A Therapist’s Emotional Tool Kit for a Better Holiday Season

Summary

Modern Love – “A Therapist’s Emotional Tool Kit for a Better Holiday Season”

Host: Anna Martin (The New York Times)
Guest: Nedra Glover Tawwab (Therapist, author of “Drama Free”)
Release Date: November 26, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode, released at the height of the holiday season, tackles the emotional complexity and stress of family gatherings during Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. Host Anna Martin is joined by renowned therapist and author Nedra Glover Tawwab, who provides practical advice and emotional strategies for navigating tricky family dynamics, grief, and personal boundaries. By addressing listener questions, the episode aims to equip listeners with a “therapy tool kit” for more manageable—and meaningful—holidays.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why the Holidays Are So Emotionally Fraught

• Therapy Influx Post-Thanksgiving:
  • [02:04] Nedra shares that her practice receives a surge of calls and emails after Thanksgiving, especially on Black Friday, from people who’ve had difficult family interactions and realize they need therapy.
  • Quote (Nedra): “People have had terrible experiences and they're like, oh my gosh, I need to talk to someone.”
• Pattern of Regression:
  • [04:48] Returning home can make us revert to childhood roles and behaviors. Even with therapeutic work, being back in the family context challenges personal growth.
  • Quote (Anna): “I go home to my family […] and I just regressed to sort of 11, 12, you know what I mean?”
  • Quote (Nedra): “It's very hard, not just for us to get out of [family patterns], but for the people around us to accept that we are no longer this 12 year old...”

2. Practical Emotional Tools for Family Gatherings

• Self-Awareness and Small Changes:
  • [07:09] Anna asks for help with reactivity and short-fuse moments around family. Nedra recommends noticing emotional shifts and gently self-interrogating (“What happened there, girl?”).
  • Insight: Not everything has to change at once—commit to one or two different behaviors, not a total overhaul.
• Hosting Anxiety and Control:
  • [08:03] Nedra discusses her own anxiety when blending families or hosting, driven by wanting to control everyone’s social experience.
  • [09:16] She’s learned to allow awkward silences, realizing not every interaction needs to be orchestrated.

3. Classic Thanksgiving Dilemmas: Listener Questions

A. Navigating Political or Difficult Conversations ([11:45])

• Listener Amy’s Situation: Amy left her boyfriend alone with her parents during a heated political conversation and felt guilty.
• Nedra’s Advice:
  • Topic Shifting: Use humor or directness to steer conversation: “Any other topics of discussion?”
  • Reframe “Rudeness”: “It's so shocking to me when we're like, oh my gosh, I don't want to be rude. They're actually being rude.” ([14:02])
  • Support System: Couples (or friends) should plan signals for when one needs extraction from tough situations (e.g., “pineapple” as a code word or a leg tap).
  • Responsibility to Guests: Prepare friends or partners for specific family dynamics and debrief ahead of events.
  • Quote (Nedra): “They are in your care…when we're taking a friend or partner into our family situation, we have to let them know, hey, this is what typically happens…” ([17:04])
• In Summary: Focus on changing your responses and preparation—not forcing relatives to change their ways.

B. Reunion and Sobriety—Is It Worth the Discomfort? ([20:34])

• Listener Gordon’s Situation: Estranged from siblings due to alcohol issues, but wants to see his ailing father for Thanksgiving.
• Nedra’s Advice:
  • Time Management: Limit time spent; you don’t need to commit to the full gathering if it strains your well-being.
  • Plan “Air Breaks”: Schedule walks or other short breaks to manage your boundaries.
  • Prep Work: Attempt to clear the air with estranged family before the event to avoid major confrontations.
  • Identify “Indicators” for Leaving: Know personal red flags that signal it’s time to exit.
  • Threshold Assessment: Discomfort is not always bad. “Figure out how bad you want it, how bad you want to be with family.” ([25:57])
  • Quote (Nedra): “There can be discomfort that is manageable...maybe you have a little anxiety...you survive it, you learn. Huh? I can survive a Thanksgiving with all my relatives drinking if I leave at this time…” ([26:35])

C. Grief & the First Holiday After Loss ([27:32])

• Listener Stephanie’s Situation: Her husband’s parents recently died, and she wants to help him through the first Thanksgiving without them.
• Nedra’s Advice:
  • Acknowledge the Grief: Don’t tiptoe around loss—bring it up directly, and ask, “What can I do to support you?”
  • Communal Remembrance: Designate a time for the group to share memories or honor the lost loved one (before or after dinner).
  • New Traditions: Incorporate old traditions or mementos in new ways; balance grief with joyful, possibly silly, activities.
  • Both Grief and Joy Can Exist: “You can hold joy and grief…plan something to look forward to.” ([33:05])
• If the Grieving Partner Doesn’t Know What They Need: Use gestures of comfort and creativity—make a favorite recipe, wear something that belonged to the loved one, or invent new rituals.

