Festive Calm or Festive Chaos? Caring for Your Mental Health Over the Holidays.
Every year, as the end of the year rolls around, there’s a collective exhale. School winds down, workplaces start to slow, and the air itself seems to soften. In Australia, the longer days, warm evenings, and festive energy invite us to loosen our grip on the routines that often define our lives. For many people, this is a time when mental health naturally improves. The pressure lifts, cortisol drops, and there’s a sense of permission to rest, connect, and enjoy life more freely. Without the relentless structure of work deadlines, school drop-offs, packed lunches, and weeknight dinners, we often feel lighter, calmer, and more content.
It’s not unusual for people to tell their therapist around this time of year, “I actually feel pretty good right now.” And it’s true—life genuinely feels easier when there’s less external stress pressing on us. The problem is, this seasonal boost can be misleading. We might believe that we’ve turned a corner, that we no longer need the same level of support or self-reflection. But what’s really happening is that the conditions of life have changed temporarily. The scaffolding of daily stressors has been lifted, allowing us to feel the difference between being under pressure and being free of it. That’s valuable insight—but it doesn’t mean the work is done.
There’s another side to the holiday story too, and it’s one we often underestimate. For some people, this time of year brings not relief, but tension. The very things that make the holidays feel special—family gatherings, social events, gift giving, celebrations—can also create strain. Financial stress often peaks in December. Alcohol flows more freely, sleep schedules get disrupted, and there’s an unspoken pressure to be happy, sociable, and grateful, even when we’re not feeling it. For those who have complicated family relationships, time together can reignite old patterns or reopen wounds we thought had healed. And for anyone grieving a loved one, the season can feel particularly sharp, the absence more visible against the backdrop of festivity.
The truth is, holiday periods amplify what’s already there. If life is generally balanced and connected, that warmth expands. If life feels unsettled, lonely, or unresolved, that too can become more pronounced. And because the world around us tends to go quiet in January—offices closed, routines disrupted—it can feel as though the structures that normally support us disappear just when we need them most.
This is why it’s so important not to lose momentum in therapy as the year draws to a close. It’s tempting to say, “I’ll pick it back up in February” or “I’ll see how I feel after the holidays.” But the emotional work you’ve done throughout the year is part of a longer story—one that doesn’t pause simply because the calendar says it’s time for a break. Therapy isn’t just about crisis management; it’s about building insight, resilience, and patterns of care that carry through the ebb and flow of life.
If you’ve been working on something significant—healing from a breakup, managing anxiety, navigating grief, or learning new ways of relating to others—it’s worth taking some time with your therapist before the break to plan intentionally. Think of it as creating a bridge between this year and the next. Ask yourself: what do I want to consolidate before the end of the year? What have I learned that I want to keep practising during the break? What might challenge me over the holiday period, and how can I support myself through it?
Together, you and your therapist can decide what’s best for you—whether that means taking a structured break or continuing through the holidays. There’s no one right approach. For some, a pause from therapy can be a conscious act of rest: “I’m going to use the next three weeks to stop analysing, stop pushing, and just enjoy being. I’ll reset, recalibrate, and return ready to start the new year with fresh energy.” For others, maintaining sessions over the break can offer grounding and stability—a space to process family dynamics, stay mindful of emotional triggers, and protect the progress already made.
What matters most is that the decision is intentional. Too often, therapy drifts off not because we choose to rest, but because life gets busy and we forget to plan. Then, by late January or early February, the pressures of work, school, and daily routines return in full force. Suddenly the anxiety, irritability, or fatigue reappear—and it’s harder to regain the rhythm you had before.
Therapy works best when it’s part of your ongoing wellbeing routine, not just a response to crisis. Just as you might book your dentist or GP appointments in advance, it can help to lock in your January sessions now. That way, whether you’re taking a restorative break or continuing the work, you’re signalling to yourself that your mental health remains a priority.
The holiday season, at its best, is an opportunity to reconnect—to others, to nature, to ourselves. It’s a time to notice what brings ease, what restores us, and what habits we might want to carry forward into the new year. But it can also bring challenges that remind us how much support and self-awareness matter. Whatever your experience of the festive period—joyful, chaotic, quiet, or complex—therapy can help you make sense of it, integrate it, and start the next chapter feeling grounded.
Our clinic will be open from the second week of January, and we’ll be here if you’d like to continue your sessions while you have a little less on your plate. Now is the perfect time to talk with your therapist about your goals for the rest of the year and how to navigate the holiday period in a way that feels nurturing, realistic, and aligned with where you are in your journey.
Whether you use the summer break to rest, reflect, or rebuild, remember that your mental health deserves the same care and attention as any other part of your wellbeing. The break is a season—not an ending—and you get to decide how to move through it.
If you’d like support in planning for the holiday period or setting yourself up for a strong start to the new year, you can book an appointment with one of our therapists at SEC Psychology. We’re here to help you make sense of the season, maintain your progress, and continue growing—whatever the new year brings.
