Navigating through Family Expectations during the Holidays
“The Holidays!” Hallmark movies and cards present the holidays with warm, nostalgic scripts and scenes. Songs of the holidays resound with jingles of joy. Decorated homes and cookies portray all things nice and beautiful. The center stage for the holiday festivities is the family gathering.
But for victims of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), being with the family of origin—where the abuse occurred or was disregarded—incites trauma and recalls all things not so nice, like inappropriate touching, incest, and secrets.
Expectations and motivations fill the air during the holidays triggering additional trauma for survivors of CSA. Look back at this featured post as it guides survivors of CSA and their spouses on how to:
-
- Identify dysfunctional expectations imposed by the “ruling” parent or sibling through pretense statements, oblivious statements, and guilt statements; and
- Execute a plan for navigating through the holidays.
Keep reading to learn how to execute a plan
of navigation through the holidays.
Note: This post was originally posted on November 14, 2021.