D. Rituals After Betrayal and Forgiveness ([35:40])

• Listener Layla’s Situation: Hesitant to participate in family gratitude rituals after her husband, who previously gave a heartfelt speech, later cheated on her during a difficult time.
• Nedra’s Advice:
  • Don’t Avoid Triggers Forever: Avoiding rituals is a short-term way to dodge discomfort, but healing happens when you gradually expose yourself again and see that pain dims with time.
  • Practicing Forgiveness: “This is a part of the forgiveness. Wow. So if you’re forgiving the act, this is part of that.” ([37:49])
  • Practicality for This Year: It’s okay if this year feels hard; focus on simply sitting through the ritual as an act of gratitude in itself.
  • Open Conversation: (If it feels right) ask your partner not to mention you in their public expression of gratitude until you feel ready.
  • Quote (Nedra): “You will notice, one year, I didn’t even think about that. That’s how it works when we actually practice, when we actually get into the stuff instead of avoiding it.” ([40:10])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Family Regression:
  “When we go home with our families, it's like, this is the time to practice the stuff that you've been learning.”
  – Nedra Glover Tawwab [04:48]

• On Changing Roles:
  “Maybe your thing is, you know, everybody’s talking to me. Maybe you're the person...you might want to interject with your own problems this year.”
  – Nedra [06:34]

• On Host Anxiety:
  “At the end of it all...these are not interactions I need to control. There are times when people want to talk and [times] when they don't.”
  – Nedra [09:16]

• On Rudeness During Family Fights:
  “It's so shocking to me when we're like, oh my gosh, I don't want to be rude. They're actually being rude.”
  – Nedra [14:02]

• On Grief and Holidays:
  “Both things can exist at the same time. You can hold joy and grief.”
  – Nedra [33:05]

• On Avoidance and Healing:
  “I think the real healing is once we can do the thing and notice that year after year, I feel better. I feel more at ease.”
  – Nedra [40:10]

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Practical “Holiday Therapy” Toolkit

[42:58] Nedra’s Closing Advice

1. Plan Ahead: Clarify what you want to do differently this year and practice those changes.
2. Make New Agreements: Don’t go into the holiday in old patterns; choose specific things to shift.
3. Curate Your Experience: If you’re the host, create new traditions or decide your timeline; if a guest, leave or arrive differently, or even skip traditional events if needed.
4. Affirm Yourself: Use affirmations, make lists, and celebrate wins—no matter how small. Have accountability, even if it’s just texting a friend or reporting to your therapist.

On Breaking Family Patterns:
“If you need an accountability partner, maybe that's another family member who's there, or maybe it's somebody who's away and you need to text and be like, I did it.”
– Nedra [44:59]

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Important Timestamps

• Regression & family patterns: [04:48]
• Tools for reactivity: [07:09]
• Hosting/guest anxiety: [08:03]
• Ending hard conversations: [10:41]
• Listener question: political arguments: [11:45]
• Planning code words with your partner: [15:02]
• Responsibility to guests/partners: [17:04]
• Sibling estrangement & sobriety: [20:34]
• Setting limits & emotional indicators: [24:02], [25:33]
• Navigating grief in the holidays: [27:32], [30:08]
• Rituals after betrayal: [35:40], [40:10]
• The “toolkit” summary: [42:58]
• Affirmation and accountability: [44:59]

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Tone & Style

The conversation is warm, empathetic, and filled with practical, real-world strategies delivered with kindness and honesty. Nedra brings a matter-of-fact, reassuring tone—dispelling shame, acknowledging complexity, and empowering listeners to accept their feelings and agency.

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Summary Takeaways

• Holidays “drop us right in the middle of all of these complicated relationship dynamics.” ([00:39])
• Prepare, plan, and communicate before gatherings—especially with partners and friends.
• You cannot control your relatives, only your responses and boundaries.
• Acknowledge the hard stuff (like grief or betrayal) rather than avoiding it—both joy and pain can coexist.
• Curate the holiday you want; it’s okay to try something new, skip tradition, or set tighter limits.
• Celebrate your progress, no matter how small—transformation takes time.

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For anyone bracing themselves for the holidays, this episode offers validation, concrete tips, and a clear path toward more intentional, less overwhelming family gatherings.

Transcript

[Anna Martin]

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[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

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[Anna Martin]

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[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Did you fall in love last fella?

[Commercial Voice 1]

I love her love but stronger than.

[Isabella Rossellini]

Anything for the love of love and.

[Anna Martin]

I love you more than anything there's to love love. From the New York Times, I'm Anna Martin. This is Modern Love. And it's here. We're in the thick of holiday season. This week. It's Thanksgiving, then the winter holidays, then New Year's. It's won. But I think we can be honest. It's also a lot. I'm talking the big family dinners with cousins who you love but who have very different politics than you. Those awkward questions about your love life from that one prying aunt, your new partner, who you're bringing home and you're worried they won't get along with their siblings. The holidays are stressful because they drop us right in the middle of all of these complicated relationship dynamics. That's why we asked if you could use any advice for this time of year. And today we have Nedra Glover Tawab on the show. Nedra's a therapist. She's also an author. She's written several books, including one called Drama Free, all about how to have better relationships with your family. And she's here to answer your questions so you're a little more prepared for the holiday season. Nedra Glover Tawab, welcome to Modern Love.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Thank you for having me.

[Anna Martin]

Okay, Nedra, this is our Thanksgiving episode. You are a therapist. Is Thanksgiving a very busy time for you? Do you get a lot of business, as it were, during the holiday season?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Well, believe it or not, I have. We, we have so many people calling our practice on Black Friday. We're not open, but we have so many voicemails and emails because people have had terrible experiences and they're like, oh my gosh, I need to talk to someone.

