Surviving the Holidays

Surviving the Holidays

Dr. Jennifer Bruning Brown's 10 Tips for a Joyful and Stress-Free Holiday Season

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Contrary to popular belief, for many, the holiday season is not a joyous, harmonious time. Instead, it is often a time of family conflicts, stress and loneliness. Many find it difficult keeping up with unrealistic demands and expectations of family, friends and social events at the holidays-in addition to their already demanding jobs and family responsibilities. Others become tense or anxious around family or they're lonely and feel isolated from loved ones. This can all be a recipe for holiday stress, but with advance thought and preparation, you can make the holiday season a more positive experience for yourself and those around you.

Dr. Jennifer Bruning Brown, research psychologist for Tickle Inc., offers the following 10 tips to help you have a stress-free holiday. Dr. Brown, who received a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Stanford University, has extensive clinical training including the assessment and treatment of depression, eating disorders and relationship issues.

1. Take time for yourself and your relationships. Although spending time with friends and family is essential, it's also important to set aside time for yourself or with your significant other. Family and social demands during the holidays can make it easy to neglect your personal and relationship needs. Plan some time away from family, on your own or with a partner to do things you enjoy. If you're single, make sure you don't spend the entire holiday season with coupled family and friends.

2. Focus on what's really important. Decide which aspects of the holidays are most important to you. In other words, if it isn't something you like, why are you still doing it? Focus on accomplishing what's most important and let everything else go.

3. Don't aim for perfection. Year after year we're bombarded with images of the idyllic holiday scene -- family, friends, and festivities surrounded in a spirit of peace and goodwill for all. There's no such thing as the perfect party, the perfect meal or the perfect way to spend the holidays. Don't set yourself up for disappointment by placing unrealistic demands on yourself.

4. Leave your baggage at the door. Often people feel they must resolve the unfinished family business over the holiday they haven't been able to resolve in the previous year. With the added stress of the holidays, it's not a good time to try to repair all of these relationships. Declare some kind of truce and focus on having a good time.

5. Don't try to diet. But don't go crazy overeating or drinking. Know the holidays are stressful, the best thing for you is to do everything in moderation. The more you go to either extreme, the more stress you'll feel. Establish a plan for your eating and drinking, and do your best to stick to it.

6. Get rid of the guilt. Stop taking responsibility for everyone else's happiness and decide to leave any feelings of guilt behind. It's OK to cut back, ask for help, or simply change the way events or family traditions happen and still have a great time during the holidays.

7. Plan ahead. Think about what usually causes you stress during the holidays and make some changes. Be proactive rather than reactive and take charge over the things you can control.

8. Have a game plan. If specific family members get on your nerves, come up with a strategy to deal with the situation when it occurs.

-- Try and find some humor in the situation -- laughter often helps
-- Try to take a step back and observe yourself and others behaviors from
an outside perspective


-- Practice good communication: express your feelings as clearly as possible without blaming

9. Expect the unexpected. Be aware that unplanned events always occur, both good and bad. So prepare yourself and know that you may need to be flexible.

10. Be grateful. Think about all the blessings you have in your life. Focusing on what you don't have only encourages negative thoughts. Write down even the most seemingly insignificant things you're grateful for and read the list every time you start to feel stressed or down.

About Tickle

Tickle Inc. is a leading diversified digital media company, focused on delivering interpersonal content and services (self-discovery, matchmaking, career and social networking) to more than 14 million active members worldwide. Founded in 1999 as Emode, Tickle is a place where people can use science to make deep, meaningful connections, understand themselves and others, and manage their personal and professional relationships in a way that is fun and enjoyable. Ranked as one of the top 50 most visited web sites by comScore Media Metrix, Tickle is distinguished by a strong foundation in scientific research, a proven commitment to member privacy, and many years of customer satisfaction and financial stability. Tickle is a subsidiary of Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ:MNST) and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Tickle can be found at http://www.tickle.com/ .


Source: Tickle Inc.

CONTACT: Christy Albright of Tickle Inc., +1-415-946-5043, or
calbright@tickleinc.com; or Nick Leahy of Sparkpr, +1-415-321-1864, or
nick@sparkpr.com, for Tickle

Web site: http://www.tickle.com/


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