After Christmas and new year, let the divorce season begin …

For many couples a dispute-ridden Christmas and new year will end with counselling.

“The pickup starts on Boxing Day — but (bookings) really rocket around the 2nd and 3rd of January,” said Sheri Jacobson, founder and clinical director of the London counselling chain Harley Therapy.

It is supposed to be the season of peace and goodwill, but for many couples a dispute-ridden Christmas and new year will end with counselling.

Clinics report that the first week of January is the busiest time of the year as couples who have failed to enjoy the “festival of compulsory happiness” question their relationships and seek help.

“The pickup starts on Boxing Day — but (bookings) really rocket around the 2nd and 3rd of January,” said Sheri Jacobson, founder and clinical director of the London counselling chain Harley Therapy.

“Holidays are when you have time to address issues that have been piling up during the year.”

The British relationships charity Relate said it received a 13 per cent rise in calls and a 58 per cent jump in website users every January compared with the typical traffic in the rest of the year.

“Problems crystallise because the couple is at home so relationships are 24/7,” said psychotherapist Phillip Hodson.

“Christmas is also the festival of compulsory happiness, which can expose our own misery.”

Seeing other contented relationships on social media and reading articles about new year’s resolutions in magazines can also play a part, said counsellor Cat Williams.

“I definitely see a spike (in new clients) after Christmas,” she said. “And Christmas is always cited, even at other times of the year. You see people’s social media posts and articles about making changes and you reflect on your own happiness.”

For those who cannot resolve their differences, January 7 is the most common day to file for ­divorce.

Family lawyers say the unhappily married often make it their new year’s resolution to call time on their relationship.

“The holiday period can frequently highlight aspects of their ‘other half’ that makes (someone) realise that they don’t want to be stuck with them any longer,” said Deborah Levy, a consultant solicitor with Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth.

The most common grounds for divorce are a partner’s behaviour — which often now includes a lack of help with housework and children — and infidelity.

Ms Levy added: “The period of supposed rest can make people reflect and think: do I want my next year to be the same?”

The Sunday Times