[Anna Martin]

So interesting.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah. And for people who are just starting therapy, that is the day not only are people shopping, they're shopping for new therap. So they are. They are looking for many things on Black Friday. Yeah.

[Anna Martin]

I mean, why do you think it's like, that's the moment where, like, I actually need a therapist. Right now.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah. Because year after year, they've endured, like, these intolerable or difficult or problematic experiences. And guess what? Another holiday is coming up. Christmas. And so this is the time where it's like, I have to get a handle on this thing because I almost broke yesterday. And some of them did break. So Black Friday, it's like, okay, I've. I've had my moment. I need help. I cannot do it on my own.

[Anna Martin]

Next year needs to be different. You know, I. I'm thinking about your Monday after Thanksgiving. It must be incredibly intense for you. Do you ever wish you could, like, be a fly on the wall at one of your clients Thanksgivings just to see what's happening?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Absolutely. I wish I could just, like, go home in your pockets or there was some way for me to, like, be on FaceTime. Like, no, no, tell her this, right? It's like, yeah, I wish I could, you know, be a fly on a wall. But some of my clients have been saying for so long, I'm able to say, like, how was cousin Renee this year? You know, it's like, oh, that must.

[Anna Martin]

Be so nice for them to have.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

That level of familiarity. Yeah. And they're like, oh, my gosh, you remember? Oh, yes, I do. Oh, after what she did last year, how could I forget, you know?

[Anna Martin]

Oh, my God, I love that Cousin Renee. I mean, it strikes me that, you know, holidays are, at least, I would say, in my experience, kind of like this pressure cooker of emotion. Certainly some beautiful, you know, connected moments, but also, it can be a lot. It's like, you know, you work through family issues, you know, history, whatever, in therapy, and that's from a distance, you know, often. And then you come back for the holidays, and you're just right in the middle of all of these dynamics again. You know, I feel like this hopefully isn't unique, but when I go home to my family home for Thanksgiving, I feel like I crossed the threshold and I just regressed to sort of 11, 12, you know what I mean? And that age, Anna was not fun to be around. Why does that sort of regression happen in your experience?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Well, it's interesting because you mentioned going to therapy, and it's one thing to learn the tools, to have the resources, and it's a whole nother thing to practice. Right. And when we go home with our families, it's like, this is the time to practice the stuff that you've been learning. Without that practice piece, have you really learned anything? And so when you get back into that mode of, oh, my gosh, I'm 12 again. That's when you need to pull out your little therapy journal or your pull up your notes app and practice some of that stuff you've been working through. The regression happens. And because we are in a pattern, right? Like we, we go around, you know, our parents, our siblings, and we are used to being in a certain role. And it's very hard, not just for us to get out of it, for the people around us to accept that we are no longer this 12 year old that they need to boss around or this 12 year old that needs to like do these things that you've done in previous years. So it's really up to you to say, I am going to be different this year. And maybe it's not completely different. Maybe it's just agreeing to. I'm going to change one thing, I'm going to change two things. Maybe not three, but just like one or two things. Don't overwhelm yourself. But I can do this thing a little bit differently. And maybe your thing is, you know, everybody's talking to me. Maybe you're the person I know I am. You know, everybody's talking to you about their problems. Well, you might want to interject with your own problems this year.

[Anna Martin]

I will say that's not my role in my family.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Well, guess what I have going on.

[Anna Martin]

You know, I mean, I'm wondering, you know, my thing was I was a very sullen teenager. I just was like angry and annoyed and I picked fights. And I really don't feel that way anymore now as a 31 year old. But what I mean by regression is I'll go home and I'll just have such a short fuse again. And so I wonder, like, what is a kind of small way that I could try to correct that, do you think?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah, I would say, you know, maybe notice when you feel your energy shifting and have a little talk with yourself, like, what happened there, girl? Like, is there an opportunity for you to do something? Yeah, girl, what can I, what can I do? So having that chat with yourself, maybe you write that down. Maybe it's in the bathroom. Maybe it's just in your head. But noticing your behavior sort of reverting and agreeing with yourself, like, I have to do something different. I know that I'm, I'm going back to little me and I don't want to do that. I'm 31 now. I don't have to do that anymore.

[Anna Martin]

You know, I'm curious. We're talking about me, but I want to turn it to you. Have you ever had a family holiday that you were anxious for or needed to prepare yourself for because it was going to be difficult or just a lot in some way?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah, I think when blending families, you never know how it's going to go. So if you're having, you know, when I've had like family with or holidays with my family and in laws, it's like, I hope everybody gets along. Trying to control how other people engage creates a lot of anxiety. Like if I have a friend over, it's like, oh my gosh, I'm inviting my friend to this family experience.

[Anna Martin]

Will they be able to feel that.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

You know, sort of with the flow? Yeah.

[Anna Martin]

What, how did you say it? Wanting to manage how other people interact? I mean, yes, I feel this. You know, it's the sort of classic host anxiety. How do you address that within yourself when you're like, oh my gosh, I hope my friend and my mother in law or my mom and my mother in law. How do you quiet that? What do you tell yourself?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah, I, I have come to be okay with people having the awkward pause. I do try to. It's like, oh, nobody's talking. Is that a problem? Are they resting? Do I go do conversation starters?

