Christmas & New Year Through a Psychotherapeutic Lens

The holiday season is not just a cultural event — it is a psychological landscape. Christmas and New Year activate memory, longing, comparison, hope, grief, and renewal all at once. When we approach them consciously, they become powerful portals for healing.

 

Here’s how to think about them and process them in a therapeutic way:

1. Christmas: The Season of Emotional Echoes

Christmas tends to awaken the inner child more than any other time of year. 

It brings forward:

• -          unmet needs 
• -          old family patterns 
• -          nostalgia 
• -          longing for warmth or belonging 
• -          grief for what wasn’t or what was lost 

From a psychotherapeutic perspective, Christmas is an invitation to witness your emotional inheritance.

Instead of asking: 

“Why am I feeling this way?” 

Ask: 

“Which part of me is speaking right now?” 

Is it the child who wanted more presence? 

The adult who carries too much responsibility? 

The self who longs for connection?

 

Christmas becomes healing when we allow these parts to be seen without judgment.

 

2. New Year: The Psychology of Thresholds

New Year’s is a symbolic rite of passage — a moment when the psyche naturally becomes reflective.

It activates:

• -          the desire for renewal 
• -          the fear of change 
• -          the pressure of expectations 
• -          the hope for a different future

From a therapeutic lens, New Year’s is not about resolutions. 

It’s about integration.

Ask yourself: 

“What part of me is ready to be released?” 

“What part of me is ready to be born?”

 

The psyche loves thresholds.  

They give us permission to evolve.

 

3. The Holiday Season as a Mirror

Both Christmas and New Year reflect back to us:

• -          our relationship with family 
• -          our relationship with time 
• -          our relationship with ourselves 

If you feel joy — honor it. 

If you feel sadness — listen to it. 

If you feel nothing — that is information too.

 

The goal is not to “fix” your feelings. 

It’s to befriend them.

 

4. A Therapeutic Reframe

Instead of treating the holidays as events you must perform, treat them as internal rituals:

Christmas becomes:

A moment to tend to the child within.

New Year becomes:

A moment to align with the adult you are becoming.

 

This shift alone can transform the entire season.

 

5. A Gentle Practice for This Season

Here’s a simple reflective ritual you can use:

Christmas Question:

“What did I need back then that I can give myself now?”

New Year Question:

“Who am I becoming, and what does she need from me?”

 

These two questions create a bridge between past and future — between the self you were and the self you are stepping into.

 

6. The Deeper Truth

Christmas asks you to heal backward. 

New Year asks you to grow forward.

Together, they form a psychological cycle of:

• -          remembrance 
• -          release 
• -          renewal 

 

A cycle that, when honored consciously, becomes profoundly therapeutic.

 

In honor of your becoming,

Dr. Myrna