Advice for dealing with difficult family relationships over the holidays?

See below: Hard to answer without knowing any specifics. However, do you need to attend family function, for example? If you need to be with with the family, remember, you cannot change your family, but you can only change how your reactions and ways you deal with your family. Good luck!

Holidays can be : challenging. Expectations R high and disappointments R common. If U have problematic relationships w' family members, plan shorter visits, meet a friend 4 coffee or lunch over the holiday vacation, take walks on your own, play w' the kids 2 avoid adult tensions, help w' cooking or clean up, avoid alcohol which lowers inhibitions and could lead 2 saying or doing things U may regret later.

Difficult families: Although the holidays have passed, there are many times we need to deal with difficult family members. Sometimes the solution is to spend as little time as possible. But when that is not possible, learning to know your 'triggers' - the themes that repeatedly cause you to react - can be really helpful in avoiding those topics. Also, learning to control your reactions through anti-stress methods...