[Anna Martin]

Yes, yes. This is my whole should.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

I forgot the karaoke machine. Like, what's going.

[Anna Martin]

You're like a jester. Like, totally.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah. Like, let me entertain them. So, you know, sometimes I'll play music or sometimes I'll turn something on tv, but at the end of it all, it's like, these are not interactions I need to control. There are times where people want to talk and times where they don't want to talk and they feel okay. My assumption has been like, oh my gosh, they're bored. They need to do something. They. And that assumption is not always correct because even when I'm socializing with people, sometimes I'm thinking like, whew, we've been talking a really long time. I'd love to. I love to just listen to the music. Like, why do I think they need like this magic show going?

[Listener Amy]

That is so true.

[Anna Martin]

I mean, and now this is just turning into me, you know, sort of asking for personal advice. I promise we'll get to the amazing listener questions. But sort of in this realm, I find it very difficult at a big family gathering, Thanksgiving dinner, whatever, to end a one on one conversation. You know what I mean? It's like you've sort of run your course with a conversation with a loved one and then I always panic. I'm like, I gotta go to the bathroom or like I'm gonna get a drink. And that just first of all, that's not always true. I don't need to go to the bathroom or get a drink. Like, how can we apply these lessons of sort of being okay with silence to ending a conversation? I hope this isn't just me specific. I think this is kind of universal. Ish.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah, I, I, I have a, I have a relative that I'm thinking of and I feel like there have been family gatherings where they have cornered someone and you can tell the person is tired of talking to them because sometimes people just keep saying the same thing in different ways and it's like there is no ending to this as long as you listen to them. So, you know, I think saying like, hey, you know, I'm going to go to the restroom or oh, let me go and talk to cousin so and so, or oh, wait a minute, like, oh, that was such a great story. I'm going to eat a piece of.

[Anna Martin]

Cheese.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Having some go to phrase I love to say, like, okay, hold on one second. I'll be back and I'll in a bit.

[Anna Martin]

Okay. It's good to know that my technique of saying I'm gonna get a drink is therapist approved. I, I will say this, so thank goodness for that sign off. All right, let's get into some of these listener questions. The one I wanna start off with is one that I think is a very classic Thanksgiving dinner table dilemma. It's from our listener, Amy.

[Listener Amy]

Hello, modern love. I could really use some advice. My partner and I recently visited my parents and politics came up more than once. I have been practicing disengaging when comes up. However, this time, as I sensed the conversation heating up, I decided to act like I had something I needed to do. So I got up and walked to the bedroom, leaving my boyfriend alone to face the firing squad. I could hear some of the conversation but was doing my best to tune it out. Despite my feelings of guilt in leaving my boyfriend to fend for himself. He wasn't even disagreeing with them, but they would not even stop to listen to what he had to say without interrupting him and talking over him. I felt absolutely terrible for in that situation and I did apologize for doing that to him. This was his first time physically being involved in this situation and he was very upset over how they treated him. He felt very unheard and even like he'd been ganged up on. I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give as to how we can keep this from happening. Again, over the Thanksgiving holiday.

[Anna Martin]

All right, Nedra, I'm curious. There's a lot there. What are your immediate reactions? What do you make of that situation from Amy?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah, it seems like Amy figured out a way for herself to get out of it, but I don't think she shared that way of coping with her boyfriend.

[Anna Martin]

So.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

So, yeah, he was. He was stuck there. Poor guy. I. I think shifting the topic is really important. And when people are zealous about, you know, a topic, they can, like, not listen, and they just want you to. To hear everything they have to say. They're really not concerned about how you view the thing. They like, no, this is it. And then this. And did you see the guy did this? And blah, blah, blah. We have to be able to shift the topic. And so sometimes I think in a very humorous way, we can, you know, maybe hop in and say, like, any other topics of discussion? Or I have another conversation for us, or what do you think about the Detroit Lions this year? You know, like, is there something else that I could just sort of pop in when I notice that a person is staying on a topic?

[Anna Martin]

It's hard to do that, isn't it, without, like, offending someone.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Right.

[Anna Martin]

Like.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Or they're offending you. Here's the thing. It's so shocking to me when we're like, oh, my gosh, I don't want to be rude. They're actually being rude. They're not listening to you. They're not allowing you to get a word in. Sometimes when you're sharing your opinion, people will say, oh, it's silly. Is stupid, because. Particularly with politics. And so if you're worried about being rude, if you're worried about being me, just remember, they're already doing it.

[Anna Martin]

Wow, that is a really interesting reframe. Yeah. It's like, I'm sorry, I don't want to butt in. It's like you have just.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

They're butting in.

[Anna Martin]

Yeah. And then you have just as much of a right to sort of disrupt with kindness, but also, you know, with sort of a firm approach, this conversation. And I will say this, certainly this could have happened already, but Amy and her boyfriend, if they are to return, you know, this year, should probably have a conversation just the two of them. What would you recommend, you know, that conversation between Amy and her boyfriend to be before they step, you know, into the family Thanksgiving? Yeah.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

I think signals with couples are very important. You know, when I go somewhere with my husband, it's like, what is the signal that it's. It's Time to leave. Right? It's like double tap on my invisible watch. It's like, now that's pretty overt. Yeah, yeah, I'll just tap on my watch or I'll just stare at you for five seconds. I don't know. Whatever your thing is. Right?

