Holiday Cheer or Cheerless?

The end of the year can be a special time, bringing holidays spent with family and friends, and making us feel upbeat and giving.

But holidays can be difficult too. As social workers, we know holidays can mean covering co-workers’ shifts over the holidays, attending to donation calls, reporting on grants, managing our valued volunteers, and recognizing that holidays may not be happy times for our clients. Whether it's the onset of cold weather, reduced agency budgets at year's end, or the current deepening U.S. economic crisis, the holidays - for some of us - may not be all fun and good cheer.

With the stress of the approaching holidays, we owe it to ourselves and our clients to practice self-care. What suggestions and insights can you offer your fellow social workers about how to decrease stress during the holidays?