to think Miriam Stoppard isn't a "child psychologist"

(32 Posts)
ICBINEG Mon 14-Jan-13 09:46:02

Does any one have any evidence that she actually is?

Was about to join a toddler music group and there is this quote from "Miriam Stoppard - Child Psychologist" which has actually put me off the whole thing...

Am more than willing to be corrected.

picketywick Mon 14-Jan-13 09:50:32

Ms Soppart was married to playwrite Tom Stoppard at one time. She seems to be an agony aunt now. Sometimes I agree with her Sometimes I dont.

CaptChaos Mon 14-Jan-13 09:53:11

She's a dermatologist

Sugarice Mon 14-Jan-13 09:56:41

She was the childcare guru back when my ds's were babies, I swore by her baby bible.

A Dr yes, don't know about Psychologist.

Doyouhearthepeoplesing Mon 14-Jan-13 10:09:56

She's a know-it-all. Don't know what her credentials are mind.

manicbmc Mon 14-Jan-13 10:12:06

She is a doctor.

She went to school with my auntie. grin

SweetTeaVodka Mon 14-Jan-13 10:25:56

According to Wikipedia (not the most accurate source, I know), she was a dermatology registrar before her career as an agony aunt and no it all.

Pendeen Mon 14-Jan-13 11:23:05

She is qualified in medicine.

Psychology is not a medical qualification.

An 'agony aunt' is a menace to society.

Take your pick.

She is a dermatologist I believe. She's notorious for giving bad, uninformed and often harmful advice about breastfeeding.

3littlefrogs Mon 14-Jan-13 11:41:53

She was a doctor of some sort whose only claim to fame was her then marriage to playwrite Tom Stoppard, which she used to publish books on childcare. The reason they were successful was because there weren't that many childcare books around in those days - it was a new trend at a time when the extended family was becoming rarer and young parents were looking for child rearing advice from other sources.

I don't think her advice is particularly better or worse than many other authors.

3littlefrogs Mon 14-Jan-13 11:44:20

In fact, the older I get the more I realise that an awful lot of successful people are only successful because of their connections with celebrities/rich/famous other people. Not necessarily because they are cleverer or more knowledgable.

kinkyfuckery Mon 14-Jan-13 11:45:40

As far as I can see, she's got no formal qualifications in Child Psychology.

Pendeen Mon 14-Jan-13 12:03:58

Dr. Miriam Stoppard has:

MB BS (a Medical Degree) and also MD (a further Medical Degree) and is also a FRCP i.e. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians

RobotLover68 Mon 14-Jan-13 12:11:42

her baby/childcare book was such a pile of rubbish I gave it away - can't bear her

lovelyladuree Mon 14-Jan-13 12:12:46

But she definitely knows more than you, OP.

valiumredhead Mon 14-Jan-13 12:15:24

Why on earth would a quote from her put you off a music group OP? grin Just try it and see if you like it.

MarilynValentine Mon 14-Jan-13 12:17:01

Lovelyladuree - hi Miriam! grin

ICBINEG Mon 14-Jan-13 12:48:54

hmmm I might have a proper actual psychology qualification for all you know <doesn't but might have>

I am put off by false advertising where ever I find it. IF you have to shore up the value of your toddler session with quotes from tabloid agony aunts it says something about the validity of your approach and also your target audience.

For one thing it suggests that card carrying scientist's how can operate the internet are NOT your target audience.

ICBINEG Mon 14-Jan-13 12:50:49

val thing is I would be sending DD with my DH....he has been know to react very badly to pseudo science....very badly indeed...

Might be better for all concerned if we don't try it and see.

Well the consensus is that the advertising is false and not that I had somehow missed the special relationship between dermatology and psychology...

MrsRandom78 Mon 14-Jan-13 12:56:32

Anyone can call themselves a child psychologist - it's not one of the protected titles regulated by the Health Professionals Council. No idea what her exact qualifications are, but she can call herself what she wants, regardless of quality of the advice!!

CashmereHoodlum Mon 14-Jan-13 12:57:26

I was once nearly sick in a department store cafe because there was some sort of Miriam Stoppard tie-in with the baby food they were selling and the walls were plastered with huge pictures of her. You know when the whole wall is a photo? That. I'm getting a bit queasy thinking about it now, even though it was years ago.

ICBINEG Mon 14-Jan-13 18:20:29

mrsR I see what you mean....educational psychologist is off limits but not child.

ridiculous system really....

juniper904 Mon 14-Jan-13 18:58:19

If she is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians then she is fairly qualified and high up.

Not as a child psychologist in particular, but she is a very qualified doctor.

Writehand Mon 14-Jan-13 19:09:00

I wouldn't consider Miriam Stoppard's advice much cop. I hated her pregnancy book so much I deliberately put it in the bin. Normally I take them to the charity shop, but in her case I didn't want any other poor woman to read such a dire bloody book. The breastfeeding advice, the stuff about pain relief. There are some women who are other women's worst enemies, and she's one. The "I don't get period pains so anyone who says they do must be making a fuss about nothing." A woman doctor who thinks like that is a downright menace.

I've only ever binned one other book - it was about Fred & Rosemary West's murders in Gloucester. The detail was so stomach-turning I wished - and I still wish -- that I'd never read it, and I wasn't prepared to put it out for some other person to read.

Not that Miriam Stoppard is anything like either of the Wests, just that her book was useless enough to seriously rile me. I am totally certain that if she hadn't been connected to Tom Stoppard she wouldn't have a media career. She can't write for toffee.

My Mum gave me her book about babies when my son was born back in the dark ages. I threw it in the fire it was a load of rubbish.

Join the discussion

Join the discussion


Register now