[Anna Martin]

Yeah.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

So, you know, just. Just having some sort of cue, whether it's a word is like, oh, my gosh, I got to go to the car and get pineapples. Like, pineapple is the word, whatever it is. So you all are on the same page. It could be a little hand tap on the, you know, on the leg or, or something to know, like, I'm uncomfortable. This is a situation I'd like us to get out of or I like to be removed from. Because when we're taking people into situations with our families, we've built up some tolerance for, like, that person who has that extremely wet kiss on the face, you know, or the person who squeezes your hand too hard, or the person who goes on and on about all of the people they know that are dying or, you know, whatever the. The thing is, it's like, prep your people for this. Like, don't just have them walk into these situations like it's normal.

[Anna Martin]

Like, totally.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Like, yeah, I think saying like, hey, my aunt, she loves to wear red lipstick and kiss you on the cheek. You have to go in hard for the hug. You have to accept the lipstick. Either or. Those are your options. I don't kiss people I only hug. You know, you have to be ready because she, she's going to do it.

[Anna Martin]

God, that is, ooh, relatable. The wet kiss, I mean, you know, it is bringing up a good question and a bigger question too, I think, which is like, what responsibility do you have to someone, a partner, whatever, when you bring them home into your family? Do you have a responsibility to these people you bring into your family situations?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

I say yes. Like, they are in your care. They are delicate objects. This is their first time. Like when we're taking a friend or partner into our family situation, we have to let them know, hey, this is what typically happens. You know, just, just, just giving them some primers so they're not, like, trapped in these conversation cycles or they're not getting like, these wet kisses or, you know, whatever the things are, we need to allow them to be aware and maybe they have some really good ideas about how to respond. Like if my uncle starts talking to you about, you know, this, this scam that he really believes, what would you say to him? You know, maybe doing some brainstorming.

[Anna Martin]

That's I think that's a really good point. It' you know, their perspective as a outsider could also be helpful to shedding some light to an approach, a tactic, a response that you would have never thought of. Cause you're so sort of like immersed in the history of it. I really like that. And again, you know, the reasons I like these tips you've outlined for Amy is, you know, it's not about trying to get Amy's family members to change, to strong arm them into not talking about this or to changing their beliefs. It's like it's changing how you respond to it, right? How you prepare for it, how Amy and her boyfriend are in this together. I think that's really useful. So, Amy, we wish you luck. Good luck. When we come back, Nedra answers more of your questions. Stay with us. The energy of reggaeton, the spirit of salsa, the beat of La Bamba, the music of Puerto Rico is known worldwide. When you visit the island, you aren't just visiting Puerto Rico. You're stepping into music's past, present and future to a beat that lasts all year long, not just for one summer. Learn all the ways you can discover Puerto Rico. Learn [e-mail] what happens when an ancient.

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[Anna Martin]

Let's go to our next voicemail. This is from a listener named Gordon.

[Listener Gordon]

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year and it has been since I was very young. I have not spoken to my brother or sister in five years and that all circles around sobriety. As we all know, Thanksgiving is a time to pull out the wine and good cheer and have all sorts of family Discussion across the table. This year, my difficulty is that my father is 92, and not much longer for this world do I reconcile and go back to the chaos of the family meal and the alcohol flowing.

[Anna Martin]

What do you think about Gordon's situation?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

You know, I wonder, is there an opportunity to time how long we'll be in that experience? Maybe the dinner and gathering is four to five hours, and maybe your tolerance level is about an hour. That's you being with your family in a way that you haven't been with them in the last five years, if that's what you can tolerate. You know, maybe the drinking starts after dinner. Maybe it starts before. I'm not really sure, But I think having some sort of time frame that you can allow yourself to be in that experience or even having some opportunities to step away. So if you stay there four to four or five hours, maybe you have. Have 10 little air breaks, right? So you go outside, you take some breaths, you walk around the block or you listen to some music, whatever you need to do to sort of ground yourself to be in that experience. But I hear this caller saying that it's very important to be with family, given that his father is aging. And so how can we be with family when they are problematic? Maybe it's not in the typical way that we've done it in the past or even in the way that. That they would want. How can we show up and still preserve ourselves in that experience? And so planning before is going to be really important. So if you haven't talked to your siblings in five years, you may not want to see them on this day and have this, like, this is the first awkward moment of you all being together. So some sort of conversation beforehand. Hey, you know, I know we haven't talked in a while, but I'm planning to be with you all for Thanksgiving this year, and I just want to make sure that we clear the air before we're in that space. Dad is aging, and I want to make sure that it's a really good, you know, experience for him to see all of his children together. What sort of things do we need to talk about before that day?

