by Bill Sheate
Just published in PLOS Mental Health is my new paper Re-framing eco-distress for self-efficacy and resilience building. The paper proposes a re-framing of eco-distress from being framed principally as a unique set of emotional responses to the climate crisis to being one of many factors contributing to and affected by the current public mental health crisis. The emphasis can then shift from a focus on so-called ‘climate emotions’ toward building greater self-efficacy and resilience skills more generally, especially among young people, so that they are better able to cope with the multiple factors contributing to declining public mental health, including climate and environmental change….. [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
How are you approaching your time at university?
With the new 2023-24 academic year now well inderway it’s a good time to get a handle on your approach to learning, studying or research. A model of learning that may have served you well (or at least OK) at secondary school is unlikely to serve you so well at university. Here are a few quick pointers/questions to ask yourself, some equally relevant to whether you are an undergraduate, postgraduate (Taught) or postgraduate (Research - PhD/Doctoral research). There are some issues especially relevant to postgraduate study, e.g. to a one-year Masters or to doctoral research…..[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
Who am I?
For many at university it's a first real opportunity to explore your own sense of self or identity - who you are as an individual. And away from assumptions and expectations of you by longtime friends and family, or even of yourself in that previous context.
So what is important to you? What are your personal values, approach to work/life balance, hopes and dreams, sexuality; what motivates you - what are you passionate about?……[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
What do we mean by self-awareness?
Increasingly educational psychology recognises the importance of students developing self-awareness competency - the ability to reflect on one’s own role in society, to be able to evaluate one’s actions and to deal with one’s emotions and desires.
Typically, this involves five key aspects: ……..
