Having a Blue Christmas? How to Cope with Loneliness During the Holidays

December 11, 2024

Why do I feel lonely during the holidays?

When everything seems to be merry and bright, it can feel isolating when we aren't struck with the holiday spirit. Although the holidays are often thought to be a time of cheer and happiness, this season can bring up a slew of emotional challenges including feelings of loneliness or increased anxiety. Despite popular belief, loneliness and anxiety around the holidays is quite common. Even those who seem to be living the perfect holiday fantasy are probably encountering some level of anxiety or isolation during this busy season. According to The National Alliance for Mental Illness, “extra stress, unrealistic expectations, [and] sentimental memories that accompany the season” can be to blame for feelings of loneliness , especially for those with existing mental health diagnosis.

Many face increased pressure during the holidays attempting to balance spending time with loved-ones, finding the money for travel and gifts, and planning events, all while trying to finish up on tasks at work before the end of the year. Additionally, the holidays can cause us to reminisce on the years past, reminding us of family members or partners that are no longer in our lives. It's no wonder that grief is a common sensation that presents during the holiday season, making this time of year all the more difficult. So, what can we do to combat feelings of loneliness during the holiday season? Is it really normal to feel like this during "the most wonderful time of the year"? Let's discuss.

What is Loneliness?

Loneliness can be described as feeling sad, disconnected, isolated, unneeded, or numbness even when surrounded by other people. Just because someone spends time alone, does not mean they are necessarily experiencing feelings of loneliness, and they might actually be quite satisfied with their lives and their relationships. The feeling of loneliness comes from a desire for connection and relationships that someone feels like they do not have. When people experience feeling lonely, especially around the holiday season, it can be challenging to cope with. Loneliness can be a painful loop- wanting to create new connections while also experiencing a lack in confidence to create them.

How Can Loneliness Impact My Mental and Physical Health?

Prolonged feelings of loneliness can have serious implications for our physical and mental well-being, including symptoms like emotional distress, sleep disturbances, social withdrawal, difficulty concentrating, and low self-esteem. It’s important to find healthy coping mechanisms for loneliness in order to avoid more serious mental health conditions like anxiety and depression while building independence and self-worth. These coping tools can be especially useful around times more likely to trigger feelings of loneliness like the holidays.

What are Some Effective Ways to Cope with Feelings of Loneliness?

With high expectations to be merry and bright this time of year, it can be difficult to admit that you’re struggling during the holiday season. But, you shouldn’t feel ashamed for experiencing feelings that most can relate to at some point in their lives. Combatting loneliness isn’t as hard as you might think though, and there are many practical steps we can take in our lives to strengthen our connections while enhancing our sense of self-worth.

Reach Out to Others

Although you may feel alone, there are many people who love and care about you. Reflect on your connections with friends and family members and make an effort to maintain them through regular meetings, phone calls, or texts. It’s likely that they may be feeling a bit lonely or anxious too, and you can make their day by reaching out. Whether you’re asking to grab a cup of hot cocoa or just sending a text to wish them “happy holidays,” these small gestures can make a huge difference in feeling more connected with others.

Volunteer

There’s no better time to give back than during the holiday season, and volunteering is a great way to combat loneliness by providing you a sense of purpose and connection with your local community. You can find meaningful volunteer opportunities posted online or in local community bulletins. Staying rooted in your community during difficult times can ease feelings of loneliness and anxiety.

Start a Hobby

Turn your new years resolutions into reality by starting that hobby you've always wanted to try. Starting a hobby can be an amazing way to create new connections and foster confidence. Joining a club or taking a class can bring new friends who share your passions, and making progress in a hobby can provide you a renewed sense of purpose and self-worth. Try hobbies that involve groups, like taking an art class, doing an improv session, or joining a run club, to get connected with others through activities that bring you joy.

Practice Self-Care

Give yourself the gift of self-care this holiday season! Sometimes, loneliness is more about how we’re feeling in our own company than it is about the lack of others’ companionship. Improving your self-worth through self-care practices like journaling, meditation, or mindful movement can help you appreciate your alone time, decreasing feelings of loneliness and anxiety. You can find more self-care practices to improve your sense of overall well-being in our free guide “How To Thrive.”