[Anna Martin]

Totally. That kind of prep work. I mean, that was what I was going to say. I could imagine it would be a lot of pressure and emotional weight to see these siblings who you haven't seen for years on the day of Thanksgiving. So doing that prep work, like you're saying, I mean, and you sort of answer this, but I want to be specific about it and just to note that I Don't know if this is Gordon's exact situation, but I feel like this is pertinent. It's like, what do you do? How would you advise someone if their family drinks a lot on the holiday and they're sober? What would your tips be for that kind of situation?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah, that's tough, because you certainly can't make them not drink. And I think that's the solution that we want. Like, how can I make this person who drinks a lot on the holidays not drink? And we can't solve that. But what we can solve is what I mentioned. You can figure out how long you want to be a part of their drinking experience. You can bring some concoctions that don't include alcohol. They can partake if they want to, and if they don't, that's fine. You can have, like, this. This, you know, sort of leave window that when so and so starts to get to this point of, like, retelling their story 10 times, I'm out of here. It's time. That's my indicator. So having a list of indicators for people, because sometimes we know what. When they start arguing about this story from when we were 12 years old or something, it's like, yeah, that's my indication to get a little. To go bag and get on out of there. Right. So having some idea of this is a situation I'm walking into, and I know it. Yeah, I know what the situation is. I have to have a plan that's different from what I've done in the past.

[Anna Martin]

Right.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Because I'm not going to re. Experience Thanksgiving 2007. We won't do that one anymore. We'll have a new experience because I'm trying to do some new things.

[Anna Martin]

I really like that. A list of indicators. You know, my. Maybe my final question here is, like, if Gordon decides to go, even if he does this prep work like you're talking about, feels like he has a plan, it will undoubtedly be uncomfortable. Right. Emotionally uncomfortable. How does one decide if putting yourself into an uncomfortable family situation is worth it?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Mm, I think it depends on how bad you want it, how bad you want to be with family. And I don't. I don't think, like, myself, as a therapist can determine that for a client. I can't determine that for a listener. Like, how bad do you want to be in this experience versus how bad is the discomfort? There can be discomfort that is manageable. It's. It's not like every social or family gathering that you go into has to be, like, the most pleasant ever no, maybe, you know, you have a little anxiety in some situations, you survive it, you learn.

[Anna Martin]

Huh?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

I can survive, survive a Thanksgiving with all my relatives drinking if I leave at this time, right? Like, yeah, and maybe you can do, you know, it's, it's like you have to figure out what your threshold is for the discomfort. Yeah, it's, it's okay to have a little, yeah, it's okay to have a little bit of, of something, even if it's not anxiety, just a little concern or worry or, or doubt. It's. So it's okay to have that. It's not necessarily a bad thing. But I, I think, you know, you can figure out some ways to, to manage that discomfort. And I think that's the indication that maybe you don't need to go because you don't have any tools to be in the space.

[Anna Martin]

Figure out what your own threshold is. Do the introspection before. See what you can tolerate. Because if you can tolerate it, you can prove to yourself, I can get through these hard things and you can continue to build on that. All right, let's go to our next one. Let's hear this question from a listener named Stephanie.

[Isabella Rossellini]

This year my husband and I will be staying home for Thanksgiving and hanging out with some of my family and friends. And that's different than what we usually do for the better part of our nearly decade long relationship. We have gone to Florida to visit his parents who retired there. And this past September he tragically lost both of them within a week. His mom was kind of expected, but still surprising with the timeline. She had cancer and his dad was completely unexpected and surprising. He's doing a great job managing and dealing with that grief and pain. Pain. But I'm anticipating Thanksgiving is going to be hard and I want to be there to support him. So, yeah, my question is just how, how can I support him through a holiday that used to be one we spent with his parents and thought was one we would spend with them for many years to come? And how can we adjust to this new reality of not doing that anymore?

[Anna Martin]

What would you say to this listener about this situation? We actually got several voicemails about this recently. Losing someone and celebrating the holidays for the first time without them.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

If we are supporting someone who's going through grief, it can be really helpful to say something like, I can imagine that Thanksgiving is going to be tough for you with the loss of your parents. What can I do to support you through that and allowing them to, to tell you what they need. Holidays are tough for, for Folks who are grieving, they don't forget about it. If anything, the, the grief is intensified. And so it can be really helpful for us to not try to ignore it. Because sometimes people will say, I'm going to try not to think about it on Thanksgiving. I'm going to try to distract myself. When in actuality, is there some moment we can have to talk about this loved one who is no longer here this year, maybe before dinner or after dinner, you know, we make space for the tears. We make space to grieve Grandpa. We say, you know, this year we lost the legend and we are all sad. We deeply miss him. And so I want to give everybody an opportunity to, to talk about, you know, just very briefly if they want to, to say a few words about Grandpa.

[Anna Martin]

I really love that idea, like designating a time that's sacred and connected to sort of grieve together. Right. As opposed to trying to sweep it under the rug or maybe even talking about it too much. Because I think you can sort of over index Right. On speaking about someone perhaps who's lost to the point where you're not in the moment anymore. I like that idea of designating some time.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah. Or is there a way to honor this person on that day? I have one of my grandmother's baking dishes, Right. And so I love to, you know, make a cake in it or even just have it out. Right. Like as an experience of wow. I love my grandmother. I miss her.

