Reclaiming Christmas: Four Dimensions of Healing (Unabridged‪)‬

Alexandra had always loved so much about Christmas—the beauty, the joy, the magical feeling that it brought. It felt like all sorts of amazing things were possible which wouldn’t seem reasonable at other times of year. She loved the thoughtful present giving, the festive songs and films, the sparkly decorations, the mouth-watering food–and that warm and fuzzy feeling of being with special people at a special time.

But this joy was stolen from her by emotional abuse from her father. She faced this throughout her life, and Christmas was often a particular flashpoint—to the extent that it became an incredibly anxious period of time that she aimed to simply get through with as few scars as possible, rather than a celebration to be savored. As the relationship with her father worsened, she got to the point where she couldn’t even participate in Christmas—no decorations, no presents, no fun and games. She just couldn’t do it.

After her sad but inevitable estrangement from her father, she decided that enough was enough—Christmas was her season just as much as anyone else’s, and why should she allow her father to take that joy away from her?

She took everything that she had learned about healing and embarked on a project to reclaim the season as her own. This book tells the story of how she did that—by liberating her mind, emotions, body and spirit.

This book aims to be helpful to anyone who has found that their love of Christmas has become sullied. Perhaps by grief or loss, which can be even harder to bear at Christmas time. Or perhaps by intense pressures and expectations from others, or the memory of something hard that happened during a previous Christmas time. Or, like Alexandra, a tough ongoing family relationship, at a time when we are told we are supposed to cherish the opportunity to spend time with our loved ones.

Whatever your reason for finding the prospect of Christmas hard, this book is intended to provide you with a beacon of hope—that it is indeed possible to reclaim the season you have loved!