Dr Ashleigh Johnstone
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ajohnstone.bsky.social
Dr Ashleigh Johnstone
@ajohnstone.bsky.social
890 followers 470 following 320 posts
SciComm & Public Engagement ✍🏻 | CogPsych 🧠 | Academia & Industry 🔁 | Teaching in HE 👩🏻‍🏫

Psychology Senior Lecturer at Arden University. Views are my own.

ashleighjohnstone.com
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ajohnstone.bsky.social
Had a really lovely day exploring a local National Trust place today 😍
I would quite like my own tree house now!
Ashleigh sits at the top of some stairs leading into a treehouse. She’s looking down and smiling at the camera.
June 25, 2025 at 8:20 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
When I was a teen I had a chronic illness which meant I was often housebound. To give myself something to do that was low energy I used to write to my favourite authors, actors, and footballers for autographs.

I’ve recently been having a clear out and found this from Jacqueline Wilson 😍
A postcard with a photo of author Jacqueline Wilson sat in a chair next to a bookcase. The back of the postcard which reads: ‘Dear Ashleigh, thank you for your lovely letter. I’m so pleased you enjoyed reading My Sister Jodie. I hope the sad ending didn’t make you cry. I’m sorry you have M.E - I do hope you get better soon, sweetheart. Love, Jacqueline Wilson’
May 26, 2025 at 6:43 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Reading and getting angrier and angrier.
The book ‘It’s Probably Nothing: Critical conversations on the women’s health crisis’ by Naga Munchetty.
May 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Voices in Psychology is back! We want to hear about how creativity fits into your life. Does creativity play a key role in your psychological practice? Are you creative to unwind? Do you think we should be more creative in our research and practice in psychology?
⬇️
www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
On the left, text reads 'What does creativity mean to you? We want to hear your thoughts as part of our Voices in Psychology programme.' On the right is a blue background with yellow and blue squares on it, in the foreground is a painting of a cup of tea with a beach towel hanging out of it. It looks like a lady in a swimming costume is diving into the mug.
March 13, 2025 at 3:55 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
I have loved receiving this in the post recently!

Lots of super interesting chapters about the psychology of Taylor Swift edited by @drkowert.bsky.social 😍

Also very grateful that I got to read this in advance and provide the blurb quote 💙
The front cover of The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: Taylor Swift, edited by Rachel Kowert, PhD. The cover depicted coloured squares which align with the colours of Taylor Swift’s albums and Eras Tour, with a microphone in front of it. The back of the book ‘The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: Taylor Swift’. The blurb reads ‘Taylor Swift is the voice of generations. Her words are the soundtrack to our lives. She is the best selling artist of all time with millions of fans who proudly call themselves Swifties. But her legacy is not just her trail of hits, the records she broke, or her tour through the eras - it is her ability to embody our collective emotions, struggles, and triumphs in her art. The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: Taylor Swift celebrates the icon herself across 13 chapters (it had to be 13, right?) discussing her evolution as a work-in progress person, musical storytelling, and all the Easter Eggs along the way.’ The quote beneath the blurb reads ‘"Taylor Swift is arguably one of the most famous people on the planet. This book takes an insightful walk through Taylor's career to provide a psychological exploration of Why she remains so incredibly relatable and endearing in her music, as well as a dive into the power of the Swiftie community - a must read!" - Dr Ashleigh Johnstone, Chartered Psychologist’.
March 3, 2025 at 12:51 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
I love The StoryGraph for tracking what I’ve read each year because I love all their pretty wrap ups 😍

Hoping for 50 books next year! I used to read loads when I was growing up so it’s nice getting closer to that again 😊📚
The StoryGraph Wrap-Up 2024 which shows the books that I read first and last this year, as well as the longest and shortest books. Of note, the graphic shows that I’ve read 46 books this year across 15,605 pages. My top genre is noted as thrillers, followed by mysteries, science fiction, young adult, and crime. John Marrs, Simon McCleave, and Steve Cavanagh are noted as my top read authors.
December 31, 2024 at 12:18 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Excellent! Also appreciate the pooch picture. Think it’s a day for snoozing dogs!
Blue is a grey and white border collie. She’s asleep in a warm fluffy grey dog sofa.
November 23, 2024 at 11:07 AM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Blue asked if she could join 😁
A grey and white border collie lying in a grey fluffy bed. She looks very happy as she grins towards the camera.
November 17, 2024 at 5:34 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
The product of today’s annual leave 🎨
A pink painting with green leaves on it
September 27, 2024 at 7:21 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Random days of annual leave with no solid plans are my favourite!

