How to Care for Your Mental Health After the Holidays

Originally published for The CityMoms on 12/26/22
Updated for Joyful Counseling – Indianapolis

The holidays tend to disrupt our internal rhythms—sleep, routines, nervous systems, expectations. Even when the season includes joy or meaningful connection, many people experience post-holiday burnout, emotional exhaustion, or a quiet sense of disorientation once it’s over.

If you’re feeling off, foggy, or more tender than expected, you’re not doing anything wrong. What’s often called a post-holiday hangover is really your body and mind asking for space to slow down, process, and recalibrate.

Here are a few grounded, therapist-informed ways to care for yourself as life settles back into a different pace.

If you’ve been holding it together: release the pressure to be okay

Many of us push aside difficult emotions during the holidays—to create magic, keep the peace, or simply get through. That can be an adaptive choice. But emotions that are postponed don’t disappear; they usually wait for quieter moments to be felt.

Rather than evaluating how you should feel, try gently noticing what’s actually present. This kind of care often happens in small, unremarkable moments—learning to notice, acknowledge, and connect with your inner experience.

A simple place to begin:
Spend five minutes writing—without editing or trying to gain insight—responding to these prompts:

• What was already happening in my life before the holidays began?
• What feelings did I set aside or push through?
• What feels most in need of care right now?

This isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about meeting yourself honestly.

If family time stirred old patterns: widen the lens

Holiday gatherings often reactivate long-standing family dynamics. You can love your family and still feel hurt, invisible, or emotionally exhausted around them. Both can be true.

Instead of replaying specific moments, it can help to step back and notice the patterns underneath.

You might gently reflect on:

• What dynamics seem to repeat year after year?
• What role do I tend to slip into automatically?
• How am I different now than I used to be?

Many couples notice these patterns most clearly after the holidays, which is why some find it helpful to intentionally reconnect or recalibrate together.

If you’ve worked to interrupt cycles that didn’t serve you, especially in your own household—that matters. Even when it feels quiet or incomplete.

If your body feels off: listen without judgment

Between disrupted routines, increased stimulation, and social demands, it’s common to feel disconnected from your body after the holidays. That’s not a failure, treat it as information.

Instead of rushing to “get back on track,” pause and ask what your nervous system needs right now:

• More rest?
• Fewer obligations?
• Clearer boundaries to let people in with less overwhelm?

For many people, January brings a first wave of overwhelm—the realization that stress didn’t disappear when the decorations came down. Therapy can offer a steady place to sort through this without pressure.

You may want to explore:

• Couples Therapy & the First Wave of Overwhelm
  https://www.joyfulcounselingindy.com/blog/couples-therapy-first-wave-overwhelm
• Stress and Letting Go
  https://www.joyfulcounselingindy.com/blog/stress-counseling-indianapolis-letting-go

Boundaries aren’t about restriction. They’re about care.

A gentle closing

As the holidays fade, winter offers a natural invitation to slow down, to metabolize what’s been experienced and to practice self-compassion instead of self-critique.

You don’t need a dramatic reset. Often, healing begins with quiet honesty and small moments of attunement.

If this season is stirring more than you expected, therapy can be a supportive place to explore what’s coming up—individually or as a couple. You deserve care that allows you to slow down and reflect.