Dr Naomi Fisher
@drnaomifisher.bsky.social
Clinical psychologist, author of Changing Our Minds, When the Naughty Step Makes Things Worse and the Teenager's Guide to Burnout.
Substack: Think Again naomicfisher.substack.com. Website: www.naomifisher.co.uk.
Substack: Think Again naomicfisher.substack.com. Website: www.naomifisher.co.uk.
Anni wasn’t happy at school. She was crying in the evenings and saying she had tummy aches in the morning.
Her dad went into school for a meeting. 1/
Her dad went into school for a meeting. 1/
April 23, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Anni wasn’t happy at school. She was crying in the evenings and saying she had tummy aches in the morning.
Her dad went into school for a meeting. 1/
Her dad went into school for a meeting. 1/
Our new book is OUT NOW. It's an illustrated guide for professionals and it covers how to make schools fit for children, what happens when school goes wrong&working with children outside the school system.Informed by research, professional expertise and lived experience. @elizafricker.bsky.social.
April 23, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Our new book is OUT NOW. It's an illustrated guide for professionals and it covers how to make schools fit for children, what happens when school goes wrong&working with children outside the school system.Informed by research, professional expertise and lived experience. @elizafricker.bsky.social.
The diagnostic process can be confusing for parents. It's hard to know what to think and feel. You wait for years, and then - what?
That's what we're talking about on Thurs. Now What? Diagnosis. @elizafricker.bsky.social and I.
It’s recorded. Please share.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-what-d...
That's what we're talking about on Thurs. Now What? Diagnosis. @elizafricker.bsky.social and I.
It’s recorded. Please share.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-what-d...
February 24, 2025 at 3:48 PM
The diagnostic process can be confusing for parents. It's hard to know what to think and feel. You wait for years, and then - what?
That's what we're talking about on Thurs. Now What? Diagnosis. @elizafricker.bsky.social and I.
It’s recorded. Please share.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-what-d...
That's what we're talking about on Thurs. Now What? Diagnosis. @elizafricker.bsky.social and I.
It’s recorded. Please share.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-what-d...
Really pleased that my book A Different Way to Learn has just been released on audio. Illustrated by @elizafricker.bsky.social, this is a deep dive into how neurodivergent children learn outside school. Packed with interviews and real life experiences.
January 15, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Really pleased that my book A Different Way to Learn has just been released on audio. Illustrated by @elizafricker.bsky.social, this is a deep dive into how neurodivergent children learn outside school. Packed with interviews and real life experiences.
I'm just going through my slides for tomorrow's webinar.
It's about change. What happens when the world HAS to change - or when parents need to make changes? How can we help demand avoidant children with change - because change is part of life?
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/helping-yo...
It's about change. What happens when the world HAS to change - or when parents need to make changes? How can we help demand avoidant children with change - because change is part of life?
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/helping-yo...
January 15, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I'm just going through my slides for tomorrow's webinar.
It's about change. What happens when the world HAS to change - or when parents need to make changes? How can we help demand avoidant children with change - because change is part of life?
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/helping-yo...
It's about change. What happens when the world HAS to change - or when parents need to make changes? How can we help demand avoidant children with change - because change is part of life?
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/helping-yo...
I have two online EMDR refresher days coming up. If you're an EMDR trained therapist but you need some help to get going, coming and join us.
January 13, 2025 at 11:27 AM
I have two online EMDR refresher days coming up. If you're an EMDR trained therapist but you need some help to get going, coming and join us.
New webinar coming up with @elizafricker.bsky.social. Now What: At Home. It's for parents when their child has stopped going to school, and who don't know what happens next. Next Thursday lunchtime, it's recorded if you can't make the time. Please share.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-what-a...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-what-a...
January 3, 2025 at 5:22 PM
New webinar coming up with @elizafricker.bsky.social. Now What: At Home. It's for parents when their child has stopped going to school, and who don't know what happens next. Next Thursday lunchtime, it's recorded if you can't make the time. Please share.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-what-a...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/now-what-a...
