January events

If you wanted to know what I'm doing apart from on Substack, this is where to find out

Apologies for a marketing email, but there is so much happening that I thought some of you might want to know about.

December was the month when my first self-help book for teenagers 'The Teenager's Guide to Burnout', written with and illustrated by Eliza Fricker, came out. It sold out its first print run in less than ten days and has just been reprinted. It addresses the issue of school burnout head on, and aims to bring hope to those teenagers who just can't see a future for themselves, since school isn't working for them. I've just started work on a follow up which will be more about learning, and how teenagers can learn outside school.

We are jumping into January with a whole set of brand new webinars covering a range of different topics.

Now What? At Home

Thu, 9 Jan 12:00 with Dr Naomi Fisher & Eliza Fricker

Things have gone wrong and you are stuck at home. Your child can't go out, and may not allow you to go out either. Getting to the local shop feels like an event. Your child seems to be doing less and less rather than more and more. You worry about losing skills and regressing. The future stretches ahead of you, full of uncertainty.

Life is not going how you expected. What happens next? Based on Eliza's lived experience and Naomi's clinical expertise, they will talk about the process of breakdown and how parents can keep themselves going through the darkest moments.

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Restoring Your Energy: Nervous System Care for Parents

Wed, 15 Jan 12:00 with Dr Abigail Fisher

The turn of the year can be a difficult time when you are already tired and feeling overwhelmed. Add to that the cold, dark winter nights, and the temptation to hibernate and retreat from the world can be strong. It might seem like everyone else is making plans and looking forward with hope and excitement, whilst you feel like you have nothing left to give. How do you look after yourself when everyone else needs looking after?

Abigail will use evidence based exercises and imagery to give you a better understanding of how your nervous system works and how you can harness this to help you feel better, even as the demands on you feel overwhelming.

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Helping Your Demand Avoidant Child with Change

Thu, 16 Jan 12:00 with Dr Naomi Fisher

Demand avoidant children have an anxiety-driven need to resist the demands of every day life. In practice this can mean that they say No a lot.

They may refuse all suggestion, or refuse to go out. They might refuse to contemplate any change to their routine, and they might also refuse to let you do things. This can make life really challenging for families. Lots of families get stuck, unable to change things which really need to be done differently, becuase their child responds so intensely.

In this new webinar for parents, Naomi will explain why demand avoidant children find change so hard, and will give you the tools to help them manage necessary changes. It will cover both intentional change (which you as the parent want to happen) and unexpected change (when something happens which is outside your control). You'll end the webinar with a better understanding of your child and what they find challenging, and some ideas to help them.

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Understanding Dyslexia and Reading Difficulties

Wed, 22 Jan 12:00 with Dr Abigail Fisher

Are you worried about your child or teenager’s literacy skills? Do they have a diagnosis but you’re not sure how to help? Are you considering getting an assessment? Have they been put off reading and writing?

In this new webinar, Abigail Fisher will talk you through what dyslexia is, what your child might be struggling with, and how you can support them in their learning. She will guide you through the different perspectives on dyslexia, how dyslexia is diagnosed, what happens at an assessment and what it can be like at school for children struggling with reading and writing.

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Low Pressure Parenting for Teens

Tue 28 Jan 12:00 with Dr Naomi Fisher & Eliza Fricker

Being a teenager is demanding. Being the parent of a teenager is perhaps even more demanding. And when that teen is pressure sensitive - or demand avoidant - this is even more true.

Low demand parenting looks different for teenagers. They're at a different stage of life, where they are moving from the dependence of childhood to the independence of adulthood. Parents can't make everything okay anymore, and we can't protect them from the growing demands and expectations of the world. Pressure may come just as much from inside them as from the outside, and no matter how low demand we might be as parents, we can't make that go away.

In this brand-new webinar, Naomi and Eliza will talk about pressure sensitive teens. They'll talk about what changes during adolescence, and how understanding teenage brain development can help us to empathise with and support our teens. They'll talk about how parenting changes as children become teenagers, and show parents can balance those changes with a low demand (and low pressure) approach.

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All webinars are recorded and available to watch for 30 days.

Thank you for getting this far. As always, please do get in touch if you have ideas for new webinars, we can't do them all but I do really appreciate hearing what would be useful for you.

Naomi