Not Home for the Holidays
A 4-week container for the heart-weary
navigating strained or complicated family relationships—
who are done performing joy and ready to find it for real.Four Sundays: December 14, 21, 28 & January 4, 20261:00-2:30pm PST | 2:00-3:30pm MST | 3:00-4:30pm CST | 4:00-5:30pm EST
You know the feeling.
Early December...
The plastic wreaths are out at the grocery store. The PA system loops the same twelve songs you've been conditioned to associate with family togetherness you've never quite had—or had to leave behind to survive. The giant bag of Reese’s peanut butter chocolate trees is looking mighty tempting.Maybe you're estranged from your family—maybe disaffected, distanced, discontented. Maybe you're technically “in touch" but you have to mask who you are to sit at the table. Maybe you lost loved ones to politics, to rigidity, to the simple fact that they couldn't love the real you.Maybe you’ve created a family you love—but the memories of holidays past—and the grief for what never will be—casts a shadow on the season.Or maybe your nervous system just can't take one more “But it's family!" or “It's the most wonderful time of year!" when for you, it can often be the loneliest—even in a crowded room.The expectations. The performance. The FOMO scrolling past everyone else's picture-perfect holiday tables while you're trying to figure out how to get through the next six weeks without completely unraveling; the sunset at 4:30 doesn’t help matters.You may be tempted to reach for comforts that might be our own personal poisons. You may be taking it one day at a time—which is the best any of us can do, really.You're smart. You're creative. You’ve been doing the work, building a life that’s actually yours—on your own terms. Maybe you're still figuring it out (actually…we all are).But the holidays? They hit different.And this year, you're tired of white-knuckling it alone.
Here's the truth:
Joy is your birthright.
Not the performative, Instagram-story kind.Not the kind you have to earn by pretending everything's fine.The real kind.The kind that comes when you're finally, fully seen.When you're in a room (okay, a Zoom) with people
who get it.
Who've lived it.Who aren't trying to fix you or rush you through your grief—but who also aren't interested in staying stuck in the mire of trauma bonding.You don't have to choose between honoring what's hard and finding what's good.You can hold both.And in the holding, something new becomes possible.A home you can carry with you.
One that lives in your own heart, your own skin, your own strange and sacred–and maybe even subversive!—way of being in the world.Your misery doesn't change the world.
Your joy does.And this year, joy can be your subversive resistance—
to tyranny,
to shame,
to every voice (inner or outer)
that ever told you that you don't belong.
You belong here
Not Home for the Holidays
A 4-session group container for people who’ve had or have estranged, strained, or complicated family relationships during the season that's supposed to be about “togetherness."If you feel like you’re…“too much” or “too little,"
neurodivergent or neurotypical,in relationships unconventional, conventional, or none at all,
if you’re the one who left or was left,if your life came with plot twists you didn’t sign up for…
if you’re cursed with depth and tired of pretending…You’re not alone–you’re in the right place.
Practice something radical:
Be fully yourself,
hold the hurt,
and find joy anyway.
Not joy despite the hard stuff.
Joy with it.Joy.Where you don't have to edit, explain, or perform.
We meet on four Sunday afternoons
Inside, you will...
→ Discover practices and playful, subversive tools to help you find what's actually keeping you stuck (it's not always what we think!)→ Connect with others who know what it's like to be on the outside looking in—and who are ready to build something new together→ Learn how to make “home" something you carry with you, not something you lost or never had→ Explore the myths and stories of the season in fresh ways—finding your own star, your own companions, your own route home→ Resourced from each session with practical tools you can use right away: journaling prompts, somatic practices, reframes that actually workYou'll walk away from this container with more than coping strategies.
You'll walk away knowing that wherever you are, you belong.To the people who see you.
To this wild, weird, beautiful world.
To yourself.
What's Included
Four 75-minute live group sessions via Zoom
Sundays, December 14, 21, 28, and January 4
Join from the comfort of your own space—wherever that is!Access to session replays
Can't make it live?
