5 tips for managing complex trauma symptoms over the holiday season

It’s that time of year again! For some, holidays are about bringing family together, thinking of others through gift giving, and celebrating our preferred festivities. It is also a time of year for individuals with C-PTSD, or complex post-traumatic stress disorder, to experience a wide array of triggers and symptoms. This is particularly common with the influx of family time, which may bring up old emotions, intrusive memories, or negative beliefs about oneself. As an EMDR trained therapist, here are some of my tips for how to manage complex trauma symptoms during the holidays.

1) Stay Grounded.

We all have that “window of tolerance”, the sweet spot on the emotional spectrum in which we can handle mildly disturbing or discomforting feelings. Know what skills you need to use to remain in your safe/calm place or get back into it if you feel distant. If you don’t have any coping skills, consider going for a mindful walk while listening to some calming music to mimic bilateral stimulation. 2) Set Boundaries.

We’ve all heard this before but setting healthy boundaries puts a healthy distance between you and the trigger. If a family member or someone who needs a boundary in place is not respecting your needs, it is okay to leave the situation or ask a healthy person in your life to help you advocate for what you need. This can be especially helpful when needing to cope with a toxic parent or family member that you may not be able to avoid completely. 3) Use Supports.

Using allies or people you can rely on as strong, protecting, and nurturing figures can help to not feel as if you must do it all on your own. If you are struggling with identifying supports, consider objects that represent these qualities to remind you of those parts of self (strength, courage, appropriate authority) working together. If you are in therapy, schedule an appointment with your therapist to help beef up your emotional regulation skills. 4) Be Mindful.

In addition to knowing what triggers us and how we can remain in our window of tolerance, being mindful of other stressors can be helpful to avoid activating a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response. Misuse of alcohol and drugs (including marijuana), food, isolation, and overspending are behaviors that may increase symptoms. 5) Foster Growth.

What do I mean by this? I’m referring to the phenomenon of post-traumatic growth. This is the emergence of growth after an individual has experienced trauma. The five domains of post-traumatic growth include personal strength, deeper sense of spirituality, close relationships, new sense of possibilities, and greater appreciation of life. Whatever area of post-traumatic growth you can identify with or want to feel closer to, focusing on how you can integrate these areas of growth into your life is essential during this time of year. Reflecting on how you have experienced these areas of growth can feel empowering and validating. You can journal about these or share these with a friend or loved one.

If you are struggling and would like to learn more about ways to manage complex trauma during the holidays or to begin working on healing from trauma, please consider reaching out to start your work!

Wishing you a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.

Authorship: This blog was written by Joe Woodbridge, LCSW. He has experience using EMDR therapy and IFS-informed EMDR therapy to work with adults, young adults, teens, and neurodivergent men who have experienced C-PTSD and relational trauma such as attachment ruptures and family related trauma. Joe utilizes EMDR therapy to help individuals identify, manage, and heal from complex PTSD symptoms.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for mental health care nor a recommendation or endorsement for any particular treatment plan, organization, provider, professional service, or product. The information may change without notice. No claims, promises, or guarantees are made about the completeness, accuracy, currency, content or quality of information linked. You assume all responsibility and risk for any use of the information.

The Willow Space for Trauma Treatment is an outpatient, trauma-focused therapy group founded by Joe Woodbridge and Erin Ziegelmeyer. Located on the Main Line of Pennsylvania in Paoli, we specialize in helping adolescents & adults struggling with traumatic responses and disorders of all kinds, including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex post traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD), attachment wounding, and relational trauma. We provide EMDR therapy to address symptoms such as anxiety and phobias, depression, low self-esteem, grief, panic, and dissociation. We offer ongoing support as well as EMDR intensives; both of which are informed by IFS, EMDR, DNMS, DBT, CBT, Polyvagal Theory, attachment theories, and developmental theories, among other therapeutic principles.