The Quiet Collapse of Helping Professionals in December
- Presidential Consultants
- Dec 11
- 5 min read
December has a way of asking more from helping professionals than any other month of the year. Workloads intensify. Emotions run high. Families need more. Communities need more. The people we serve are navigating their own grief, pressure, or loneliness. And somewhere inside all of that, many of us whisper the same quiet promise to ourselves.
“I’ll rest when the year ends.”
But the truth is that most of us never get that rest. We push through December on fumes, and then we enter January already carrying the weight of the year before. As a therapist, I have watched this pattern unfold again and again. And as a husband, a father of two, and a human being who tries to give his best to the world, I have lived it myself.
My December Always Begins Early
I love my work, and I love my family. But as soon as Thanksgiving passes, I feel December humming in the background. My wife and I begin juggling schedules, holiday events, childcare, end-of-year responsibilities, and our own hopes for how we want the season to feel for our family. The pace shifts dramatically, even when we try to keep things simple.
And layered beneath all of that movement is a quiet sadness I carry every year. My grandfather, who was my best friend, passed away several decades ago. He was the heartbeat of our holidays. He loved the music, the food, the traditions. He loved watching his family gather. December holds so many memories of him that it brings a warmth and an ache at the same time.
I feel the loss most when I slow down, which means I rarely feel it at all in December. Like so many people in helping roles, I stay busy enough to keep the ache contained. I stay productive enough to avoid looking at the weight I’m carrying.
Even as a therapist, even with all the tools I know, December is a month that requires work to navigate. Not the work I get paid to do. The internal work of holding space for my own humanity.
Why December Breaks So Many of Us Down
Over the years, I’ve noticed a pattern with my clients, my colleagues, and myself. December is one of the most emotionally demanding months for people who help others for a living. There are a few reasons for that.
First, our emotional calendars are crowded. We are carrying the feelings, needs, and expectations of the people we serve and the people we love.
Second, our physical calendars are crowded. We move from meeting to meeting, commitment to commitment, responsibility to responsibility, without the space to breathe.
Third, the holidays intensify everything. Joy feels bigger. Stress feels bigger. Grief feels sharper. Loneliness gets louder.
And fourth, we rely on the belief that we can push through because the year is almost over.
But burnout doesn’t begin in January. It begins in December, when we ignore how depleted we are because we think we can outrun our exhaustion.
If this feels familiar, you are not alone. You are not failing. You are human. Feeling stretched thin as the year ends? There is space for you. Why I Created a December Reset
There came a year when I realized I couldn’t keep ending my years this way. Too tired. Too stretched. Too numb. Too overwhelmed to enjoy the moments that were supposed to feel meaningful.
I saw the same thing in my clients. In my teams. In the leaders I support. People walking into January exhausted, discouraged, and carrying an emotional load that made the new year feel heavy before it even started.
So I began exploring ways to help people interrupt that pattern. Not with resolutions. Not with pressure. Not with another task to add to their calendar.
What we needed was something gentler.
A pause.
A breath.
A guided moment to release the weight of the year and step into the next one with intention.
A practical compassion intervention.
A space where people could reflect, reset, and reconnect with who they want to be in the year ahead.
Need an hour to breathe before the year ends? That’s why I created our December WorkWell Live session.
Before the Ball Drops: Resetting for a Powerful New Year
On Wednesday, December 17th, 2025, from 12:15 PM to 1:00 PM ET, I will be facilitating our final WorkWell Live session of the year.
It’s called Before the Ball Drops: Resetting for a Powerful New Year, and it is designed specifically for helping professionals, caregivers, teachers, social workers, counselors, and leaders who spend all year showing up for others.
This 45-minute virtual experience is:
a guided exhale
a moment of grounding
a chance to release what no longer serves you
a doorway into a healthier emotional start to 2026
There’s no preparation. No pressure. No perfection required. Just a space for you to reconnect with yourself before the year turns. Ready for a reset that actually sticks? Why This Hour Matters More Than You Think
When we enter January carrying unprocessed stress, grief, fatigue, or frustration, it affects everything:
our decisions
our relationships
our confidence
our clarity
our capacity to care for others
But when we take a single hour in December to pause, breathe, and realign, something shifts.
We begin the year with more steadiness. More spaciousness. More clarity about who we are and how we want to show up.
I have needed this hour so many times in my own life.
I created it because I know what it feels like to enter January empty.
And I do not want that for you.
Take one hour to protect your energy for the year ahead. Your Invitation to the Final WorkWell Live of the Year
I want you to hear this clearly.
Whether you have a subscription or not.
Whether you have joined us before or this is your first time.
This one is for you.
It is the last WorkWell Live session of the year, and I am inviting you personally to join me.
Come breathe for a moment.
Come release what you no longer need.
Come enter 2026 with a lighter spirit and a clearer path.
Jake Ross is a seasoned therapist and leadership consultant who has spent more than two decades helping people navigate the emotional demands of working in human services. With experience across behavioral health, foster care, and community-based programs, Jake has supported thousands of professionals who carry the weight of others’ stories while managing their own.
As both a clinician and consultant, Jake brings a calm, practical approach to understanding stress, burnout, and the quiet pressures that build inside helping roles. His work blends relational insight with real-world strategy, giving leaders and frontline staff the tools to stay grounded without losing their sense of purpose.
Jake is known for his authenticity and for the way he weaves personal experience with clinical expertise. He creates environments where people feel seen, supported, and equipped to care for their own wellbeing while continuing to make a meaningful impact in the lives of others.
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