Hannah Sparkes MSW, RSW
74 Old Placentia road A1N5H5 Mount Pearl, NL, Canada

It’s the most wonderful time of the yearrr... right? In theory, the holiday season is a magical time of togetherness and cheer ! For some it is excitedly anticipated but for others, it is a time of dread. There are many reasons why one might feel this way, with one of those major reasons being stress. The month of December consists of A LOT. Lots of traffic, lots of spending, lots of events to juggle, lots of beverages, and the list goes on ! With the hustle and bustle and p...ressure to meet expectations, the holidays season can be veryy stressful. So, over the course of December I will be sharing 3 tips for coping with holiday stress. Tip #1: Set Boundaries During this busy time of year, we are at risk of spreading ourselves too thin! Setting personal boundaries, in all areas of our lives, can help prevent us from going into the New Year feeling completely burnt out or out of control. Boundaries are basically the limits around what we are willing to do, or tolerate. It can be helpful to consider things like: where is ‘me time‘ going to fit into the holiday equation? or At what point will I say no to an added responsibility or new request? It can also be helpful to budget money so not to get overly consumed by the materialism of the season and risk financial hardship come January. We often put pressure on ourselves to meet gift expectations but if at all possible, it is so important to spend within our financial means! Using strategies like Secret Santa gift exchanges, DYI gifts and swap gift exchanges are easy ways to cut costs and have fun with our bubbles over the holiday season! Health is also something that tends to go out the window over the holiday season, as day to day routines change. Since it is often an indulgent time, finding balance is important. Consider balance when making choices around physical activity, food, sleep, social engagement, relaxation time and substance use, if that’s your cup of tea. Listen to your body, it can help you know what you need ! Boundaries are so important and they can play a huge role in keeping us grounded! Take some time to consider your personal boundaries this holiday season and be kind to your body, mind and spirit

7 months Spark Your Growth is 7 months old today and with all the changes that have happened between April and now I figured I’d catch you up ! My name is Hannah and I am a social worker practicing psychotherapy in the field of mental health and addictions! On April 27th, 2020 I launched the website Spark Your Growth with the intentions of writing a mental-wellness blog! With quarantine bringing significant changes to our day to day lives, like many people, I found myself w...ith a lot more time and was finally able to explore ways to share valuable information from my field of practice with a larger audience. Fast forward to July, when quarantine ended for most of us here in Newfoundland and I connected with Dr. Hynes to add clinical counselling to the lineup of services at Align Chiropractic & Wellness! This led Spark Your Growth to build from a wellness blog to a counselling practice where I could continue to help people in a more clinical capacity! While blogging is something that’s still in the works, right now my main focus is on providing quality therapeutic services to those who experience mental health challenges, and keeping up to date with the education and training that allows me to do just that! There are exciting things to come so keep an eye on Spark Your Growth. To schedule a counselling session, click book now

Spark Your Growth GIVEAWAY The holiday season can be a stressful time of year so enter to win this little self-care prize pack ! What’s included:... * Relax in the bath with some amazing products from Tval Skin Care ! * Do some self-exploration with the Start Where You Are journal by Meera Lee Patel * Educate yourself on Trauma & the brain with my favourite book The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk * Do some environmentally friendly shopping with your Spark Your Growth tote bag designed by the talented and beautiful soul that is @Okislandmakes and locally printed by benoli boutique ! To Enter: * Like Spark Your Growth * Like & Share this post * Tag a friend in the comment section! Contest closes on December 15th & is also open on Instagram @SparkYourGrowth

Appreciate each moment

What to expect in therapy Competence in professional practice is a core value of the social work profession. That means that keeping up to date is an ethical responsibility for each and every therapist you might encounter who has a social work background ! The field of psychotherapy is constantly evolving. With research uncovering new information and perspectives everyday, therapist must be willing to change and adapt in the interest of providing the best quality services ...possible. In therapy, clinical social workers should be well verse in therapeutic modalities and evidence based techniques that can suit the unique needs of each individual, and only work within their scope of practice. Competence is key and it sets the stage for trusting therapeutic relationships

