Handling Holiday Season During and or After a Divorce

The holiday season is upon us. Whether you ordinarily adore, loathe or are indifferent towards the holidays, chances are that if you have recently finalized, are in the middle of or are contemplating divorce, your approach to this season is more negative than it usually is. However, it is possible to weather the next few weeks with grace even though it may be a particularly challenging time.

When approaching the next few weeks, it is critical to be as prepared as you can. Chances are that you will be emotional and will need comfort. You will also likely be feeling more stressed than usual, regardless of whether you are celebrating the holidays in a group, by yourself or are attempting to ignore the holidays this year.

If you can prepare for emotions to hit you hard, you can also plan for ways to deal with them in a healthy manner. Perhaps scheduling a massage, an extra counseling appointment, a movie date with friends or some time to just curl up on the couch with a book would be a good idea for you. The key to navigating a challenging holiday season is to plan ahead in order to ensure that you take the best care of yourself possible.

Failure to anticipate these needs may lead you to make destructive decisions in everyday life, at work, on the road, or with regards to your divorce settlement or child custody arrangements. Strong emotions are completely normal during the divorce process. But failure to anticipate them and address them in healthy ways may harm you later on.