Currently doing some crafty bits and catching up on Married At First Sight 😍
A dining room table featuring a large piece of cardboard which has paint spots on it. A paint by numbers set up sits on top of the cardboard, it’s a pink background and unpainted leaves. Beyond the cardboard is a laptop displaying the show Married At First Sight.
September 27, 2024 at 12:24 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Such a cool idea - add a pretty graphic and suddenly everyone wants to know what number user they were! 😂
Bluesky's image celebrating 10 million users. The image shows that Dr Ashleigh Johnstone was user number 663,684. There is a blue badge stating 'first 10% - Bluesky elder certified'. In the bottom corner it states that her join date was August 21st 2023.
September 17, 2024 at 9:10 AM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Blue and I have been enjoying a week of annual leave! As someone who works remotely I already spend most of my time at home, so it’s been great getting lots of fresh sea air 💜
A windswept Ashleigh is sat with her dog, a grey and white border collie, next to the coast. It’s a blue sky day and there’s a navy and white lighthouse in the background.
September 11, 2024 at 5:40 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Next week’s annual leave plans sorted!! 🥳
On a worktop lies a PS5 video game. The game is ‘Astro Bot’ and the cover features a cute white and blue robot.
September 6, 2024 at 11:46 AM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Bank holiday blanket crocheting and The Umbrella Academy ☂️
A work in progress hand crocheted blanket which is various shades of blue. A pink crochet hook sits on top of the blanket.
August 26, 2024 at 12:39 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Not yet ready to let go of the Christmas break!
A red & green Christmassy looking mug which reads ‘hot chocolate’. It contains hot chocolate and is topped with squirty cream and chocolate sprinkles.
January 2, 2024 at 3:01 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
My 2023 reading challenge ended with 36 books read 📚
Really enjoyed using @thestorygraph.com to track what I was reading last year!
Image with 36 book covers of the books read in 2023.
January 2, 2024 at 10:38 AM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Treated myself to some nerdy Christmas break reading 🧠😂
Two books lying on a countertop. One is ‘How the brain works: the facts visually explained’ by DK. The other is ‘Rare conditions, diagnostic challenges, and controversies in clinical neuropsychology’ by J Fish, S Betteridge, and B Wilson
December 23, 2023 at 11:51 AM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
There is something so relaxing and soothing about being on the beach and watching chaotic waves.
Waves crashing against dark rocks.
December 10, 2023 at 8:37 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Such a sense of satisfaction when finishing another knitting project! 🌈🧶
A rainbow striped knitted blanket draped across a sofa.
December 2, 2023 at 8:12 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
I’m so grateful that my boyfriend’s gran taught me how to knit this year. It’s become something that I find so soothing and helps to quiet down my rather chaotic academic brain 🧠😂
#AcademicSky #AcademicChatter
A work in progress blanket being knitted. There are 4 stripes in rainbow colours - red, orange, yellow, and green.
November 22, 2023 at 9:44 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
It’s that time of year 🎄
Photo is of a Christmas tree that is green with white frosting. The lights are a blue/white colour and gives the picture a blue hue.
November 18, 2023 at 8:21 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Blue has really been enjoying her beach walks during this week’s annual leave!
A grey and white border collie stands on a beach. The sky is blue with some clouds.
November 15, 2023 at 4:33 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
I love the Letters to a Pre-Scientist scheme so much! prescientist.org

This year my pen pal asked for pictures of Blue so obviously I obliged 😁

They also said they like reading & want to know more about psychology so I’ve told them about cog psych & given them a Stroop task to try 😍

#PsychSciSky
Photo shows a white typed letter with a photo of a border collie asleep on a chair. Photo shows a white piece of paper on the table. There are two lists of words presented. The words are names of various colours and they are presented in various colours.
November 14, 2023 at 10:02 AM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
Yesterday I hit a very specific age of adulthood when I bought this tin of biscuits for two specific reasons 😂

1. The biscuits are great 😍
2. The tin is lovely and I need somewhere to keep my darning needles, embroidery scissors, pompom maker etc 🧶
November 4, 2023 at 12:59 PM
ajohnstone.bsky.social
One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was buying a Velvetiser from Hotel Chocolat when I got my first remote working job. Got to love a midday hot chocolate without needing to pop out to a cafe 😍
A white mug of hot chocolate. There is whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles on top of the hot chocolate. There is a dog in a party hat on the mug.
October 31, 2023 at 12:43 PM