During the holidays, the office party can feel like one more box to check, not a place where people actually connect. Yet our sense of belonging at work has a real impact on health, energy, and performance, especially at the end of the year.

In this episode of Friendship Matters, we talk with special guest Jana Boehmer from the Veterans Affairs Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation. Jana was tasked with bringing together a fully virtual team of seventy five people for a holiday celebration that was creative, inclusive, and genuinely meaningful. What she designed was so powerful that her colleagues are still talking about it.

You will hear:

• How a virtual holiday party became a shared experience that reduced loneliness and strengthened trust

• Simple prompts and rituals that help people share their real lives without putting anyone on the spot

• Practical ways leaders can model care, curiosity, and transparency so that employees feel heard, not managed

• Ideas to include people who do not celebrate traditional holidays or who may be grieving or isolated

• Why work and life are never completely separate, and what healthy work life integration really looks like

If you want your office holiday gathering to feel like more than awkward small talk, this conversation will give you concrete ideas to create connection, honor diverse stories, and build a workplace where people truly feel they belong.

Jana Boehmer serves in the Veterans Affairs Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, where she leads initiatives that strengthen employee wellbeing, connection, and whole health. With experience across both corporate and federal environments, Jana specializes in designing inclusive, human centered programs that bring people together across distance, roles, and diverse backgrounds. Her work focuses on creating meaningful experiences that support employee engagement, psychological safety, and a culture of belonging throughout the VA's nationwide system.

Connect with her on LinkedIn at Jana Boehmer MSM, RDN

©Friendship Institute 2025

Friendship Matters™ is intended to help improve our Friendship IQ. While this generally signals an improvement in our overall wellbeing, this podcast is not intended in any way to offer specific counseling or medical advice. Please seek help from a trained professional.

Family is not always defined by shared DNA. For many of us, the people who feel most like home are the friends who show up, celebrate with us, and stand beside us through every season. That becomes especially true during the holidays, when family expectations, distance, or loss can stir up complicated emotions and a deep sense of disconnection.

In this episode of Friendship Matters, Donna Brighton, Dr Russell Greenfield, and Lisa Grimes explore how intentional friendships can become your chosen family and offer a grounded sense of belonging. They share real stories and practical ideas for reshaping the holidays in ways that feel authentic, life giving, and kind to your nervous system.

You will hear:

• Why the holidays are so emotionally loaded, even for people who look "fine" on the outside

• How chosen family can expand, not replace, our idea of family and home

• Simple friendship traditions like Friendsgiving, question filled dinners, and shared service that deepen connection

• Ways to support friends who are grieving, alone, or far from home during this season

• How small invitations and intentional questions can transform a gathering from surface level chatter into meaningful connection

Listen if you have ever felt out of place at a holiday table, if you are far from family, or if you simply want your friendships to feel more like home, for you and for the people you love.

©Friendship Institute 2025

Friendship Matters™ is intended to help improve our Friendship IQ. While this generally signals an improvement in our overall wellbeing, this podcast is not intended in any way to offer specific counseling or medical advice. Please seek help from a trained professional.

This episode explains why holiday stress does more than tire you out. It actually disrupts the physiology that makes connection possible. Dr. Dael Waxman shows how small, intentional shifts can recalibrate your energy, reduce reactivity, and bring you back to what you wanted from this season in the first place. If you want to feel less drained and more genuinely connected during the holidays, these insights give you a practical way to get there.

In this episode, you will hear about:

• How chronic holiday stress affects your physiology, mood, and ability to connect, and why that is not a personal failure

• A simple practice of naming what gives you energy and what drains it, then reshaping your season around what truly matters

• Practical ways to reset your nervous system and your social life, from one minute mindfulness to tiny acts of kindness and connection at home, at work, and in your community

In this episode of Friendship Matters, we unpack what all the "overs" of the holidays do to our bodies and brains, why stress makes it harder to feel close to others, and how small, intentional choices can restore energy, connection, and joy. If the holidays tend to take more out of you than they give, this conversation offers realistic ways to reset without pretending the season is calm or simple.

Dael Waxman, MD, PCC is a professionally certified coach who works with individuals, groups, and teams to support leadership, life, and professional well-being. He is also a faculty member at the Healthcare Coaching Institute.

Previously, he served as Professor and Vice Chair of Family Medicine at Atrium Health – Wake Forest School of Medicine, where he also created the role of Medical Director of Physician Well-being for Medical Education.

Drawing on decades of experience in medicine and coaching, Dael helps people strengthen relationships, foster resilience, and build more supportive workplace cultures.

Outside of work, he enjoys travel, kayaking, hiking, cooking, and—most recently—learning barista skills.

You can connect with Dael at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dael-waxman-md-pcc-18917322/

©Friendship Institute 2025

Friendship Matters™ is intended to help improve our Friendship IQ. While this generally signals an improvement in our overall wellbeing, this podcast is not intended in any way to offer specific counseling or medical advice. Please seek help from a trained professional.