by Bill Sheate
Why a PhD peer support group?
Following Mental Health Awareness Week (week ending 31 May 2023), on 7 June I’m launching (and will facilitate) a new online PhD peer support group, open to any PhD/Doctoral student from any higher education institution.
The PhD/Doctoral Researcher Peer Support Group is open to any full or part-time student at any stage of a PhD/doctorate from any higher education institution and any discipline. It is aimed at addressing mental health and well-being issues, the sharing of PhD experiences, challenges at various stages of doctoral research, supervision problems etc. So may issues encountered by PhD/Doctoral research students are shared across disciplines and subjects, because doing a PhD is an unusual situation to find yourself in, as I’ve discussed before (see Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD). Each meeting lasts 1.5 hrs every 2 months; attendance can be regular or occasional….. [Read more]
Today - Monday 10 October 2022 - is World Mental Health Day.
Periodically, I post on my blog short articles on key aspects of stress and anxiety, and mental health and well-being, especially related to higher education. Below are just a few of the resources on this blog - clustered in one place so they’re easier to find - that you might find helpful: [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
The peculiarities of doing a PhD
Back in June 2021 I posted a blog on Rising to the mental health challenges of doing a PhD and how the peculiar circumstances of being a PhD student can affect how you respond to stressful situations. In December 2021 a new report (Hazell et al, 2021 [1]) was published that highlighted once again the high prevalence of depression and anxiety among PhD students in the UK, in line with recent studies in the US, Europe and internationally (e.g. Levecque et al, 2017; Satinsky et al, 2021).
So what's going on? Does it really mean that doing a PhD is bad for your mental health?……. [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
My Bloomsbury clinic moves to Tuesday from 3 May 2022
From 3 May 2022 my Bloomsbury clinic in Museum Street, WC1A will move to Tuesday afternoons and evenings (rather than Friday mornings). Clinic times will be from 2.00-9.00pm every Tuesday.
This provides me with additional appointment slots to see individual clients in-person (and online via Zoom) and also more space to offer group therapy, e.g. for eco-anxiety (small groups of 3-4 people) over a series of 4-5 sessions). More information on this coming shortly…… [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
Why a PhD is different….
As a therapist specialising in stress and anxiety in higher education I get to work with lots of PhD and other postgraduate research students who at times find life tough to navigate. I also run a range of resilience skills training workshops to help build greater self-efficacy among such students.
Doing a PhD is a bit of a weird lifestyle; you get to research something you're interested in for typically 3 to 4 years, writing it up as a thesis to then be awarded the title 'Doctor'. During that time you usually have a degree of freedom to manage your own time and develop personal ownership of your research project, even if it is part of a bigger research programme. But there are several things that can predispose a PhD student to experience difficulties along the way, or find it difficult to respond to these difficulties with sufficient psychological flexibility. Here are just some of those most important key factors…… [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
Building good mental health while doing a PhD
Studying for a PhD can be demanding, challenging, sometimes exhilarating and sometimes deeply stressful. Starting out on a PhD is like no other academic study you will have done before. On the one hand you seem to have a long time ahead of you to get things done, and on the other milestones, deadlines and sometimes competing demands create pressures that you never faced as an undergraduate, on a Masters programme or even in an outside working environment……..
