The holiday season is often portrayed as an exciting time filled with joy, laughter, and celebrations with loved ones. While this may be true for some, the holidays are often a stressful time of year that brings unique challenges, pressure and expectations that can often lead to disappointment.

You may find that your family experiences more conflict during this time of year.

The holidays might remind you that you don’t have many friends or family to spend time with, so you might feel more lonely during this time of the year.

You may be wondering how you’re going to manage to buy presents, clean and decorate your home, and cook a fabulous Instagram worthy meal.

You may be struggling to decide what you feel comfortable doing for the holidays during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Family gatherings might mean having to sit in a room with a family member who hurt or abused you.

This could be the first year you are no longer with a partner, or a year where you don’t have custody of your children.

This might also be your first holiday season after the death of a loved one, or a time of the year that reminds you how much you miss them.

Your family may not yet know that you are struggling with your mental health or that you aren’t currently working.

You might be coping with Depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder with the darker, colder days.

For those struggling with food or alcohol, it may be difficult to manage triggers and urges to indulge.

We as a society have this idea of what we think the holidays should look like. The reality is, it doesn’t always look like that. This workshop has been created to acknowledge and honour these difficulties, to encourage you to practice self-compassion, and to provide you with tools and skills to help you to navigate this challenging time. We will discuss different ways to cope, ways to respond to difficult personal questions, and how to be gentle with yourself for doing the best you can.

Please join Rachel Holland, MSW, RSW on Sunday, December 13th at 10:00am -11:30am (virtually)

Entry will be $25 per person and all proceeds will be donated to our Community Christmas to help families in need this holiday season.

Please register as spots are limited.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/self-compassion-during-the-holidays-virtual-workshop-tickets-131736099219