Remember the Holidays

With the holidays officially beginning in a matter of a few days, now is a good time to review many of the chapters in the Anderson and Anderson workbook with your clients and help them navigate successfully through the holidays.

Joe, Sharon, Maggie, Anthony and Stephen are clients of mine that have issues of stress-related anger. They each dread the holidays because, in their words, “it tends to bring out the worst in them.” I emphasized that everything they had learned up to now was simply a lesson to prepare them for the approaching holiday season. “Now,” I continued, “I must prepare you for the big exam—surviving the holidays and even having a few laughs along the way.” That explanation is the reason why I decided to go over the stress, anger communications and even emotional intelligence chapters for a second time.

Today we worked on the Stress Chapter as though it was the first time they had ever seen it. One of the great things about reviewing the chapter is that many points that my clients missed, or they were not ready to grasp in the early stages of their learning, have become clearer and more understandable because of their new growth. They were able to embrace the concepts willingly and enthusiastically.

In addition to review we re-wrote affirmations and positive self-talk statements. This time around their statements were far more powerful than their earlier versions.

We ended the last few minutes of our session with arts and crafts. We made small survival baggies to keep at work, home and in the car. Each baggie contained a variety of relaxing teas including mint, chamomile, and one called mood mender. We also included Rescue Remedy and inspirational sayings in these packages. Their homework assignment was to purchase a traveling hot/cold cup and a plastic water bottle as part of the toolbox for holiday survival. Additionally, they committed to step out of the ring of intense energy by walking, or any other physical exercise, three times a week.

Help your clients through these holidays by reviewing and strategizing tools for managing. If you like the idea, have your clients make a survival kit so that they may have a Happy Holiday.

Yacine Bell, CAMF

www.andersonservices.com
Oakland, CA