THE SPARK BLOG
Meet the CYP Team – Shirley Meade
Shirley Meade is a School Services Manager with The Spark. A qualified counsellor, she oversees the delivery of counselling and mental health support services for children and young people in schools across Scotland. We sat down with her to find out a bit more about...
Re-learning how to cope with loss and bereavement
We constantly live in a state of change and loss is sadly an inevitable part of that process. While we most often associate loss with bereavement, our lives are full of losses; jobs, relationships, or as we have all experienced recently, the loss of freedom and...
Can anger be positive and useful?
Anger gets bad press. It is linked with aggression and violence. Anger can get us into embarrassing scrapes or trouble. We feel very uncomfortable when we get angry and sometimes find it hard to manage. Often people will describe anger as a negative emotion, but...
Self-harm: the truths and the myths
Self-harm, or to give it it’s up to date classification ‘non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), is defined in the NHS dictionary as ‘deliberate injury to oneself, typically as a manifestation of a psychological or psychiatric disorder.’ Self-harm is basically behaviour...
Adolescence: 4 truths adults need to know
Adolescence can be one of the most emotionally turbulent times in a person's life; hormones, changing responsibilities, the rewiring of the prefrontal cortex of the brain and difficult social and emotional situations can all take a toll on the emotional wellbeing of...
Meet the Counsellor – Dorothy Jappy
Continuing our new series 'Meet the Counsellor' we are talking to Dorothy Jappy – one of our Edinburgh counsellors - to find out more about her passion for therapy and why The Spark is such a respected counselling provider. Each month we will be interviewing one of...
Meet the Counsellor – Paula Miller
Each month we will be interviewing one of The Spark's team of counsellors based around Scotland. We hope the "Meet the Counsellor" series will offer an insight into the therapeutic services provided by The Spark, what happens in a counselling session and why we are a...
6 ways to keep a New Year resolution
January is probably most famous for New Year resolutions. It is also famous for something else: the complete failure of New Year resolutions before the end of the month. No matter whether your New Year resolution is to lose weight, keep date night with your spouse...
Anxiety: 6 self-care tips from a psychotherapist
Anxiety can be described as “distress or uneasiness of the mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune.” In some situations, it can be very helpful and even life-saving. As John-Roger and Peter McWilliams explained in their seminal book 'You Can’t Afford the Luxury of...
Barriers to counselling
It is difficult to imagine going to counselling before making that first step. While we are starting to become more understanding about mental health issues and seeking professional help, there is still a lot of fear, doubt and confusion creating barriers to...
How to cope with the winter blues – part 3
In the final part of The Spark's 'How to cope with the winter blues' series, we're offering a few more tips on keeping your mood up when the sun is going down. You can catch up with part 1 and part 2 where we looked at how a 'sexy raincoat', not being Gordon Gekko and...
How to cope with the winter blues – part 2
Welcome to part 2 of The Spark's 'How to cope with the winter blues' series offering our tips on ways to defeat the winter blues. Catch up on part 1 of 'How to cope with the winter blues' where we looked at how embracing the winter season, taking up a new indoor...
How to cope with the winter blues – part 1
When the days start getting shorter and the nights longer, many people start to feel their mood drop. Unlike Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) – a form of clinical depression – the ‘winter blues’ is a general term for the feelings of sadness and lethargy we can all...
How to support your relationship in retirement
Most couples look forward to retirement, eager to spend more quality time together. Free from the constraints and pressures of work it is a chance to relax and, especially if the nest is empty, an opportunity to embrace hobbies new and old.The reality of...
The challenge of learning to trust others
The Oxford Dictionary defines trust as “a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something”. Right now, you probably have a list of names that come to mind of people you trust and, perhaps, people you don’t.But what...
Scribble game: how to help kids relax and open up about emotions
Edith Kramer, a pioneer in the field of Art Psychotherapy, created the ‘scribble game’ for use in the early stages of therapy. Her idea was to create an unthreatening way for children to express themselves and open up about emotional issues. In this article, Children...
The upside of lockdown dating
For single people everywhere, the Coronavirus pandemic has created more obstacles than normal on the path to finding a new partner. In this article, Counsellor Sarah Woodcock looks at why lockdown dating could offer benefits that might lead to a stronger,...
Using active listening to help ease our way out of lockdown
The easing of Coronavirus lockdown is cause for much celebration. But for some households, it may increase tension between family members. Children and Young People’s Counsellor John Kennedy looks at why active listening could help parents and carers...
Easing lockdown: how to help children learn new rules
As the process of easing lockdown gathers pace, the rules we need to adhere to are becoming more complex. Younger children may struggle to understand or stick to them. Presenting parents and carers with the challenge of helping them understand and follow...
Loss: how to help children and young people cope
Change is an inevitable and necessary part of growing up. With every change there is an element of loss, even when the changes are welcome. Whether it is the grief that comes with the loss of a favourite toy as a child or the death of a beloved...
Back to the workplace after lockdown: how to manage a child’s anxieties
In the weeks ahead, parents will begin returning to the workplace after lockdown. For children of all ages, the easing of Coronavirus restrictions may create, or heighten anxieties and fears. From an emotional perspective, children have come to rely on and become...