Carving out personal space at holiday gatherings

When you want support through something scary or rough, and help pulling yourself together and getting through, this is the place.
Forum rules
We ask that users looking for general, ongoing emotional support post in this area of the boards, and that you use this space to both ask for, give and receive that support primarily from each other, rather than from our staff and volunteers. As a staff, we simply are often too overextended with all we need to do in running the organization and its services to do that for extended periods of time, and one of our main aims of our community at the boards has always been to facilitate peers to better be there for each other.

Users often report that they have no in-person peers they can talk to or seek support from: we want this to be a space for online peer support and somewhere everyone can get some practice asking for, getting and giving support so that doing it with people in your lives feels more doable.

Please remember that neither staff, volunteers nor your fellow users can provide or replace mental healthcare when that is something you need. Users struggling with issues like anxiety, depression, abuse or physical health issues are strongly encouraged to seek out qualified, in-person help with those issues in addition to peer or staff support.
Elise
scarleteen staff/volunteer
Posts: 275
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 4:44 am
Age: 33
Primary language: English
Pronouns: she/her
Sexual identity: bisexual/queer
Location: Narrm/Melbourne

Carving out personal space at holiday gatherings

Unread post by Elise »

During holiday periods with large/lengthy family gatherings that may involve staying with family - many people have difficulty having time or space to themselves, which is particularly heightened when difficult family members or dynamics are involved.

With a major holiday period approaching, now is a good way to share the useful ways we’ve found to carve out some personal space and/or other ways of coping.

For me, it’s one of the classics: going to start the dinner dishes, it’s appreciated and becomes a socially sanctioned reason to step away from the dinner table. Ideal times can be upon the table being ready to cleared after the main course (help clear the table and then on to washing) as well as after desert. Often a family member who you get along with, if available, can be roped in to help (particularly if they could use a break from others/big group dynamic).

What are some things you all have found worked?