Happy Thanksgiving from a Therapist in NH
If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving this year, chances are you’ll find yourself around a table with a bit of a motley crew, the same way that your inner cast of characters can be diverse and varied. Some faces will fill you with joy and warmth, while others might make your shoulders feel tense. Holidays have a way of activating lots of parts.
As a therapist in NH, I often hear clients describe how this season brings up all kinds of feelings. You might be preparing to navigate difficult family dynamics, reviewing what topics are safe to bring up and which to avoid. You might be feeling the weight of hosting as you open your home to guests, wanting to get everything just right. You might be painfully aware of the people who will not be at your table this year. Maybe you don't have a table to join.
Around the holidays, it’s normal for parts to get noisy inside as they each respond to your circumstances with their own ideas about how best to move through them. One part wants you to smile and hold it together. Another wants to stay home and order take-out. Meanwhile, another might be anticipating every potential crisis, reminding you that if something can go wrong, it probably will.
In IFS (Internal Family Systems), we understand these inner parts as different aspects of you, each with its own perspective and goals. I invite you to notice them this Thanksgiving with softness, knowing that each has a positive intention for you.
As a therapist in NH, I’m profoundly grateful for the people who trust me enough to allow me into their internal worlds. It’s a sacred thing to sit with someone’s story, to witness their parts, and to help them learn how to listen more gently to themselves. I’m thankful every day that I get to do this work.
I’m also thankful for my own messy, chaotic, beautiful family. I’m thankful for my inner motley crew: the parts of me that care so deeply, that try so hard, that sometimes make things more complicated than they need to be.
Wherever this Thanksgiving finds you, I invite you to take a moment. Take a breath with me. And, if it feels genuine, send a silent word of thanks to all of your parts for being there, for wanting the best for you, and for working so hard to protect you in whatever ways they do. Gratitude is a beautiful gift. It shifts your perspective, and helps connect you to your compassionate, wise, beautiful Self.
Wishing you warmth, rest, and grace this holiday season.
