The Messy Reality of the Holiday Season
ShrinkChicks
Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT and Emmalee Bierly, LMFT
5 • 717 Ratings
🗓️ 17 November 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on ShrinkChicks, we’re talking all about that very exciting (and stressful) holiday coming up … Thanksgiving! Em and Jen are unpacking the messy mix of gratitude, giving, receiving, and toxic positivity that tends to come with the holidays. From the anxiety of picking the perfect present to the vulnerability of accepting gifts (or help and compliments), they explore why balance and authenticity matter more than forced thankfulness.
They also dig into the psychology behind giving and receiving including why generosity can sometimes mask control, why constant positivity can be draining, and how “you should be grateful” can turn into a weapon. Listener questions cover silver-lining pressure, gratitude fatigue, jealousy during the holidays, and how to stay grounded when life isn’t all pumpkin pie. Because being thankful doesn’t mean pretending everything’s perfect; it just means letting the real stuff coexist with the good.
Tune in to gain insight, awareness, and action! PS: Fast forward to around 9 minutes to skip the intro and get straight to today’s content.
Get Matched With One of Our Therapists at The Therapy Group!
Our Know Yourself Grow Yourself Journal!!
Check out ShrinkChicks on YouTube by subscribing here! https://youtube.com/channel/UCrxuhDqoL4ML3UE8b2J2BBg
A special thank you to this week's sponsors for supporting ShrinkChicks! We have these exclusive offers for our listeners:
Quince: Go to quince.com/shrinkchicks for free shipping and 365-day returns on your next order
Skims: Skims: Shop SKIMS Fits Everybody collection at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you! Select "podcast" in the survey and be sure to select our show in the dropdown menu that follows
Seed: Get ahead of the New Year with a routine that helps you now by going to Seed.com/shrinkchicks and use code ShrinkChicks25 to get 25% off your first month
GreenChef: Head to Greenchef.com/50SHRINKCHICKS and use code 50SHRINKCHICKS to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping
Greenlight: Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at greenlight.com/shrinkchicks
Uncommon Goods: Shop early, have fun, and cross some names off your list at UncommonGoods.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I also think there's this idea of, you know, if you're going to practice gratitude, |
| 0:06.0 | like you have to be grateful for everything. |
| 0:08.6 | You could be grateful for some things and like not be grateful for other. |
| 0:12.9 | You know what I mean? |
| 0:13.5 | Like other things be hard. |
| 0:14.7 | Both things can be true. |
| 0:16.5 | And sometimes when, you know, the world is on fire to find things in your environment that you are grateful for can be really helpful in managing the anxiety of the world. |
| 0:37.1 | Welcome back to another episode of shrink chicks. |
| 0:40.0 | Take a seat on our virtual therapy couch and get ready to learn all about, well, you. |
| 0:45.1 | I'm Emily Beerley. |
| 0:46.3 | And I'm Jennifer Chakin. |
| 0:47.5 | And we're both licensed, marriage and family therapist and relationship experts. |
| 0:51.4 | We're the owners and founders of the therapy group, a nationwide psychotherapy practice with down-to-earth therapists just like us. |
| 0:58.9 | Your session is starting, so get ready to know yourself and grow yourself. |
| 1:06.3 | Hi, Jen. |
| 1:07.3 | Hi, M. |
| 1:08.1 | How are you? |
| 1:09.1 | I'm doing well. |
| 1:10.1 | How are you? |
| 1:11.3 | We're on episode four of this bulk recording. Hi, Jen. Hi, M. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you? I'm going to. |
| 1:12.8 | We're on episode four of this bulk recording. Yes. Which is why you may have noticed that we didn't change our clothes this time. I don't think people notice. Thank goodness. You know, it's like they have a... Being comfortable in my clothing is so important to me because I don't know about you, |
| 1:28.8 | but for me, physical comfort allows me to better regulate my nervous system, which means that if |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT and Emmalee Bierly, LMFT, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jennifer Chaiken, LMFT and Emmalee Bierly, LMFT and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.