The Spark Blog
Category: parenting
How to teach kids good mental health at home
During Children’s Mental Health Week, it might be worth thinking about The World Health Organisation’s figures that “around 1 in 5 of the world’s children and adolescents have a mental disorder” and that “about half of mental disorders begin before the age of 14”. In context, government data suggests 10% of children and young people…
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Helping children with emetophobia
Emetophobia is the fear of vomiting. We all have some degree of fear about vomiting or being in close proximity to someone who is. It isn’t the most pleasant experience for anyone after all! However, there are individuals panic-stricken by even the thought of vomiting. In fact, this phobia is particularly common in children. On…
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How to make a comfort box for an anxious child
Anxiety is a very unpleasant experience for your child and for you as their parent. Finding tools and techniques to help them combat anxiety is something every parent seeks to do. In this short article Children and Young People counsellor, Linda Smith looks at an effective method known as a comfort box. Helping an anxious…
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“I have failed as a parent” – exploring common myths about youth counselling
The mental health of children and young people has become a hot topic in recent years. Society is slowly waking up to the importance of emotional and mental wellbeing services like counselling. Sadly, many misconceptions and myths about youth counselling still remain. In this week’s blog, The Spark counsellor Laura Campbell explores the common misconceptions…
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Shielding Children from Struggles Harms Their Resilience
When humans become parents they develop many natural instincts. One of which is shielding children from struggles. In the earliest weeks and months of life, it is a purely physical function to protect from hunger, a lack of companionship and the cold. As the child grows this instinct to protect evolves. Over time it comes…
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Child behaviour management: A Guide for Parents
Behaviour management is part and parcel of being a parent or carer. All children will at some point display challenging behaviour and in the heat of the moment knowing what to do can be hard. Putting the right behaviour management techniques into practice can be even harder. In this short introduction to child behaviour management…
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Managing challenging behaviour in children
Managing challenging behaviour is one of the biggest tests any parent will face. From toddler tantrums to pre-teen arguments over clothes and mobile phones, no parent or carer ever gets a free pass. Maintaining safe boundaries for your child while instilling confidence and independence can often feel like an impossible balancing act. This in itself…
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Music and mental ill-health: how influential is a song?
We are what we eat. That is the simple truth that has launched a thousand cookbooks. Eat unhealthily, expect to be unhealthy. Slowly we are starting to realise that the same applies to our minds and mental ill-health. We are what we consume and what we consume nowadays is social media, films, streamed boxsets, the…
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How FOMO is making us miss out
FOMO – fear of missing out – is a concept that could have been created for the social media age. Essentially, it captures that internal sense that other people are having a better time right now than you are. Partnered with its sibling FoBO – fear of a better option – their impact on our…
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