Episode 24: Navigating the Holidays with Debbie Laaser

Some say it’s the most wonderful time of the year—the holidays are just around the corner! We all have expectations about how the holidays will go, whether it’s family traditions or what we’ve learned from Hallmark movies. Some love the holidays, but for others it may bring up loss or disappointment. While the holidays are often tricky to navigate, the pandemic complicates things even more. We chat with Debbie Laaser again as she sheds some light on difficult holiday situations.

In this episode we will talk about expectations, family dynamics, loneliness, disappointment, being too busy, finances, and self care. We hope this discussion provides some ideas for how we can still make the 2020 holiday season special.

Key Takeaways

• Common emotions people experience as the holidays are approaching
• How the pandemic has changed people’s feelings about the holidays
• Her thoughts on change 
• Her take on people’s expectations about the holidays
• What to do when disappointment and other emotions ruin the present moment
• What a distorted core belief is
• One way to minimize difficult emotions when things don’t go your way
• How to handle disagreements during the holidays
• How to manage other people’s feelings and expectations
• How to navigate differences in beliefs
• How to handle loneliness during the holidays
• How people can navigate their commitments during the holidays
• How to manage your finances during the holidays
• How to keep your self-care routine during the holidays
• How to talk to yourself when you feel like you have not accomplished much
• What taking care of yourself looks like during the holidays
• Her final message to the listeners

 
Debbie Laaser Bio  
Debbie Laaser, M.A., LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist and was involved in recovery with her husband, Mark, for over thirty years. After Mark’s passing in 2019, she became the Director of Faithful & True. Debbie has facilitated therapy groups and counseled relationally betrayed wives for over 20 years. 
 
She is the author of Shattered Vows and co-author with Mark of Seven Desires and A Toolkit for Growth: Practical Recovery Tools for Individuals and Couples.  Debbie’s recent research project, “Posttraumatic Growth in Relationally Betrayed Women” was published in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.