Qualifications and experience
My name is Linda Fisher. I trained to teach Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as well as the 'Finding Peace in a Frantic World' course at Oxford, Exeter and Bangor Universities in the UK. I am a Chartered Psychologist and listed on the the UK Mindfulness Network Teachers Register. I am listed as a qualified teacher of the Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living course, developed in the Netherlands and qualified to teach mindfulness and compassion-based practices to people with persistent pain and long-term health conditions.
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I have been trained in assessing, diagnosing and treating depression, anxiety disorders and other psychological difficulties for many years. Up until 2013 I worked as a clinical tutor at the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College, London. During this time I was involved in supervising, assessing and examining trainee CBT Therapists as part of a UK government-funded initiative to improve access to evidence-based psychological therapies in the National Health Service.
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Between 2009 and 2012 I was the Lead Therapist in the CBT service at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square in London. I am also an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. In 2009 I was awarded a PhD in Psychology Applied to Medicine by the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College, London.
As well as working with people who have anxiety and depression (these are the problems that CBT is most commonly used to treat), I have experience of using CBT to help people who also have medical problems and long term conditions contributing to low mood or anxiety. Such medical problems have included chronic pain, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), kidney failure, cancer and Parkinson’s Disease. I am also familiar with working with people who have medically unexplained symptoms such as paralysis and seizures.
I no longer see patients for CBT, however, as I teach mindfulness meditation and compassion-based practices for the majority of the time. I am committed to my continuing professional development for my mindfulness teaching and undertake regular activities to increase my knowledge and further develop my skills.
My own mindfulness meditation practice
I began meditating over ten years ago now, and in the context of a period of stress in my own life. Since that time my practice has developed, my understanding of meditation increased, and my life has been enriched as a result. I continue to develop and nourish my personal practice by attending a week-long, residential silent retreat each year. The silence, solitude and focus of an extended period of practice, with the support of expert teachers, allows me to renew my intention to practice and to refresh the practice itself.
I believe that the professionalism, authenticity, integrity, skills and knowledge of the teacher involved in teaching mindfulness are vital if other people are to benefit. I continue to keep up to date with the relevant scientific research literature on both the neuroscience of mindfulness as well as the new ways in which mindfulness is being used to help suffering and illness, both physical and psychological. I also attend shorter retreats, mindfulness talks and academic events on a regular basis to the same end. I seek specialist supervision for my mindfulness work with clients and meet with a mindfulness mentor as part of my professional and personal development.