A Christmas lighthouse circle: Keeping the light on through Christmas

A Christmas lighthouse circle: Keeping the light on through Christmas
A special live Christmas gathering with Karen Woodall

Saturday 19 December 2026

This seminar will be delivered on Zoom between 09:00 and 11:00 UK Time.

We advise you to check your local start time. To do so, please click the link below, ensure ‘Date’ is selected, and enter 09:00 - 2026-12-19 - London in the right-hand boxes, here: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter *

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FREE EVENT

T&Cs: Please read our terms and conditions here

* we are unable to offer refunds for events you have missed.

About this circle 

Christmas can magnify everything
The empty chair. The unanswered message. The traditions which no longer happen. The presents which cannot be given. The photographs of other families celebrating together. For parents who are living with the rejection or absence of a child, Christmas can bring grief very close to the surface. So, before we close our doors for the Christmas break, we are going to gather together for a special Christmas Lighthouse Circle. 

This is not a seminar and there is nothing you need to prepare. It is simply a place to come together with other parents who understand. 

Karen will help us think about how we navigate the festive period without becoming overwhelmed by absence. We will talk about the difficult questions Christmas brings. Do I send a card or present? What do I write if I know I may receive nothing in return? How do I manage the hope that 'perhaps this Christmas will be different?' What do I do with photographs, memories and family traditions? How do I cope when everyone around me appears to be celebrating? And perhaps, most importantly,  how do I allow myself to have a Christmas too? Because loving an absent child does not require you to spend Christmas standing at the window waiting for them. 

A light in the window
The Lighthouse Keeping approach asks us to find a position which is neither pursuit nor disappearance. We remember. We leave the door psychologically open. We send a signal when it is right to do so. And then we return to the people, places and experiences which are available to us now. There can be sadness at Christmas and laughter. There can be someone missing and people who are present. There can be grief for what should have been and gratitude for what still is. Holding both is part of keeping the light on. 

Come As You Are
There will be some guidance from Karen, time for reflection and plenty of space for conversation with one another. Bring a cup of tea, coffee, mulled wine or whatever feels Christmassy to you. Bring your sadness if it is there. Bring your hope if that is there, too. And bring yourself. For a little while, nobody in this Circle will have to explain why Christmas can be complicated. We already know. 

The Christmas lighthouse circle is a special live gathering with Karen Woodall. A warm, supportive space for parents in the rejected position as we prepare for Christmas. Keep the light in the window. Remember the child who is absent. And remember to live amongst those who are here.  

Please read our terms and conditions here:
https://www.familyseparationclinic.com/parenting/group-work-t-and-c-1/

About Karen Woodall 
Karen Woodall is a qualified psychotherapist who has worked with alienated children for over fifteen years. Drawing upon her psychotherapeutic experience as well as her research and direct work with alienated children in recovery, Karen offers unique insights into the world that the alienated child inhabits whilst helping you to understand how to build a path for the child to walk upon to return to you. Beyond that, Karen will assist you to understand the alienated child in recovery and their unique needs for longer term therapeutic parenting which helps them to integrate all of the lost parts of self. Karen offers a wealth of knowledge and experience from her direct work with families to help them to integrate and recover from this serious trauma. Her online courses, seminars, and courses offer an experiential, warm and effective opportunity to create your own positive outcomes for your alienated child(ren). Karen's new parenting handbook, The Journey of the Alienated Child, will be published later in 2026.