{"id":283860,"date":"2025-11-26T06:18:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T06:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/283860\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T06:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T06:18:07","slug":"gray-rocking-strategy-can-help-reduce-family-stress-at-holiday-gatherings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/283860\/","title":{"rendered":"Gray rocking strategy can help reduce family stress at holiday gatherings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The holidays<\/a> are a time of merriment, festivity \u2014 and, for many, tense family gatherings.<\/p>\n

People think, \u201d\u2019How do I deal with relatives who, at times, are intrusive or trigger me or say things that are abusive?\u201d said Mark Rapaport, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association. <\/p>\n

When trying to defuse stressful family dynamics<\/a>, some people use a strategy called \u201cgray rocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

The point is to \u201cact boring, like a gray rock,\u201d said Samantha Whiten, a Maryland-based clinical psychologist. \u201cYou do not give difficult people any potential ammunition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is gray rocking actually a smart way to survive the holiday season? Here\u2019s what experts said.<\/p>\n

When it can be helpful<\/p>\n

The gray rock method is perhaps best known as a tool for managing interactions with narcissistic, manipulative or otherwise toxic individuals. But it doesn\u2019t have to be so extreme. It can be deployed \u201cin any situation where you are trying to minimize conflict with somebody who you have to interact with,\u201d Whiten said.<\/p>\n

When gray rocking, you\u2019re purposely making yourself uninteresting by politely offering short, non-committal responses rather than getting sucked into a high-drama exchange. The idea is to deprive the other person of the attention or reaction they want, prompting them to move on. <\/p>\n

Imagine you\u2019re invited to a holiday party with your whole family \u2014 including Uncle Bob, who gets under your skin. You don\u2019t want to skip the party outright; you just want to de-escalate conversations with Bob so you can enjoy your evening. That\u2019s where gray rocking might come in.<\/p>\n

This article is part of AP\u2019s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.<\/a><\/p>\n

Maybe Bob corners you to talk politics. In previous years, you might have taken the bait and ended up in a shouting match. But when gray rocking, you\u2019d sidestep conflict with a bland response, like, \u201cInteresting opinion. How\u2019s work?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rapaport said he\u2019s not aware of published research on the technique\u2019s efficacy, but said its objectives make sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the keys in circumstances like this is not to emotionally engage,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

And when gray rocking hurts<\/p>\n

Gray rocking can be helpful in a pinch. But particularly when practiced regularly, it can come at a cost to your emotional health<\/a> and relationships, warned Darlene Lancer, a California-based marriage and family therapist.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a while, people get numb,\u201d Lancer said. \u201cThey start shutting down to their own feelings of hurt or anger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strategy can create distance between you and your loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t recommend it, really, in a relationship that you want to last and grow,\u201d Lancer said. If you care about the long-term health of a relationship, \u201cthe ideal is always to be more authentic\u201d and talk through your issues, she said. (And of course, if a relationship is truly harmful or dangerous, it may be best to leave it or limit contact.) <\/p>\n

Even in the short-term, stonewalling someone may anger or upset them, particularly if they didn\u2019t realize their comments bothered you in the first place, Rapaport added. Great Aunt Sally may think she\u2019s just making friendly conversation when she asks, yet again, when you\u2019re going to have kids, even if it feels like an attack to you.<\/p>\n

Polite directness may get you further in these situations, Rapaport said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you acknowledge it and say, \u2018I hear what you want to talk about, but it\u2019s not something I want to discuss at this time,\u2019\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n

Go in with a game plan<\/p>\n

To set yourself up for success at gray rocking, plan ahead. \u201cPeople really do well with having a specific goal,\u201d Whiten said, so think about exactly how you\u2019d like to handle difficult situations likely to arise at your gatherings. That way, when the moment comes, you can fall back on your plan instead of responding emotionally.<\/p>\n

Consider which interactions tend to be hardest for you, and think of a few placid responses to keep in your back pocket. This can be as simple as responding to your mother\u2019s unsolicited advice with a neutral comment like, \u201cThanks, I\u2019ll think about it,\u201d instead of snapping, Lancer said.<\/p>\n

You might also recruit similarly minded loved ones to help if things start to get heated, Rapaport suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cContact folks ahead of time and say, \u2018Hey, if you see this happening with me, pull me away,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Make sure to keep drug and alcohol consumption in check, since substances make it much harder to keep a level head.<\/p>\n

Finally, try to focus on the good \u2014 the people who you do want to see at the party \u2014 and channel a little empathy toward the difficult figures in your life, Rapaport said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese actions that trigger huge emotional responses in you may be a little less likely to do so because you\u2019re thinking about their vulnerability, their weaknesses, their inability to know how to engage with others,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

A little generosity of spirit can go a long way. It is the holidays, after all.<\/p>\n

\u2014-<\/p>\n

For more AP Be Well stories, go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/be-well.<\/a> For more AP holiday stories, go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The holidays are a time of merriment, festivity \u2014 and, for many, tense family gatherings. People think, \u201d\u2019How…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[21473,115712,232,102,655,115711,1906,6623,20495,115710,6943,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-283860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-be-well","9":"tag-darlene-lancer","10":"tag-general-news","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-lifestyle","13":"tag-mark-rapaport","14":"tag-mental-health","15":"tag-mentalhealth","16":"tag-psychotherapy","17":"tag-samantha-whiten","18":"tag-u-s-news","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}