In keeping with being as honest as possible about making these videos, I wanted to release this the Monday before Thanksgiving! I obviously didn’t make it, but I don’t regret it because instead I was making forts with my boyfriend for his niece and nephew, bonding with his older sister and just enjoying being in Florida.
I made this video because family gatherings can be really hard for some people, especially around the holidays. People who suffer from mental illness can struggle to cope with being around their families, and on the other side, some struggle with not having any family to be with. This video is for the people who need better coping mechanisms to get through being with their families.
The world would be simply marvelous if we could all just patch whatever problems up with our families in a snap. If you can communicate with your family, and you want to talk through things, please do so. There is nothing wrong with that. I support you!
I just want to offer some support to those who cannot fix things with their families for whatever reason but still need to be with them. Life is complicated. Beating yourself up because you don’t feel the way you are supposed to feel about your family is not helpful. It is not healthy. There are better ways of living.
The skills I talk about in this video are from my time studying Dialectical Behavior Therapy(DBT). These skills are practical and free. They offer a way to survive family gatherings with the hope that the individual learning can find more ways to live and will create happiness for themselves in the future. My hope is that these skills will be a step to not just surviving family gatherings, but tolerating them…then liking them..then loving them. The path to that joyful ending is individual and may come about by having a totally new family at the end. Who knows? All I know is that these skills can give hope, and that’s why I share them.
Until next time, loves! Enjoy the Video!
