Holiday Stress and How Your EAP Can Help

21 Dec How Your EAP Can Help With Holiday Stress

Posted at 18:15h in Counseling, EAP by Ryan Dame

November and December are often categorized as the holiday season. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, the time seems to fly. While many people look forward to the holiday season, many others dread it.

It’s called holiday stress. At work, people are striving to meet end-of-year deadlines and goals. They have their everyday duties at home plus extra decorating, extra cooking, extra shopping, extra activities, and extra traveling.

Many people have this idea that life around the holidays is magical. There can be so much time spent with friends and family. Unfortunately, the holidays are anything but magical for some; the holidays are stressful.

Here are four instances in which your employee assistance program (EAP) can specifically help your employees manage holiday stress.

1. Family/Parenting Issues:

Holiday stress is inevitable if your employee is divorced with children or has a blended family. Every blended family has built-in complexities that get highlighted during the holidays. Tension may arise over many issues:

Deciding how much time each parent gets with the child.
Deciding who buys which gifts.
Even determining which holiday rituals are acceptable for the child to participate in.

Additionally, children may feel a sense of being “caught in the middle,” especially if they witness their parents’ power struggle. Instead, your EAP offers counseling services that can help your employees come up with workable solutions that help your employees maintain healthy boundaries and communicate their needs with family members to reduce holiday stress.

2. Grief:

Grief often strikes unexpectedly. Grief can increase holiday stress for those who have recently lost loved ones or some time ago. Whether people celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, this time of year is filled with fond (or maybe not so fond) remembrances of loved ones who are on your mind yet absent from your traditions and rituals. Your EAP is ready and available to help for those struggling through this emotional time! Our counseling services can help to provide coping strategies that bring some much-needed relief!

3. Depression:

Depression caused by holiday stress is a real thing. People are busier, which can actually cause feelings of isolation and abandonment–especially for singles or those who have tense familial relationships. Add to that the pressures and obligations of gift-giving and other events that can take a toll on the wallet.

And while holidays are a time of joy, people sometimes have unrealistic expectations for how special something is going to be. This can lead to feelings of let-down later if those aren’t met. Similarly, people may be more likely to compare themselves to others during this time of year. Your EAP can help! Our counseling services can help your employees get to the root of their emotions and help them rediscover joy.

4. Relationship/Marital Concerns:

Holiday stress is never easy on our most significant relationships. The truth is that some of this stress we create; some others create for us. Regardless of its origin, it often results in some partner-related arguments about everything from gift budgeting to holiday plan-making. To top it off, your employees are in the fourth quarter to meet their final deadlines and goals for the year. They are running out of time to catch up while still trying to be available for family activities. Your EAP can help! We can provide solutions to help your employees manage work-life balance as well as offer counseling services to help them gain communication skills to express their needs in ways that will avoid arguments.

We know that holiday stress can take its toll on everyone. That’s why at Care Plus Solutions, we want you to know that we’re here to help. We want to help your employees manage the added stress of the holidays. As your employees gain tools and wisdom to cope with stress, the workplace environment will shift. Disgruntled employees will learn to get along, and you’ll experience the peace and good cheer you’ve always wanted in the office during the holidays.