Child therapist engaging in play therapy with a young child using two dollhouses placed side by side to represent her two homes after divorce. The warm, supportive therapy setting highlights child-centered counseling, emotional processing, and healthy adjustment for children navigating co-parenting and family transitions.

Winter can quietly deplete emotional and cognitive reserves for both children and adults. Reduced sunlight, disrupted routines, and lower baseline energy can make regulation and transitions feel more effortful—often for understandable physiological and psychological reasons. Integrating supportive medical approaches alongside therapy can help restore balance and resilience.

Impulse control is often misunderstood. We think of it as something we either have or don’t have, but in reality, it’s more like a muscle that strengthens with use. When we experience an urge—whether to check our phones for the tenth time in an hour, interrupt a conversation, or eat out of boredom—our brain is reacting automatically, seeking quick relief. The key is learning how to pause and engage with that impulse in a new way, rather than simply acting on it.