This guest post is written by Mary Jo Rapini, MEd, LPC.  Mary Jo is highly respected in her profession and has been on TLC’s new series, Big Medicine which completed season one and two. She is also a contributing expert for Cosmopolitan magazine, Women’s Health, First, and Seventeen magazines. In 2010 Mary Jo will be a contributing expert for Redbook and Self Magazine “Love and Relationship” section. Mary Jo is a “City Bright” writer for the Houston Chronicle, and is a contributing columnist to HealthNewsDigest.com and “Ask Mary Jo” in Houston Family Magazine. She is an intimacy and sex counselor, and specializes in empowering relationships in her private practice. She is the Intimacy/Sex psychotherapist for the Pelvic restorative center at Methodist Hospital since 2007 in conjunction with the Methodist Weight Management Center since 2005. Sit back and enjoy her wonderful post on how to get rid of Post Holiday Blues!  ~Kelli

Banishing the “Post Holiday Blues” by Preparing for Them Pre-Holiday

The worst thing about the holidays is having the “blues” after they are all over. The excitement of Santa, Hanukah, wonderful meals, and family gatherings all mean one thing: when it is over you are going to go back to your old boring routine and be in the same place you were prior to the holidays.

No matter how bad this gets it doesn’t have to continue. You can begin now to plan for a new and brighter post holiday. It may take some changing on your part, as well as your whole family, but you all may start the New Year feeling better about yourselves. One of the most important ingredients missing post-holiday is structure. The holidays are spontaneous with family or friends that may spend the night so your routine is put on hold. Structure will make you feel grounded again and help you focus on your goals for the New Year. The other ingredient missing post-holiday is the anticipation of something exciting happening. The holidays are all about excitement and enjoying time together with family and friends. When everyone goes back to work there is an empty feeling that leaves you feeling lackluster about your life.

Begin today preparing for post holiday blues:

1. Plan a trip with you and your family for February. It can be a weekend in a hotel with a pool or a getaway to a nearby city to visit a museum. Where you go isn’t important—what is important is that you begin to make plans so the whole family can look forward to it and begin saving money.
2. The day after the holidays are over begin to clean up the clutter. Clutter makes us feel unorganized and lazy. When you are cleaning it up you are teaching your children to take care of their things and also presenting order back into your home.
3. Look at your home and chose an area that needs to be re-painted or decorated. After the tree is down and or the ornaments are put away, begin working on that home. If you need more ideas spend time at the coffee shop thumbing through magazines looking for ideas.
4. Begin a new exercise program as soon as possible after the holidays. We all overeat and feel guilty about it. Kids feel better when they exercise and adults do too. It will get you all energized to begin the New Year on a healthy note.
5. Each person in the family should try a new hobby. This doesn’t have to be a New Year’s resolution, but rather a redirection of your interests. Learning to knit after Christmas is not only a great new hobby, but it is inexpensive and there is still enough time to make a blanket to snuggle in before spring.
6. Lastly, chose one book that you save to read for the first day of the New Year. Try to choose a book that is symbolic or meaningful to your life. Bring your children in by suggesting this as a new tradition for the New Year. Sometimes the best way to a new way of living is to read about someone else who has struggled and done something fascinating with their life.

Post-holiday blues are a state of mind—not something abnormal we are going through. With a little foresight you can change your state of mind and post-holiday can transition into one of your favorite aspects of the holidays. –Mary Jo Rapini LPC- (Licensed Professional Counselor)

Mary Jo is a popular speaker across the nation, with multiple repeat requests to serve as key-note speaker for national conferences. Her dynamic style is particularly engaging for those dealing with intimacy issues and relationship challenges, or those simply hanging on to unasked questions about sex in relationships. She was recently a major participant in a symposium for young girls dealing with body image and helping girls become strong women. Rapini is the author of Is God Pink? Dying to Heal and co-author of Start Talking: A Girl’s Guide for You and Your Mom about Health, Sex or Whatever. Mary Jo has a show on Wednesdays 9 to 10 AM on Fox Local TV. She also has appeared on television programs including CNN Prime News, CBS up to the Minute, Montel, Fox National Morning News and various Houston television and radio programs. Keep up with the latest advice at http://maryjorapini.com