Navigating Holiday Stress With Teens
Navigating holiday stress with teens can be challenging, but with the right support, it’s possible to create a season of connection and joy.
The holiday season, while festive, can bring unexpected stress and sadness, especially for teenagers. Around 44% of teens report feeling anxious or stressed during the holidays, often due to disrupted routines, heightened expectations and memories of times with loved ones they may not be able to share.
However, structured activities in a supportive environment can make a significant difference: engaging in group therapy, art-making, and mindfulness, for example, has been shown to reduce stress and improve teens’ mood regulation by nearly 30%, according to the American Psychological Association.
To help residential clients find joy and connection during the holiday season, Camino a Casa’s clinicians and staff organize a series of therapeutic and festive activities designed to provide comfort. Weekly clinical groups focus on essential life skills and social skills, often incorporating Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and creative expressions that allow teens to process their emotions mindfully. But the holiday season calls for something extra—a thoughtful blend of tradition, creativity, and care.
Throughout December, staff share their own favorite holiday traditions with our youth to help foster a sense of togetherness. This includes everything from wearing matching pajamas and cooking favorite holiday breakfasts to decorating with holiday lights and making wish lists. Each teen receives a gift from their list and a stocking filled with small surprises to make them feel special. Traditional festivities are embraced, like setting out cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer, and cooking festive meals as a group. Thanksgiving dinner is enjoyed together as a “family,” and New Year’s Eve is celebrated with sparkling cider toasts.
Holiday celebrations at Camino a Casa are also inclusive of different cultural traditions. If relevant, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are observed, allowing youth to feel connected to their own unique customs. Youth also take part in cookie decorating and holiday crafts, like creating ornaments and snow globes, allowing for hands-on expression.
Clinicians also work closely with families, supporting visits and leading conversations in group sessions on how to communicate their needs and navigate the emotional highs and lows of the holidays.
The holiday season can be challenging for our teens, but by blending therapeutic support with holiday traditions, Camino a Casa aspires to provide a season filled with meaningful connections, hope and healing.
About Camino a Casa
Casa Pacifica is the largest non-profit provider of children’s and adolescent mental health services in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. The agency’s Camino a Casa program, available to clients with private insurance, provides behavioral health care to youth ages 12-17 who struggle with emotional dysregulation and high-risk behaviors that jeopardize their safety at home, school and/or community.
Intensive short-term residential treatment, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient and in-home behavioral health services comprise Camino a Casa’s full continuum of adolescent mental health care.
Camino a Casa specializes in mental health treatment for youth ages 12-18 including residential treatment, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient and in-home behavioral services. Contact us today at 805-366-4000 to learn more about our therapeutic programs specifically for adolescents.
Learn more at www.caminoacasa.org
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800-366-4000
