The holidays can be beautiful—and deeply tender. In this episode of Not That Girl Anymore, Dawn Bouillion is joined by Dottie Griffin and Ashley Woodard for an honest conversation about braving the holidays with gentleness, presence, and self-compassion.

They explore grief, pressure, people-pleasing, and the longing for connection, while offering grounding practices and reminders that your worth isn’t earned through performance. This episode is a soft place to land—permission to slow down, protect your peace, and honor where you are.

You’re not alone. You don’t have to be perfect. And you’re braving this season in real time.

The holidays can magnify loss, heartache, and the lives we no longer have. In this episode of Not That Girl Anymore, Dawn Bouillion—trauma therapist and coach—speaks gently and honestly about grief during the holidays.

This episode is for anyone:

• Missing a loved one
• Grieving a relationship, marriage, or version of life that’s gone
• Feeling pressure to be “okay” when they’re not

Grief isn’t something we get over—it’s something we learn to carry. Together, we explore how to honor grief without judgment, create meaningful rituals, set boundaries, and care for your nervous system during a season that can feel overwhelming.

You are not broken. You are grieving—and that makes sense.

In this powerful episode of Not That Girl Anymore, trauma therapist and coach Dawn Boon unpacks why Christmas can feel overwhelming, heavy, or emotionally unsafe for survivors of narcissistic or dysregulated family systems.

If you feel that familiar knot in your stomach as the holidays approach, this conversation reminds you: you’re not imagining it, you’re not dramatic, and you’re not alone.

Dawn breaks down:

• Why the holidays activate old survival roles (caretaker, scapegoat, lost child, golden child)
• How narcissistic dynamics escalate around Christmas
• Why joy threatens a narcissist — and why your joy matters
• Trauma reactivation in the nervous system
• How guilt, confusion, and cognitive dissonance keep you stuck
• Real-life examples of emotional sabotage, chaos, triangulation, and boundary-punishment
• How to choose safety, boundaries, and self-care without apology

You’ll also learn practical tools to protect your peace this holiday season—lowering expectations, limiting exposure, regulating your body, and creating new rituals that honor your healing.

This Christmas, your healing, your peace, and your joy matter. And you're not that girl anymore.