Accepting new clients With a growing caseload I decided to open up more availability at @alignchironl ! As of today you can officially book counselling sessions for Friday afternoons starting September 25th, 2020. Have you been experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma related symptoms or other mental health concerns ? Have you been considering going to therapy, but haven’t yet made the first step?! For more information about the services I offer @alignc...hironl or to book a counselling session, click the book now button #counselling #socialwork #psychotherapy #therapy #wellness #mentalhealth #holistichealing #traumarecovery #newfoundland #telehealth #holistichealth

My 3rd and final tip for coping with end of summer blues Today we find ourselves in a transitional period! We are crossing the bridge between summer and fall. Transitional periods mean change and sometimes change can be scary! It might feel as though things are up in the air, as we are letting go of what was, and making room for what will be. During times of change it can be helpful to create structure! We can do this through setting intentions, creating goals and develop...ing a flexible routine that honours both! An intention is a guiding principle that informs how we live and move through the world. Our intentions might reflect our core values or what is truly meaningful and important to us! For example, an intention might be to approach autumn with openness. That might mean saying yes to opportunities as they arise or being mindful of bias and acknowledging various perspectives. Goals are also an important part of creating structure as it gives us something to work towards! Goals can align with intentions to ensure that what we are putting our effort and energy into is something that is personally worthwhile and will contribute to our lives in meaningful ways. For example, a goal that might align with our intention to approach autumn with openness might be to gain more self- acceptance! Setting goals that coincide with our intentions can help us to anchor ourselves to the present moment and be mindful of how our actions align with who we truly are. Finally, creating a flexible routine can be a way for us to stay accountable to our intentions and goals ! We want to put something into our routine that honours both. In relation to the example of approaching autumn with openness and working towards self-acceptance, we might incorporate a few minutes of daily journalling that promotes self-compassion, like noting how we utilized our strengths each day. Flexible routine means having balance and accepting that life sometimes gets in the way! If our routine happens to get interrupted, we use non-judgement awareness to readjust and redirect our attention to the routine so we can pick up where we left off without shaming ourselves for falling off track! Creating structure through intentions, goals and flexible routine can have a huge impact on our lives ! Try incorporating these 3 steps into your life and see how it works for you #change #endofsummer #selfcare #mindfulness #grounding #acceptance #awareness #socialwork #psychotherapy #selfcare #selfcompassion #therapy #socialworker

Tip #2 for coping with end of summer blues The way that we think can have a huge impact on our lives! Thoughts have the ability to influence the way we feel and how we act. Some theorists even believe that through thought and energy we can manifest our own reality! If our minds are in the future and we are thinking that we know exactly what it will bring, we will likely experience feelings that align with our thought content! For example, if we are dreading autumn because w...e think it will be terrible we might produce feelings of worry or anxiety, which would be based on assumption rather than actual fact, because guess what? Autumn isn’t even really here yet so we truly do not know what will happen, and when we make assumptions about the future we can unnecessarily influence our day today. The other thing is that when we use language such as autumn is going to be terrible it places judgement on our potential experiences and can prevent us from seeing any other perspective. Putting labels like terrible on experiences that haven’t even happened yet creates bias, making it challenging for us to walk into the experience with an open mind! The concept of reframing thoughts can help to increase hope and accept the fact that whatever will be, will be. Reframing means first, bringing awareness to the content of our thoughts then, if necessary, adjusting the thought to have a more realistic and mindful view. So when we notice ourselves saying things like autumn is going to be terrible we can use reframing to remind ourselves that Maybe I struggled last fall, but every season is new experience. Reframing might also sound like there are aspects of all seasons that I can enjoy rather than I only like summer. Reframing our thoughts can be a power tool and can assist us in manifesting hope and positivity in our lives! Try it out and see how it works for you #change #endofsummer #selfcare #mindfulness #grounding #acceptance #awareness #socialwork #psychotherapy #selfcare #selfcompassion #therapy #socialworker