Notes from the Counseling Department

It is now suddenly November.  We've changed the clocks, the days are shorter, there's less sunshine and the temperatures have steadily dropped.  We are right in the thick of autumn-turning-to-winter and that means the holiday rush is coming.  While a number of us love this season, an even larger number of us anticipate it with less positive feelings.  We feel the pressure- the pressure to be with family, the pressure to celebrate with gifts and food, the pressure to BE JOYFUL and to BE GRATEFUL.  It can be.... overwhelming. Often when we as the adults are feeling pressure, it makes us irritable, short tempered and less patient.  It means that we have less tolerance for our kids, our partners and our co-workers.  We have less of ourselves to offer and the situations which normally would be No Big Thing suddenly become the Biggest Thing Possible.  We have so much on our minds that we make small mistakes that can have larger consequences.  This means we often find o