The Musical Antidote to aBlue Christmas

As we stare at the tail end of 2025 while simultaneously stumbling through a sea of various holiday celebrations, it can feel complicated. But, if you identify with this sentiment, know that there is a way to soften the impact. Consider this to be a music themed part II to my previously written entry, “Coping Your Way Through the Holidays.”

According to Starcke and Von Georgi, among many other music therapy researchers, the iso principle is an incredibly effective way to modulate your emotional state. Practically speaking, this means one will, “[...] start listening to music that is congruent with their current (undesired) state, and gradually shift to listening to music that represents a desired state.” Essentially, if you are feeling sad but want to feel happy, step one for utilizing the iso principle is to validate the sadness by listening to sad music before attempting to unpack your usual upbeat jams.

Here’s a Christmas themed example:

1. “Silent Night” by Julian Koster

2. “Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)” by Vince Guaraldi Trio

3. “The Christmas Waltz” by She & Him

4. “The Christmas Song” by The Princeton Nassoons

5. “Christmas Wrapping” The Waitresses

6. “Sleigh Ride” by Squirrel Nut Zippers

Give it a listen and notice how it affects you. There are no wrong answers either!

Now that you have a better idea about how this works and how it might specifically impact you, try making your own with New Year’s themed tunes! If nothing else, the moral of the story is whatever you may be feeling is completely valid AND it’s ok to feel your way through it. Know that there’s a strong possibility of something pleasant on the other side too.

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Kim Johnson, LMHC, MT-BC, is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) and board certified music therapist (MT-BC) who graduated with her master’s from Lesley University in 2017. She has experience with adults and adolescents in group private practice and community mental health settings. The levels of care she has worked in are outpatient, with both individual and group therapy and in partial hospital programs for mental health and substance use disorders. Additionally, she has had intensive training in dialectical behavioral therapy and cognitive processing therapy for PTSD.

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