Where Can I find Mental Health Support During the Holidays?

If you’re in need of more support for loneliness, anxiety, or other mental health struggles this time of year, know that resources are available. You can find professional help through reaching out to a therapist or counselor. Most mental health facilities are open nearly year-round and are experienced in aiding people with loneliness or anxiety around the holiday season. Thrive Wellness is here for you during this time and we are ready to facilitate connection and healing. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call the Suicide and Crisis Hotline at 988 or the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-6264.

Conclusion

Although coping with loneliness during the holiday season can be difficult, know that you are not alone in the slightest. By practicing seeking connection and pursuing self-worth, your relational health can flourish. Whether it’s reaching out to a friend to grab coffee, volunteering at a local non-profit, or taking a pottery class, give yourself the gift of connection and care this holiday season, you deserve it.

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Your Guide to Higher Levels of Care: How to Decide Which Treatment Level is Right for Your Mental Health

By Erin McGinty Fort, MS, MHA, CPC, LPC-S, CEDS-C • December 18, 2025

Sometimes, people need more support, structure, and monitoring than the typical outpatient setting can provide. When this happens, the treatment team will usually recommend that someone be "stepped up" to a different level of care, or program, that can better meet their needs. I like to think of it as being similar to medication dosages; people need different strengths of medications, or dosages, to get better when they're sick. Stepping someone up to a higher level of care is like increasing the dosage of a medication to match the severity of their symptoms. How Are Higher Levels of Care Different from Standard Outpatient Care? At the core of differentiating higher levels of care from standard outpatient care is the intensity and structure of the treatment. Higher level of care programs tend to offer more days of treatment each week and more hours of treatment per day than in the outpatient setting. Those in higher level of care programs may also meet with their treatment team members more frequently each week. There are more staff present to support someone at or after meals and snacks, or to help those who are having urges to engage in compulsions or other harmful behaviors. Clients in our HLOC programs get access to an assortment of treatment modalities tailored to their individual needs, including personalized therapy sessions, group support, medication management, medical nutrition therapy with a dietitian, and check-ins with our primary care providers. We support clients with personalized treatment plans and regular assessments to monitor and tweak interventions as needed. Higher levels of care also offer increased peer interaction and support. Intensive programs incorporate additional group therapy sessions, which can help those in treatment feel less alone as well as create a greater sense of community. For some people, it can be difficult to devote the time and energy needed to recover while also balancing other responsibilities like school or work. Stepping up to more intensive levels of care allows people to fully dedicate themselves to recovery. As they get better and make progress, a person may be stepped back down to a less intensive level of care to start practicing their recovery in their usual home, school, or work settings while also receiving professional support from their treatment team. What Levels of Care are Available? At Thrive Wellness, we offer four different levels of care to help clients step up (or down) in their treatment when needed: - Outpatient Treatment - weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meetings with a therapist, psychiatrist, primary care provider, and/or dietitian. - Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) - A minimum of three hours per day, three days per week. - Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) - A minimum of six hours per day, five days per week. - Residential Treatment - Coming soon in 2026, The Greenhouse at Thrive will offer residential treatment for eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. This level of care offers 24-hour support for those aged 12-24 living in our residential treatment center. How To Decide Which Level of Care is Right for You If you're unsure which option is right for you or your loved one, we offer a free assessment that can be completed with our admissions team. In this initial assessment, we'll gather information from you about what you're struggling with, speak with our team of providers, and then make a recommendation for what level of care we feel is the best fit for you and your needs. If you’re experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder, anxiety disorder, or other behavioral or mental health challenges, don’t hesitate to reach out. To get started with our intake process, give us a call at 775-525-8103 or fill out this form . We can’t wait to help you Thrive.

