“Meetings with my dissertation supervisor leave me more confused than before. Maybe I’m not cut out for this.” – Anonymous Clinical Psychology Graduate Student Find out more about coaching ↗ In the past year, I have spoken to and worked with dozens of dissertation students, and the one issue that has come up more than […]

test excerpt

A dissertation coach’s first and foremost priority is to help you cross the dissertation finishing line. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Whether you are just starting out in your graduate studies or are approaching a major dissertation milestone, the chances are you have seen a lot of advertisements for dissertation coaching services. However, you […]

You can expect to pay anything from $800 to $4000 per semester for dissertation coaching, depending on the level of service and the expertise of the coach. Expensive? Well, that depends. Dissertation coaching is an investment. While the upfront cost might feel steep, it is paltry when you consider what you are getting and the […]

Whether you are just starting out in your graduate studies or are approaching a major dissertation milestone, the chances are you’ve seen a lot of advertisements for dissertation coaching services. But do you really need a coach? What can a coach actually do for you? Here are some of the top benefits my students have […]

With so many conflicting demands, it can be difficult to keep your work-life balance in check while writing your dissertation. However, mastering this balancing act is crucial to your academic success both now and in the future. As one researcher on Twitter shared recently, stats gathered by the Welcome Trust in 2020 indicate that work-life […]

ABD, or “all but dissertation,” is a term used frequently in the US to designate a PhD student who has passed all qualifying degree elements except for the writing, presentation, and defense of the doctoral dissertation. For many students, ABD can stand as both an exciting milestone and a terrifying sinkhole.  This is because ABD […]

You’ve done the research, analyzed the data, written the dissertation, and submitted it – now all that’s left is to complete your oral defense (also known as the viva voce, or just the viva). How on earth can you prepare to orally explain to a panel of experts what took you years to research and […]

The dissertation literature review—also known as the thesis literature review, or simply the lit review—is the portion of your dissertation that summarizes and dialogues with the existing research on your topic. If you’re like most of the students I work with, you may feel you need some help with this first and crucial part of […]

Think you’ve hit the finish line when you finally finish your full dissertation draft? Well … not quite. You actually have many more steps before you finally get to call your dissertation journey finished. Here’s a handy infographic of what to expect.