Over the last few weeks there have been reports regarding the Mossbourne Federation schools in Hackney. Reports from teachers, from ex-pupils and from parents. All talk about an atmosphere of fear, which teachers say was created deliberately and that they were told was justified educationally. 1/
December 16, 2024 at 12:29 PM
Over the last few weeks there have been reports regarding the Mossbourne Federation schools in Hackney. Reports from teachers, from ex-pupils and from parents. All talk about an atmosphere of fear, which teachers say was created deliberately and that they were told was justified educationally. 1/
My new book with @elizafricker.bsky.social has sold out its first print run and is showing as out of stock in many places. HOWEVER the publishers are reprinting as we speak and are aiming to have it back before Christmas, so do not despair if you are hoping to get it for a teenager in your life.
December 13, 2024 at 4:55 PM
My new book with @elizafricker.bsky.social has sold out its first print run and is showing as out of stock in many places. HOWEVER the publishers are reprinting as we speak and are aiming to have it back before Christmas, so do not despair if you are hoping to get it for a teenager in your life.
Quit whilst you’re ahead
I know I’m not alone in feeling like quitting is a failure. I feel like sticking at something is the only successful thing to do, even when I hate it. Otherwise, it’s like admitting that I might have got it wrong. 1/
December 13, 2024 at 4:30 PM
Quit whilst you’re ahead
I know I’m not alone in feeling like quitting is a failure. I feel like sticking at something is the only successful thing to do, even when I hate it. Otherwise, it’s like admitting that I might have got it wrong. 1/
Some children haven’t read the parenting manuals. Whatever you try, they do it back to you - but better and more consistently. From When the Naughty Step Makes Things Worse by myself and @elizafricker.bsky.social.
December 12, 2024 at 9:28 PM
Some children haven’t read the parenting manuals. Whatever you try, they do it back to you - but better and more consistently. From When the Naughty Step Makes Things Worse by myself and @elizafricker.bsky.social.
This is from a well-regarded book for professionals on Understanding School Refusal. They recommend creating solitary confinement for your child if they aren’t at school. I have never seen this recommended in any other mental health treatment book. Why do we put up with it when it comes to school?
December 11, 2024 at 9:54 PM
This is from a well-regarded book for professionals on Understanding School Refusal. They recommend creating solitary confinement for your child if they aren’t at school. I have never seen this recommended in any other mental health treatment book. Why do we put up with it when it comes to school?
I was scared to write my latest book with Eliza Fricker, The Teenagers Guide to Burnout, and now it’s out, I’m afraid of the response. 1/
December 11, 2024 at 9:56 AM
I was scared to write my latest book with Eliza Fricker, The Teenagers Guide to Burnout, and now it’s out, I’m afraid of the response. 1/
My personal favourite ‘helpful’ advice given to parents.
‘If you can’t get him under control now, just wait until he’s a teenager!’.
Not only is life hard now, it’s bound to get harder, you just wait. Bound to cheer any struggling parent and improve their relationship with their child….NOT.
December 11, 2024 at 9:51 AM
My personal favourite ‘helpful’ advice given to parents.
‘If you can’t get him under control now, just wait until he’s a teenager!’.
Not only is life hard now, it’s bound to get harder, you just wait. Bound to cheer any struggling parent and improve their relationship with their child….NOT.
From my new book with @elizafricker.bsky.social. The Teenager’s guide to burnout, for those for whom school makes things worse. Key message, it’s not your fault and things can get better.
December 10, 2024 at 10:23 PM
From my new book with @elizafricker.bsky.social. The Teenager’s guide to burnout, for those for whom school makes things worse. Key message, it’s not your fault and things can get better.
My latest book with @elizafricker.bsky.social is a self help guide for teens who are burnt out by school. Key message, it’s not your fault and things can and will get better.
December 10, 2024 at 8:43 PM
My latest book with @elizafricker.bsky.social is a self help guide for teens who are burnt out by school. Key message, it’s not your fault and things can and will get better.
