Feeling Overwhelmed After the Holidays? You’re Not Alone.
The holidays are over.
The decorations may or may not be packed away. The routines are supposed to be back. The calendar is filling up again. And yet, for many people, there’s no sense of relief or renewal that the new year promises. You have an uneasy feeling that lingers. This feeling may even be challenging to name.
If the last few days have felt harder than you expected, you’re not imagining it. And you’re not failing at “doing the new year right.”
Sometimes feelings of overwhelm don’t present themselves during the holidays. They show up afterwards. I wrote about this in a previous blog, A Guide To Navigating Mental Health During The Holidays.
When the crash comes after the season ends
During the holidays, there’s often a lot to manage, such as family dynamics, travel, expectations, and emotional landmines. Even joy can feel demanding when it comes with pressure to perform or hold everything together.
When it’s all happening at once, your nervous system may stay in go-mode. You do what needs to be done. You put on a brave face and push through, no matter how you feel.
Then January arrives.
Life calms down, and our schedules return to normal. And suddenly, there’s space to feel what’s been slowly bubbling beneath the surface.
That’s when many people notice:
A sense of emotional exhaustion
Difficulty focusing or motivating themselves
Irritability that feels out of proportion
A desire to withdraw or be alone more than usual
A feeling of being behind before the year has even really started
None of this means that you’re failing or that you’ve done anything wrong, even though you may be telling yourself the opposite. It often means that the stress of the holidays is finally catching up.
“It’s a new year. Shouldn’t I feel excited?”
This is one of the most common questions people ask themselves in January.
The holidays are over. The new year has begun, and there’s a cultural expectation that this is the moment to feel refreshed, hopeful, or energized.
But as complex human beings, our emotional recovery doesn’t follow a calendar.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, it doesn’t mean you did the holidays wrong or that you’re starting the year off poorly. It means you’re human and you’re exhausted from navigating your life on autopilot.
Forcing yourself into optimism is painful and unrealistic, and is the breeding ground for toxic positivity.
You’re allowed to start where you are by acknowledging and honoring how you really feel.
What overwhelm can look like in the new year
Post-holiday overwhelm can be subtle. Sometimes it feels like being tired in a way that doesn’t ease up when we rest. Othertimes, it looks like frustration, numbness, or a low-level sense of anxiety that is lingering in the background.
You might notice yourself thinking:
“I just don’t have the energy I thought I’d have by now.”
“Everyone else seems ready to move forward, and I’m not.”
“I feel behind already.”
If that resonates, pause for a moment and journal your responses to the following questions.
What do you feel?
What do you need?
And what would it look like to tend to that instead of pushing past it?
Your honest responses to these questions will begin to reveal a powerful path forward.
Don’t just take my word for it, try it and see for yourself.
Why this is often a time people seek support
I’ve been a therapist for over 20 years, and I’ve noticed an interesting trend. This is often a season when many people begin counseling in Maryland. They seek counseling not because they’re in crisis, but because the distractions have fallen away.
The holidays can keep us so busy that we avoid certain feelings. January invites reflection, whether we’re ready for it or not.
In therapy, this is often when people begin to notice patterns:
How much they’ve been giving from their cup without refilling it
Where their boundaries loosened out of necessity
What they’ve been holding together in silence
As well as what no longer feels sustainable
If you’ve been having these experiences feel familiar, please know that you don’t need to feel pressured to fix yourself or reinvent your life. This is simply a time to slow things down enough to listen to what’s already trying to get your attention.
What starting therapy can look like right now
If you’re considering therapy in this moment, it doesn’t have to be extremely painful or overwhelming. You don’t need to have a polished explanation for how you’re feeling.
It also doesn’t mean that you have to unpack your entire life in one session.
We start where you are.
That might mean:
Talking about how drained you feel
Finding the words to describe what’s been missing in your life
Exploring what you want this year to feel like, not what it “should” look like
Identifying small, supportive shifts that would support you in feeling more grounded
Therapy can be steady, gentle, and compassionate. A place where you don’t have to rush to clarity or pretend you’re fine. You do enough of that in the outside world. Therapy provides a safe space to explore how you really feel and to create a powerful path forward with grounded and professional support.
You’re allowed to move gently into the year
There’s a lot of pressure to hit the ground running in January. You may feel pressured to set goals to optimize or improve yourself.
The truth is, you’re a complex human being (not a human doing) who sometimes requires gentleness and calm.
Take a break from believing that this season has to be about creating momentum.
What if it’s about integration — letting your body and mind catch up with everything you’ve just moved through?
Instead, you can choose to:
Ease into the year
Take inventory instead of setting resolutions
Prioritize getting support
Starting counseling in Maryland at the beginning of the year can be a way to honor that slower, more authentic pace.
A few reminders if things feel challenging right now
You are absolutely not behind.
You’re doing the best you can, and that’s ok for now.
You don’t have to fill your day with accomplishments to be allowed rest.
Support isn’t something you earn after burning out. You can choose it now.
Support is available to you
If the days since the holidays have felt rough, scattered, or emotionally tense, you’re not alone. Many people are feeling the same way but aren’t likely to talk about it or post it on their social media feeds.
Counseling in Maryland can be a supportive place to pause, reflect, and reconnect with yourself.
If that sounds like something you need, I’d be honored to support you.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation
You don’t have to speed past your feelings as you rush into the new year.
In fact, I don’t recommend it because those feelings tend to later resurface as anxiety, overwhelm, and discontent.
I encourage you to enter the new year with gentleness and care.
About the author
Danielle Hatchell, LCPC, is a Maryland-based therapist and founder of Expanding Growth Counseling and Wellness, LLC, with over 20 years of experience supporting people through life’s most challenging moments. She works with highly sensitive individuals and professionals who are navigating the challenge of showing up for others while staying connected to themselves. Danielle’s holistic approach blends traditional talk therapy with spirituality, meditation, and breathwork. She offers practical tools and effective strategies to manage anxiety and find balance. Her work honors the whole person, mind, body, and spirit. You can learn more about her work here.
