January 9, 2012 -The holidays are over and with January’s arrival, many people can feel physically, emotionally and financially stressed.

Dr. Katy Kamkar, clinical psychologist in the Work, Stress & Health and Psychological Trauma Programs at CAMH is available for interviews to discuss ways to cope with post-holiday stress.

Tips to cope with post-holiday stress:

• Look at spending habits: set up a budget to minimize debts.
• Self care: proper sleep, healthy diet, physical exercise can help with overall health.
• Seek social support among family and friends.
• Family conflict: one of the best ways to resolve conflicts include taking a proactive position and discussing it.
• Use the holiday season as a learning experience and plan to do things differently next year.
• Remind yourself of the things you enjoyed over the season.
• New Year’s resolutions: many people make resolutions and wish to make improvements, but then abandon their resolutions and feel guilty, discouraged, and sad for not accomplishing their goals, which can increase stress.
• Remember that keeping New Year’s resolutions is a process and not a one time effort
• Set realistic goals and expectations
• Complete one goal at a time
• Use social support, keep track of your progress, focus on benefits of improvement/changing/praise self for each step completed
• Think of resolutions as opportunities