How to Not Be Consumed at Thanksgiving
The Allender Center Podcast
The Allender Center
4.7 • 648 Ratings
🗓️ 21 November 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Thanksgiving is right around the corner. It can be a day of tradition, family, and connection. It can also bring tension, exhaustion, grief, or even trigger old wounds.
Today, Dan and Rachael reflect on the complex reality of the holiday: the joy, the nostalgia, the chaos, and the moments that can leave us feeling overwhelmed or even "devoured" by family dynamics.
Drawing on their own stories and looking ahead to this year's holiday, they explore how to hold gratitude alongside grief, and how to create meaningful connection without losing yourself.
Whether you're hosting, traveling, or creating a quiet space for yourself, this conversation offers gentle guidance and practical tools. You'll learn how to approach Thanksgiving with intention, better honor your boundaries, and participate with a heart that's more open to the day, however it unfolds.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Rachel Clinton Chen. For over 10 years, the Eleanor Center podcast has been sharing conversations about story, faith, and healing from trauma and abuse. So far, we've recorded over 600 episodes, all free and all available to anyone who needs them. |
| 0:24.3 | And here's the thing. We want to keep it that way. But producing each episode takes time, |
| 0:29.2 | care, and a whole team of people committed to making this content accessible. |
| 0:33.7 | If this podcast has met you in your story, if you've shared an episode with a friend, |
| 0:38.5 | or if you simply value what we're doing, we want to invite you to consider becoming a monthly supporter. |
| 0:44.6 | Even a small gift like $5 a month helps keep the podcast going. |
| 0:49.0 | Your support helps cover the cost of producing this podcast and ensures that these conversations |
| 0:53.5 | remain free for everyone. |
| 0:55.7 | If you'd like to be a part of this work with us, visit theallendercenter.org forward slash |
| 1:01.2 | podcast and click on Become a supporter. Thank you for listening and thank you for helping us |
| 1:07.3 | keep these conversations alive for years to come. |
| 1:27.7 | Thank you for listening to the Allender Center podcast. I'm Dr. Dan Allender. |
| 1:29.3 | And I'm Rachel Clinton-Chen. |
| 1:33.6 | We're fiercely committed to providing hope and healing to a fragmented world. |
| 1:36.0 | And restoration for the heart. |
| 1:37.5 | Thank you for joining us. |
| 1:49.8 | Let's get this conversation started. Thanksgiving, Rachel, |
| 1:52.1 | Thanksgiving to you, dear friend. |
| 1:57.3 | So not happy Thanksgiving, just Thanksgiving. |
| 2:01.1 | I like it. |
| 2:04.4 | We might just stop here because what we have begun with really is sort of the core of what we're getting to. |
| 2:14.3 | And that is, how do we make sure we don't become the turkey at our own |
... |
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