I visited a school recently which had SLANT posters up. I asked about it. The teacher was casual. ‘It’s just behaviours to help learning’. Behaviours to help students say engaged, says one school website. Another school says that using SLANT helps students to ensure they are focused on learning.1/
December 5, 2024 at 1:57 PM
I visited a school recently which had SLANT posters up. I asked about it. The teacher was casual. ‘It’s just behaviours to help learning’. Behaviours to help students say engaged, says one school website. Another school says that using SLANT helps students to ensure they are focused on learning.1/
I met a little boy recently who told me that he wasn’t any good at drawing. He was young in his year,& his drawings were, it’s true, fairly basic. He looked at the other children's pictures and he could see the difference. It didn’t matter what adults told him, because he could see for himself.1/
December 4, 2024 at 12:47 PM
I met a little boy recently who told me that he wasn’t any good at drawing. He was young in his year,& his drawings were, it’s true, fairly basic. He looked at the other children's pictures and he could see the difference. It didn’t matter what adults told him, because he could see for himself.1/
Many of us lost touch with our ability to say No years ago. When our children show us the way, are we listening?
November 21, 2024 at 11:38 AM
Many of us lost touch with our ability to say No years ago. When our children show us the way, are we listening?
We don’t value saying no, when it comes to children. And yet it’s the children who refuse to comply who show the rest of us up. It’s them who push us to change systems which aren’t working. It’s their clear-sightedness which leads us to ask whether something really does have to be done this way.
November 21, 2024 at 11:38 AM
We don’t value saying no, when it comes to children. And yet it’s the children who refuse to comply who show the rest of us up. It’s them who push us to change systems which aren’t working. It’s their clear-sightedness which leads us to ask whether something really does have to be done this way.
Taking away children’s right to refuse means that what they think isn't central when adults are making their plans. If children refuse school, the answer isn’t to make school better. It’s to fine families. If children don’t comply, the answer is firmer boundaries, rather than ask ourselves why.
November 21, 2024 at 11:38 AM
Taking away children’s right to refuse means that what they think isn't central when adults are making their plans. If children refuse school, the answer isn’t to make school better. It’s to fine families. If children don’t comply, the answer is firmer boundaries, rather than ask ourselves why.
The ones who ask questions that adults find hard to answer.
There are names for children who say No. We call them defiant, wilful, stubborn or resistant. We ask why a child ‘isn’t listening’ when we really mean ‘isn’t doing what I want’. We call that ‘naughty’.
There are names for children who say No. We call them defiant, wilful, stubborn or resistant. We ask why a child ‘isn’t listening’ when we really mean ‘isn’t doing what I want’. We call that ‘naughty’.
November 21, 2024 at 11:38 AM
The ones who ask questions that adults find hard to answer.
There are names for children who say No. We call them defiant, wilful, stubborn or resistant. We ask why a child ‘isn’t listening’ when we really mean ‘isn’t doing what I want’. We call that ‘naughty’.
There are names for children who say No. We call them defiant, wilful, stubborn or resistant. We ask why a child ‘isn’t listening’ when we really mean ‘isn’t doing what I want’. We call that ‘naughty’.
Then along come the children who don’t agree. The ones who continue to refuse. The ones who say Why do you get to tell me what to do, but I don’t get to tell you? The ones who say, Why do I have to do this when I think it’s a waste of my time?
November 21, 2024 at 11:38 AM
Then along come the children who don’t agree. The ones who continue to refuse. The ones who say Why do you get to tell me what to do, but I don’t get to tell you? The ones who say, Why do I have to do this when I think it’s a waste of my time?
There are things which children do which make them unsafe – running across busy roads or hitting other people, – and adults have to step in. But we use this to justify why they can’t be allowed to make choices about anything else. We tell them (and ourselves) that it’s for their own good.
November 21, 2024 at 11:38 AM
There are things which children do which make them unsafe – running across busy roads or hitting other people, – and adults have to step in. But we use this to justify why they can’t be allowed to make choices about anything else. We tell them (and ourselves) that it’s for their own good.
Then we tell them that they have no choice about where they spend their time, what they learn and how. We tell them that we know best. We pressure them into sitting on Santa’s lap. We punish them by sitting them on a step ‘until you’ve calmed down’. They don’t consent, but it doesn’t matter.
November 21, 2024 at 11:38 AM
Then we tell them that they have no choice about where they spend their time, what they learn and how. We tell them that we know best. We pressure them into sitting on Santa’s lap. We punish them by sitting them on a step ‘until you’ve calmed down’. They don’t consent, but it doesn’t matter.