Every session is recorded so you can watch on your own time.Three bonus practices & resources
After each of the first three sessions, you'll receive a bonus handout with tools to deepen the work between sessions.Private Telegram community
A space to connect, share, ask questions, and stay in touch beyond the live calls. Because sometimes the magic happens in the margins.
This container is for you if...
→ You are or have been estranged from family—or you're technically in touch but have to mask or perform to be around them.→ You're neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, navigating addiction or recovery, have a mood disorder or trauma history, or live in unconventional relationship structures (we're gender affirming, kink-positive, and poly-aware!)→ You're smart, creative, often on the margins, and tired of the
“just be grateful" / “forgive and move on" advice that doesn't fit your reality→ You want to connect with others who get it—
but you're NOT interested in just sitting around being sad together→ You're ready to find joy, wonder, and home within yourself—not as spiritual bypassing, but as medicine and resistance→ You want real connection, but the pressure and overwhelm of this time of year—or the lack of places to go—makes it hard to find→ You want to believe that your complexity, your feelings, your story isn't “too much"—but it's exactly what's needed.
This is not for you if...
→ You're looking for clinical therapy or treatment for acute mental health crises (we're both experienced clinicians, but this is a group container, not therapy)→ You want someone to fix you, rush you through your feelings, or offer platitudes about forgiveness and family→ You're uncomfortable with language like “existential," “embodied," “sacred," or “turn-on" (we speak from the body here, from what's deeper than logic)→ You need everything to be neat, linear, or perfectly professional
(this is for the messy middle, for holy wildness, for work that doesn't always make sense yet but insists on being born)→ You're trying to get it “right" instead of getting real
The details
Four Sundays:
December 14, 21, 28, and January 4, 2026Times:
1:00pm PST
2:00pm MST
3:00pm CST
4:00pm ESTPlatform:
Zoom (link provided upon registration)Replays:
All sessions recorded and availableInvestment:
$375Early bird discount:
Save $50 through December 10th
with code ibelonghere
FAQs
What if I can't attend all four sessions live?
Every session is recorded and you'll have access to the replays. That said, there's real magic in showing up live when you can—being witnessed and witnessing others is part of the medicine.I'm nervous about joining a group. What if I don't fit in?
If you're asking this question, you probably belong here. This is a space designed for people who've spent their whole lives feeling like they don't quite fit. Your nervousness is welcome. Your silence is welcome. Your participation is welcome. You get to show up however you need to—however you want to.Is this therapy?
No. While both facilitators are experienced clinicians (Teri is a minister, Jenny is a social worker), this is an educational and experiential group container, not therapy. If you're in acute crisis, we encourage you to connect with a therapist or crisis line.What's the refund policy?
We don't offer refunds except in extreme circumstances where we would need to cancel the program. By registering, you're committing to the container. That said, life happens—if you can't attend live, you'll have replay access.What do I need to participate?
Just yourself, an internet connection, and a willingness to show up. We'll send you details after you register about how to make yourself comfortable for the sessions.I haven't done a lot of therapy or recovery work. Will I still fit in?
Absolutely. This container welcomes you wherever you are in your journey. There's no prerequisite level of “work" required—just a willingness to be present and curious.
Your guides
I'm Teri. Minister, magickian, and former hospice chaplain. I used to help people die; now I help them live. Mother, professional patient, yoga practitioner. I help unconventional people find the sacred in unconventional ways—especially when “home" never quite fit.
I'm Jenny. Jungian therapist and former inner-city special education teacher, mapping the unseen currents of family systems and the collective soul. Mother, improviser, student of sacred jokes and spontaneous truths—here for the ones navigating complex family dynamics who are done performing and ready for real connection.
You've been carrying this alone long enough.
But here's what we know...
You don't need to find your way back to a home that never fit.You need to build one that does.
And you don't have to build it alone.
Trouble shared is trouble halved.
The holidays don't have to be something you survive.
They can be something you transform.