[Anna Martin]

It's so interesting what you're saying. It's just striking me. My mom every Christmas wears this like, like Christmas bear sweatshirt that was my grandma's, her mom's, and does do that. She'll say to everyone, you know, merry Christmas, whatever. Like, I am missing my mom right now. And it's, it's. I really appreciate it because it lets us know where she's at and it invites us to sort of be with her and share memories of my grandma. So she's doing these things, you know, herself. I guess a follow up to the first thing you said, which is ask this person, what can I do to support you? What if someone was like, I don't, I don't know, I don't know what you can do. How would you respond in, in that situation?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

I think we have to get creative. When people don't know what they need to be supported. So that could look like. If you see them, like, staring off, going to give them that hug, or just squeezing their hand, rubbing their back, you know, checking in on them and saying, you know, how Are you feeling anything you want to talk about? Are you okay right now doing that? That or even saying, you know, I. I know that you lost your parents. Is there anything we could do to honor them? Maybe you make your mom's mashed potato recipe? You know, I think you could get really creative with how you incorporate them into this new experience. Maybe you, you know, get a dish from the restaurant that catered their stuff. You know, I don't. I don't know what that looks like, but, yeah, I think we're thinking about those folks. And one of the worst things we could do is try to pretend that nobody's sad about this thing. And, yeah, we don't want it to overshadow the day. So maybe we do try some new things. We have to incorporate some new traditions, and thinking about what those things could look like could create a little source of joy. Like, what's this new thing we could do? You know, in previous years, maybe we watched a football game. But can we dress up as extreme fans?

[Anna Martin]

Really? Like that? That is really sweet. Like, inject the joy back into the day, too. Try something new. I really like dress up as extreme fans.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah, I meant, like, paint your belly and, you know, like, do all the things that do something fun. But both things can exist at the same time. You can hold joy and grief. And so for some of us, it's like, if I'm grieving, that overshadows anything. I can't feel anything else. I'd be terrible if I felt anything. El. I don't believe our loved ones want us to suffer because they're no longer here. So if. If there's an opportunity for us to. To plan something to look forward to on this. On this holiday, that's gonna be really hard without them. Please do it.

[Listener Amy]

Mm.

[Anna Martin]

I really like that idea of painting a belly. I mean, I think that's the first time that's been recommended on the show, and I am happy for it. We'll be right back. Luck is just when preparation meets opportunity. HBO Max presents a new comedy series.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

I love la.

[Anna Martin]

Did you guys teach?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

A little bit.

[Anna Martin]

I made her successful. I can do it for other clients. You should block her. Starring Rachel Sennett. Those kind of people that want success and money and all these things. I am addicted to deals. It's gonna be epic. The HBO original series I love LA. Sundays at 10:30pm on HBO Max.

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[Anna Martin]

Nedra, we only have one more question for you. This one comes from a listener named Layla.

[Listener Layla]

So my family has a tradition at Thanksgiving where we sit around and go around the table before we eat and we talk about what we are thankful for and. And one of the first years that I ever got to go home with my new husband and was sitting around the table, he broke into this very beautiful monologue about how he was so thankful for me because I was pregnant with our child who we had to work very hard to bring into this world through ivf. People were crying because he's basically saying how he's so thankful for me and how I'm so wonderful and he's so thankful for our family and he's so thankful for this baby and this life. And everybody's really emotional and it just really was such a beautiful speech that everybody remembered, you know, I did end up having my child and I ended up getting hospitalized after in heart failure and came home with a newborn basically to realize that I had been cheated on and I did stay with him. And it's been three and a half years now and I've still been with him. And the thing is, I feel kind of sensitive about doing or participating in that activity now because what was said was such a lie. You know, I don't see how you could feel those things for your partner and be so emotional and have a speech that everybody has etched into their mind and then be asked to participate in this kind of ritual every year. So I'm kind of sensitive about it. I don't want to participate in it and I don't really want him to participate in it even though he may be thankful. Maybe he's thankful for a second chance. You know, ultimately I have accepted him back, but I don't know. There's just something I'm sensitive about. I don't want to participate in that anymore.

[Anna Martin]

There's A lot there. What's your reaction to that?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

It makes me think of avoiding our triggers. I've had car accidents, and the first thing that happens when a person has, like, a traumatic experience is avoidance. Like, how do I never drive a car again? Or how do I never drive past this place? Or how do I never like all of these things to avoid this discomfort? And I remember having a car accident once and being like, I'm never driving again. And it lasted about four days, and then I had to go. Go to the store, right? It was like, I have to do this thing again. I think sometimes what we're trying to avoid is that memory, right? Like the car, the speech, the, you know, the point of the accident, whatever it is. It's like, oh, my gosh, if I can avoid this thing, I will just feel better about this completely horrible experience that I had. And I think the real healing is once we can do the thing and notice that year after year, I feel better. I feel more at ease. Wow. Now I can get in the car and I don't even think about that old accident. Now I can. I can hear him speak about gratitude. And I believe it again, versus, oh, no, he can't ever do that again because I'm triggered. And I never want to think about what he did that year. Here I. I think this is an opportunity to practice sitting in that discomfort, particularly because she chose to stand the marriage. This is a part of the forgiveness. Wow. So if. If you're forgiving the act, this is a part of that. And so if you can year after year. I'm not saying this year you're going to feel too good about it. Right. But if you get year after year, allow him to participate. You will not. One year, please write me a letter about this. You will notice one year, I didn't even think about that. That's how it works when we actually practice, when we actually get into the stuff instead of avoiding it.

[Anna Martin]

That is so interesting. And I so thought you'd respond to totally in the opposite way, because this listener is saying, I don't wanna do this. And I, you know, I assumed that you'd say, well, if you don't wanna do it, then, you know, give yourself some space. But I like what I'm hearing you saying. It's like it could be really productive to go into this ritual to share your own gratitude and to witness, you know, your husband also being grateful, to hold both. As we were just talking about the sort of pain, but also the gratitude. And only in doing that will you be able to truly forgive. But I was not expecting you to say that. I really. I appreciate that. Take.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah, maybe her gratitude this year is. I am grateful for being able to sit through this gratitude circle.

