This is Hello Freedom and I'm your host Terry Cole.

For almost two decades I've been a licensed psychotherapist and transformation coach, and on this show I will bring you simple strategies based on practical psychology, inspiring expert interviews, and my own insights and observations

from my time on the front lines of the fascinating worlds of entertainment,

empowerment, and mental health.

Now let's get going with today's episode. Well, hello and welcome to Hello Freedom. I'm super psyched. You decided to

join me today for a little bit of time. I am cozied up looking at my

window right now with a cup of tea as I'm getting pounded with snow here in

upstate New York. It is so gorgeous. Now I want to start this episode with a question. Do you love the holidays?

Are you one of those people that puts up the Hanukah candles or the Christmas tree

right after Thanksgiving?

Or are you someone who kind of dreads the holidays? For a lot of

people, the holidays can be really depressing.

This episode is all about holiday blues. How can you handle the Holiday Blues? And I have advice and you might be surprised at what I'm going to say about it.

There are many reasons why people feel depressed during this time of year.

Sometimes the holidays, whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanza or whatever it is can really put a microscope

on perhaps what you haven't created in your life or what you don't have if you wanted to

have a family but that hasn't happened for, or maybe it hasn't happened yet.

Or if you have strained family relationships, if you are cut off from family members,

all of these things can create a real painful holiday season.

I also think that we have there's an expectation that if you're not happy around the holidays

that something is wrong with you, that you're a Grinch or that you're just moody rather than really giving the weight to the fact

that there are reasons why people feel this way around how it is so let's talk about

...