Are the Winter Holidays a Good Time to Start Therapy?

Summary: Yes, the winter holidays are a good time to start therapy. There are a number of reasons they’re a good time to start. Some are related to the stage of life you’re in – youth, adulthood, or older age – while others are related to factors related to practical factors like insurance.

Key Points:

At end of the year, your insurance out-of-pocket maximums and deductible costs will probably reset at the beginning of the year, which means you might want to consider beginning now, before they reset.
You may have more time on your hands during the holidays than at other times of the year.
It often helps to start outpatient therapy – even for mild or moderate mental health issues – with more than the standard one-session-per-week.
If you travel home, you may be able to engage family members in the treatment process, which can improve outcomes

The Winter Holidays and Mental Health Therapy

If you’ve had problems recently with your mental health – feeling of sadness, anxiety, irritability, or perhaps a lack of motivation and interest in things you used to love – and you have time off work or school coming up over the next six weeks, then it may be a good time to consider something you might not have:

Find a good provider and use the winter holidays to start going to therapy.

If you’re not sure if you’re having mental health problems – as in real problems you may need help working through – that’s understandable. We all have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks, and sometimes we have months at a time where things don’t seem to go our way.

However, going through hard times doesn’t mean you have a clinical mental health disorder or need professional support.

So how do you know if you need help?

If symptoms of mental health disorders persist every day for two weeks or more, and those symptoms disrupt your ability to function smoothly and effectively in the core areas of your life – work, family, school, relationships – then what you’re experiencing the symptoms of a clinical mental health disorder, and the winter holidays may be a good time to start therapy.

Here are signs and symptoms to watch for:

Uncharacteristic anger, sadness, irritability
New feelings of hopelessness/helplessness
Constantly feeling on edge, anxious, or antsy
Recent loss of interest in favorite activities
Withdrawal from friends, loved ones, and family
Excess fear of common situations
Increasing suspicion or paranoia
Problems with memory, concentration, and decision-making

Remember: most of us feel or experience some of those things, sometimes. However, when you experience most of those things – or specific set of them – every day for more than two weeks in a row, and those things have a negative impact on your ability to fully participate in the basic activities of daily life, then we encourage you to seek professional support, and consider the reasons we think the winter holidays are a good time to start therapy.

Starting Therapy: What’s the Process?

The first thing to do is find a licensed, qualified mental health professional and arrange a full psychiatric evaluation. When a skilled provider completes a full evaluation, they can identify or rule out a mental health disorder. The symptoms we list above are common to several different diagnoses, including but not limited to:

Once you complete an evaluation, you may receive a diagnosis. If you receive a diagnosis, then you’ll most likely receive a referral for care. If you have a serious and/or severe mental health disorder, you may receive a referral for immersive residential care, partial hospitalization care, intensive outpatient care, or the level of care we offer at Crownview Medical: outpatient treatment.

What Happens During Therapy?

Therapy is a catch-all word we use in this context that really means mental health treatment. In most cases, treatment for mental health disorders involves the following:

Psychotherapy. Common modes include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Medication. Common mental health medications include:
- Antidepressants
- Anxiolytics
- Mood stabilizers
- Antipsychotics
Psychiatry and medication management:
- If indicated by evaluation and referral
Complementary/auxiliary therapies:
- Lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise
- Stress management, including yoga, mindfulness, meditation
- Education on mental health and mental health treatment
- Expressive therapies, such as writing, visual art, and music

During treatment, your provider can help you identify your symptoms, help you understand how they impact your life, and help you develop positive, proactive skills to manage symptoms, process overwhelming emotions, and reduce stress. In short, a good therapist will help you define where you are, where you want to be, and help you develop the tools you need to get there.

Therefore, if you’ve experienced mental health challenges recently, engaging in therapy might be a good choice.

But why are the holidays a good time to start therapy?

Why Start Therapy Over the Holidays? Time, Money, and Family

Here’s a list of reasons to start therapy over the holidays that we think make perfect sense:

You have time off work and school that you can dedicate to yourself. You most likely have a week off for Thanksgiving and, if you’re lucky, two weeks over Christmas. You can use this time to establish a good rapport with your therapist, identify goals for treatment, and get started. If you’re a college student, the extra time off during the holidays may be exactly what you need to turn the year around.
If you have insurance, you can take advantage of any benefits that expire and reset on January 1^st. Adults juggling bills may see this as an important and compelling reason to start therapy over the holidays.
If you travel to see your family, or they travel to see you, you can invite them to participate in the healing process. For older adults, using this time to connect is important: you may be able to resolve issues you haven’t faced for years or even decades.
You can get a head start on New Year’s Resolutions. This is a great idea for anyone of any age: get started on those resolutions so they have a better chance of sticking through the entire new year.

When we look over these reasons, we understand some of you might wonder if involving your family is a good idea. That’s a question you need to address with your therapist, but we can report that in most cases, family participation brings families together. In that way, staring therapy over the holidays may improve season not only for you, but for your loved ones, too.

And if one of your resolutions for 2026 is going to be spend more time on me or commit to self-care or prioritize my mental health, then you can build use the holidays to build positive mental health momentum, and hit the ground running on New Year’s Day.

We know you may have never considered it before, but we think, that with a small shift in perspective you may agree that the holidays may be a very good time to start mental health therapy.

Angus Whyte

Angus Whyte has an extensive background in neuroscience, behavioral health, adolescent development, and mindfulness, including lab work in behavioral neurobiology and a decade of writing articles on mental health and mental health treatment. In addition, Angus brings twenty years of experience as a yoga teacher and experiential educator to his work for Crownview. He’s an expert at synthesizing complex concepts into accessible content that helps patients, providers, and families understand the nuances of mental health treatment, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes and quality of life for all stakeholders.