Profs & Pints Northern Virginia: Managing Holiday Stress

About this event

Profs and Pints Northern Virginia presents: “Managing Holiday Stress,” a therapist’s guide to navigating an emotionally challenging season, with Jillian Tucker, licensed clinical social worker in private practice and adjunct professor of clinical social work at Columbia University and New York University.

Although a popular song calls the holiday season “the most wonderful time of the year,” for many of us it often seems like anything but. Packed schedules, short days, difficult social encounters, daunting end-of-year responsibilities, and seasonable reminders of grief and loss can leave even the most upbeat saying “bah humbug.”

Give yourself the gift of less holiday stress with Jillian Tucker, an award-winning clinical practice instructor for both master’s and doctoral social work programs who previously has given several excellent Profs and Pints talks.

Dr. Tucker will describe what the latest neuropsychological research tells us about how our brains and bodies respond to the stress of the holiday season and how we can dial down our biological stress levels.

She’ll discuss the most effective tools from behavioral and motivational psychology for understanding and dealing with the logistical and emotional sources of holiday stress. She’ll offer advice on managing the fraught social encounters and conversations that commonly occur during holiday visits. Drawing from her specialty as a trauma therapist, she’ll provide guidance for navigating feelings of grief and loss that can arise during the season.

We’ll look at how digital devices and social media can complicate or distract from our efforts to enjoy the holidays. Dr. Tucker will draw from her background in addiction treatment to explain how we get hooked on digital devices and how we can moderate our use of them during the holidays and beyond.

You’ll emerge from the talk with important strategies for reducing stress, finding balance, and increasing mirth throughout the holidays and into the new year. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Door: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image from Pixabay.

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