The holiday season (the period between Thanksgiving until the New Year) is supposed to be a joyous time, full of celebrations with family and friends. But for many people, "the most wonderful time of year"... tis’ the season to feel stressed and anxious.

It's normal to feel stressed or lower than usual at Christmas, especially if it's a time of year that brings back difficult memories or heightens or worsens any ongoing problems you may be going through. But there are things we can do to ease the stress and take the pressure off ourselves and there is no better guest than anxiety expert Joshua Fletcher to help us do this.

Joshua Fletcher is a psychotherapist and best-selling anxiety author, based in Manchester, specialising in the field of anxiety disorders and stress management. Chatting to host Gabby, Josh explains why we need to stop trying to create ‘the perfect Christmas’ and pleasing people when it compromises our own happiness. Josh also advises how we can deal with difficult relatives at family get-togethers and shares some tips on how to overcome anxiety at Christmas parties. He also stresses why it’s just as important to carve time out for ourselves, as it is to carve out the Christmas turkey.

For more on Joshua Fletcher: https://schoolofanxiety.com/ 

To download the free My Possible Self App: https://mypossibleself.app.link/podcast