[Anna Martin]

Wow. Yeah.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

That's the gratitude. I sat through it. Yeah.

[Anna Martin]

Yeah, that's.

[Isabella Rossellini]

That's.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

That's something I didn't think I would be able to do. I'm grateful I had the strength to listen to everybody talk and feel like, oh, he's coming. Oh, he's. He's about to say. He's about to say something. I had the strength to tolerate my own discomfort. What a magical moment that could be.

[Anna Martin]

Yeah. I wonder if there's a conversation, too, that you'd encourage Laila and her husband to have before they enter this Thanksgiving space so they can also sort of be in this together. She has the opportunity to say something just to him, not in front of the family.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah. You know, I was thinking about that. I'm so happy you asked. And I wonder if I meant. You can't tell a person what to be grateful for, but I wonder if this is an opportunity to say, leave me out of your gratitude. I don't even wanna be included in your gratitudes anymore until I can learn to trust your word. You know, be grateful for your new plant. Be grateful for, you know, your job. Be grateful that our neighbor helps you rake the leaves. But do include me in your gratitudes because my eyebrows will raise.

[Anna Martin]

You know, I wish we had a million more questions because I am seeing, you know, shades of myself, my own experiences, people I love's experiences. Like, even though, again, these examples are so specific, I think there are a lot of more widespread resonances. And I really appreciate your tips. I think they will really resonate. So thank you for those to sort of wrap us. If you were to assemble a kind of emotional toolkit for people ahead of, you know, Thanksgiving, what would be in that toolkit?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

One, plan your holiday experience. Plan these conversations. Plan the things that you want to practice and do differently before the big day. Two, make an agreement with yourself to not go into this holiday the same way that you went into the last one. And three, you get to curate your holiday experience. If you're the host, you get to do things differently. This year. If you're going to someone's home, you have the opportunity to leave at a different time than you have in previous years. Maybe you go on vacation for Thanksgiving.

[Anna Martin]

Think about that. Actually, I have a friend who just goes on a trip. She's like the, you know, the hotels are cheap. Whatever. She's, like, not doing it at all. It's cool.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

Yeah. So you get to curate what this experience looks like. And so that's. That's the gift in all of this, that you get the opportunity to do something different this year. It's not last year. And so, you know, I think you have to own your power in this experience and not give it over to other people and say, like, oh, my gosh, they need to do something differently this year. They may not be listening to this podcast. They may not be in therapy. They may not even be open to any of these things that we talked about. And so we have to take our holidays into our own hands, and we have to create the experience that we want to have, and we have to know thyself. And sometimes in that, we have to choose to not be a part of it or to be a part of it differently.

[Anna Martin]

You know, I'm thinking, too, at the beginning of our conversation, we talked about, you know, the patterns we fall into with our families. And I'm thinking of listeners, including certainly myself, who might be trying to break out of those patterns, perhaps even for the first time. I wonder what you'd say to people who are taking just that first step, that first step to make this Thanksgiving a little different. What are some words of hope or bravery or inspiration you have for them?

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

I love affirmations. I love talking to yourself as a tool to motivate yourself. I know it sounds super cheesy, but I love it. In the bathroom, give yourself a pep talk. Maybe you write down the things you. You say you're going to do, just, like, in quick little bites, maybe like a little list, like, change the topic when uncle so and so brings up this thing. Go for a walk in the morning. Like, having a plan and sticking to it. If you need an accountability partner, maybe that's another family member who's there, or maybe it's somebody who's away and you need to text and be like, I did it. Yeah, I did it. Yes, I said I would change the topic, or, hey, I said I would go for a walk today, and I actually did it. Find someone to support you in making these changes. Even if, you know, it's like, hey, I'm gonna make a little list of all the things I did well to share with my therapist. I love to hear those. Right? It's like. It's like, hey, I have a little checklist for you. I did this, I did that, I did this. And two times.

[Anna Martin]

You know, it's like, two times. I said, I'm gonna get a drink because I'm done with this conversation. I love that. Celebrating the things that went well, celebrating the ways that you made a change. I really like that. Nedra, I'm thankful for this conversation. Thank you for coming on the show.

[Nedra Glover Tawwab]

You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

[Anna Martin]

The Modern Love team is Amy Pearl, Christina Jones, Davis Land, Elisa Gutierrez, Emily Lang, Jen Poyant, Lynn Levy, Reeva Goldberg and Sarah Curtis. This episode was produced by Davis Land. It was edited by Lynn Levy and Jen Poyant. Our mix engineer was Afim Shapiro and we had studio support from Isaac Jones and Matty Masiello. Special thanks to Jancy Dunn. Original music in this episode by Alicia Vitup, Rohan Nimisto and Dan Powell. Dan also composed art theme music. The Modern Love column is edited by Daniel Jones. Mia Lee is the editor of Modern Love Projects. If you'd like to submit an essay or a tiny love story to the New York Times, we've always got those instructions in our show notes. I'm Anna Martin. Thanks for listening and happy Thanksgiving.

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