Most wonderful time of year, my foot—keep the change you filthy animal!

As a therapist, I have a front-row seat to the pitfalls and perils of the holiday season. A candy cane of toxic positivity up the nose, it drones on: Be cheerful, be happy, be bright, no matter the challenges of living in a world south of the North Pole.

And while we’re up there, don't tell Santa I stole this line from a movie: Family is complicated. They tear your heart apart when you most need them and leave you home alone to figure it all out.

It’s why each year, I recommend a revisit to the Christmas classic of an 8-year-old boy left to fend for himself and become the unlikely hero of a story gone wrong.

You’d think like a good psychologist, I would focus on the resourcefulness and pluck of Kevin McCallister. Nah, let’s be bad. Most of what’s truly magical about Home Alone happens within the first 10 minutes.

Misunderstood, passed over, mocked, and belittled, Kevin is viewed as a nuisance for expressing his........

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