwhelmed, or ready for a fresh start.
At Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, we understand the importance of slowing down, recognizing what your family needs, and making space for rest and connection. With a little intention and flexibility, you can wrap up the year in a way that feels more balanced and calm.
In these blogs you can get a little extra insight into successfully transitioning from the end of the year to the new year:
Helping Kids and Teens Transition Back Into Routines After the Holidays: Watch Here on KSDK 5 Show Me St. Louis: A few tips to help kids get back into their routine during the new year. Kelsey Torgerson (formerly Kelsey Torgerson Dunn), owner and founder of Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, shares a few helpful tips for children to follow.
Too Much Holiday Stress? Ring in the New Year with our Favorite Relaxation Strategies: To help make the holidays more enjoyable, take a look at this list of our favorite relaxation strategies. Let your child pick out one or two and give them a try! These tools work great for overwhelmed parents too!
Ready for Support as You Wrap Up the Year?
If you're looking for therapy in St. Louis or St. Louis parent coaching, Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is here to help. Our St. Louis anxiety therapists work with children, teens, college students, and parents to develop practical coping skills, reduce anxiety, and build confidence using evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Reach out today to schedule a free 15 minute consultation call to learn more about how the St. Louis therapists at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis can support you and your family during this busy season and beyond.
Interested in some holiday season support for your family? Reach out to us at hello@compassionatecounselingstl.com. As anxiety experts, we love working with kids, teens, college students and parents to help manage their anxiety, stress, and anger. Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is located in Clayton, MO and works with families by offering both in-person counseling and online therapy throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, University City, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Couer, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood. We also provide online therapy Missouri -wide to teens and college students. You can set up your first free consult on this website, on our consultation page.