Going home for the holidays is stressful, particularly in the Trump Era.

The wine is flowing. Uncle Matt and aunt Trish are ginned up to pounce on every social media missive you’ve posted since the midterm elections. (Their posts frighten you.)

Meanwhile, in the back of your mind, there’s the Big Announcement you’ve been meaning to spring on everyone: you quit school, you’re coming out, you’re pregnant, you’re getting a divorce.

“I think we are in a more divisive time,” says Dr. Laura Saunders, assistant director of psychology at the Institute of Living in Hartford. “I do see [stress] in a lot of the clients that I work with, but I see it in family and friends as well. No one's immune to it right now.”

Talking about politics at holiday gatherings, Saunders says, often causes conflict. That’s nothing new.

“What we know from a variety of different experiences is that a holiday meal is not the time you're going to change someone's mind,” Saunders says. “So if your goal is to convert someone's viewpoint over to your own, that's not going to happen.”

Saunders and Watson discuss establishing boundaries, family dynamics around the dinner table, and how to handle that one relative who just won’t let it go on the latest podcast.