Celebrating holidays in a cross-cultural, multicultural context. The holidays are often imagined as a time of warmth, closeness, and togetherness. Family meals, familiar traditions, shared memories. But when you’re living abroad, the holidays can feel very different, quieter, heavier, or emotionally confusing in ways you didn’t expect. If you’re celebrating the holidays away from your family, you’re not doing it “wrong.” You’re navigating a very real psychological experience

Celebrating the holidays at Xochimilco. Our 2025 Hola Therapy Recap...  2025 was an interesting year for us here at Hola Therapy. For the first time in 20 years, I (Jenna) stopped direct clinical work. It was an emotional and difficult decision. That change meant two things. 1) Much more clinical supervision to support the team and 2) more administration - like banking and bureaucracy (guácala!). The latter was necessary, but I didn't find it fulfilling in the same way that c

When therapy can help a child Many expat/international/cross-cultural children and adolescents experience periods of sadness, stress, or struggle. Most of the time, this is transient and can pass on its own without professional intervention. Adults, teachers, school counsellors and others are often expecting a period of adjustment when a child is transitioning to a new country or feels pulled between two worlds. Every move, change or challenge doesn't necessarily dictate a ne

By Rebecca Bacon Ehlers News burnout is a common issue these days, and that’s no surprise: our information environments operate on a scale that dwarfs our human emotional and mental capacity. Our nervous systems are designed to empathize and connect when people in our community suffer so that we will be motivated to help them. The system functions beautifully at that level. For example, say I hear that my friend is ill. My natural empathetic response is to feel a range of emo