A Therapist’s Emotional Tool Kit for a Better Holiday Season

Modern Love

The New York Times

Love, New York Times, Nytimes, Essay, Loss, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Redemption, Nyt

4.3 • 9K Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The holiday season is upon us. It’s a wonderful time, but if we’re being honest, it’s also a little stressful. Whether you’re worried about hosting a big family gathering, talking with cousins who have very different perspectives on politics or awkward questions from prying aunts, the holidays are full of complicated relationship dynamics. On this episode of “Modern Love,” Nedra Glover Tawwab, a therapist, responds to questions from listeners about making the holidays just a bit more tolerable. Tawwab is the author of “Drama Free,” a guide to having better relationships with family, and the forthcoming book “The Balancing Act,” which is all about creating healthy dependency within relationships. She tells us why Black Friday is her practice’s busiest day of the year, and how we can all take control of our own holiday experience.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Love now and more.
0:03.7	Love was stronger than anything.
0:07.6	And I love you more than anything.
0:11.8	There's to love.
0:12.5	From the New York Times, I'm Anna Martin.
0:17.3	This is Modern Love.
0:18.6	And it's here.
0:20.3	We're in the thick of holiday season. This week
0:22.8	it's Thanksgiving, then the winter holidays, then New Year's. It's wonderful. But I think we can
0:29.1	be honest. It's also a lot. I'm talking the big family dinners with cousins who you love,
0:34.8	but who have very different politics than you.
0:41.0	Those awkward questions about your love life from that one prying aunt.
0:44.1	Your new partner, who you're bringing home and you're worried, they won't get along with their siblings.
0:45.0	The holidays are stressful because they drop us right in the middle of all of these complicated
0:49.9	relationship dynamics.
0:52.1	That's why we asked if you could use any advice for this time of year.
0:55.5	And today, we have Nedra Glover to Wob on the show. Nedra's a therapist. She's also an author.
1:01.4	She's written several books, including one called Drama Free, all about how to have better
1:05.8	relationships with your family. And she's here to answer your questions, so you're a little
1:10.3	more prepared for the
1:11.2	holiday season.
1:17.9	Nedra Glover-Tawab, welcome to Modern Love. Thank you for having me.
	...

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