Family Inclusive Recovery: Healing Together in Eating Disorder and OCD Treatment

December 2, 2025

Like the fir tree, a symbol of endurance rooted in hope, our Family Inclusive Recovery (FIR) approach reflects the strength that grows when families face challenges together. At our new residential center “The Greenhouse”, FIR is more than a treatment model, it’s a philosophy of healing that places families at the heart of recovery for adolescents and young adults navigating eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We believe lasting healing doesn’t happen in isolation; it’s built with the support of families through perseverance, hope, and compassionate care. What Is Family Inclusive Recovery (FIR)? Family Intensive Recovery (FIR) is a specialized and immersive approach that actively engages caregivers as central agents in their child’s healing process. Rather than seeing families as contributors to a problem, we view them as essential partners in recovery. Drawing from two evidence-based frameworks, Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) and Family-Based Treatment (FBT), FIR helps families cultivate resilience, confidence, and connection throughout the journey to recovery. Grounded in SPACE and FBT Through the SPACE model, parents learn how to recognize and reduce well-intentioned but unhelpful behaviors known as accommodations that can reinforce anxiety and OCD symptoms. By shifting from rescuing to supporting and challenging, parents develop the confidence to guide their child through discomfort, helping them build distress tolerance and self-trust. Simultaneously, Family-Based Treatment (FBT) empowers families to take an active, compassionate role in their child’s nutritional and emotional recovery. Parents learn how to support weight and nutritional restoration, disrupt the eating disorder’s patterns, and reestablish boundaries that promote health and growing autonomy. Together, these approaches strengthen both the individual and family system, allowing recovery to take root within an environment of empathy and optimism. From Blame to Collaboration A cornerstone of the FIR model is removing blame. At Thrive, parents are not viewed as the cause of their child’s struggles, but rather as key partners in recovery. Treatment focuses on joining forces to create a safe, supportive environment where: Families learn to sit with their child's discomfort alongside them without rushing to fix or control it. Parents practice compassionate firmness, setting boundaries grounded in care and safety. Teens and caregivers rebuild trust through open, honest communication. This collaborative framework helps families reestablish a sense of connection and confidence, fostering long-term resilience and open communication that extends beyond the treatment setting. Why Family Matters in Recovery Recovery from eating disorders, OCD, or anxiety isn’t a one-person job, it requires integrated care including the family. When families learn to navigate challenges together, they can model emotional regulation, reinforce healthy boundaries, and create conditions for sustained recovery. Through FIR, we aim to strengthen attachment bonds, reshape family interactions, and empower every member of the family to grow. The result is not only symptom reduction but also a deeper sense of unity, hope, and shared endurance, just like the steadfast fir tree that stands resilient through every season. Moving Toward Hope Family Inclusive Recovery invites caregivers and loved ones to become active participants in change. It’s a journey of learning, letting go, and leaning into love and acceptance. Together, families and clinicians can cultivate the courage in clients to face uncertainty, and in doing so, help them discover that recovery is not just possible, but enduring. If you’d like to learn more about Family Intensive Recovery at The Greenhouse or how we support families in eating disorder and OCD treatment, reach out to our team today.

Introducing Thrive's Greenhouse - Opening 2026

November 14, 2025

The Greenhouse at Thrive Wellness A New Chapter of Hope and Healing in Nevada On Friday, November 14 , we gathered with our partners at Molina Healthcare to share an important moment for our community. Together, we celebrated Molina’s generous $50,000 grant , an investment that is helping bring The Greenhouse to life. Their support is not only a financial contribution—it’s a statement of belief in the young people and families of Nevada who deserve access to compassionate, evidence-based mental healthcare close to home. This gathering marked the beginning of something we’ve dreamed about for years: a place designed specifically for adolescents and emerging adults to receive the care, connection, and support they need during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Something New Is Growing In early 2026 , Thrive Wellness will open The Greenhouse , Nevada’s first residential treatment center devoted to adolescents and emerging adults navigating eating disorders, anxiety, and OCD . For too long, families have faced a heartbreaking dilemma—send their child far from home for treatment or go without the specialized care they need. The Greenhouse is our answer to that gap. It will be a place where young people can settle into an environment built for healing, where they are understood, supported, and surrounded by a team that believes in their capacity to recover. The Greenhouse represents a natural extension of our mission. It’s a living expression of our belief that recovery is possible—and that with the right support, families can find their footing again.