Helping patients deal with the holidays

This month we've talked about the holidays, and the various ways the patients react to them. Some really get into the decorating, others get depressed, some get angry. In one of my groups, before Thanksgiving, we talked about being thankful. Of course this can be difficult for our patients who are hospitalized against their will, but they were all able to think of something they were grateful for. I also told the supervision group about the year a group of patients got upset because they weren't allowed to have lights on their Unit tree, so they threw their entire tree down a flight of stairs. As therapists, we can help by letting the patients do art and talk about their feelings, whether positive or negative.