I also worked with an older women who had enrolled in a PhD but was very behind the curve. She was recommeneded to work with me to help her to get started. She explained to me that she did not feel comfortable revealing her vulnerabilities to her supervisor because he was also her projectleader at work! So clearly a counsellor would not be able to help and not could the supervisor. I did 6 sessions with her and helped to get her propsal written and her confidence levels up to the point where she felt she could continue with her supervisor alone...

Thank you! It has been fascinating to be doing a PhD on PhDs....I agree with you, as far as the uni is concerned the candidate is intellectually well cared for by the advsor/s and for emotional needs, the counselling services. BUT, there is a gap. I went to see a counsellor at one point and she gave me a pile of handouts on anxiety and how to manage stress...when what I wanted to do was talk about how hard it was to be doing a PhD with teenage children, a husband who was experiencing metal health issues, financial worries and supervisors who were giving me the run around and for years did not engage with my writing at a deep level.....The counsellor had not done HDR and I felt could not relate to me. The service I envisage is to provide the emotional support and also provide guidance about both the advisrs role and directly about the thesis without overstepping boundaries that would annoy the supervisors...a niche, to be sure, and then there is the matter of payment....candidates are generally not flush....

Nope, no viva, just three external examiners, two of whom need to be international and top in the field...if the thesis requires correction and additions then there is a committee to monitor that process...

Hi...the UK attrition rate is around 25%, but, it varies considerably from uni to uni...There is no empirical evidence to answer your question: why is the attrition rate lower in Australia and much higher in US and in between in UK...my sense from having read in the area for the last 5 years is that it is a combination of factors..entrance requirements are very rigorous in australia, the PhD is entirely funded by the tax payer, so free of charge, which takes the finacila pressure off, there are also scholarships of about $80K to support many of those students...there is a compulsory team now of supervisors and no viva....just to name a few factors...

thank you for that info...it's interesting that in the US the attrition rate of PhDs is 50% and over, whereas in Australia where I am from, it is around 17%....

I submitted my thesis for examination a week ago, so technically I have just entered the last phase of candidature....I found writing up to be a nightmare....I had a complete first drat 18 months ago and thought I had a few months of editing ...not so....my supervisors did not read my thesis at a deep level and only once I started getting close to the end of my candidature date did they 'wake up' and start applying their minds to my writing. It turned out that my writing was littered with statements of belief and I didnt know the meaning of topic sentences!! I found getting the hang of the conventions of academic writing in my specialism really difficult...I lost all confidence in my writing and with that went my creativity...a low point...I picked myself up (mentally) and doggedly corrected every sentence and paragraph according to the feedback...there were at least 20 iterations of each chapter and when I thought it was done, my supervisors told me to get rid of the implications chapter saying it was too practical for a PhD! My husband wanted me to sue the university because by then my scholarship was over...I plodded on for another year, rewriting every chapter...and then finally asked for permission to submit...even then my supervisor asked me to work on the final chapter for another 2 weeks...arrggghhh....

Doing a PhD, and I quote, "is the most intellectually and emotionally challenging research project that you as an academic will ever embark on" ....people who are psychologically absolutely stable and fine become anxious, lonely, lack self confidence and feel uncertain: and they have to try to make sense of these feelings...it is completely normal to feel these emotions, all PhD candidates feel this way from time to time during their candidature. For me, two things are critical in knowing you will be successful in completing: you have to have a supportive relationship with your supervisors and you have to prove your ability to write according to the academic writing conventions of your specialism...if those two things are in place, you will succeed and overcome all the challenging emotions that come with the territory of doing a PhD...

Thank you for your reply gwen86...my primary working experience is as an academic, I've worked at universities in Canada, Australia and South Africa in teaching in the MEd program, in 2009 I qualified as a coach because my work with students is mainly one-to-one. My PhD is on the doctoral supervisory relationship, and I would like to work in this area...Please could you direct me to the online services you mention...I have searched using as many key words as I can think of and I found 1 company based in UK...thank you ....

I am interested to know where the thesis fell down? Was it in the methodology chapter, or the conceptualisation that frames the thesis? Because if those two areas are strong, then a thesis cannot fail...it might need improvement, but is sounds like you did what they asked you to correct...good luck and keep us posted about the outcome...

I have submitted my thesis and am now waiting for examiners reports. Assuming it all goes well, I should have my degree awarded in a few months time. I was wondering how great a need is there in the world for a service that provides support to Higher degree Research students, either Masters or Phds. I'm not even sure I can ask this question because it may be considered advertising? If the forum allows this and anyone answers then I'll write more about my experience of doing a PhD over the last 5 years ...

I can relate to that uneasy feeling! I submitted my first draft 15 months ago and my 2 supervisors made comments using track changes...I thought that was all I had to do...BUT, they had actually not applied their minds to it properly and it took another 15 months on refining the writing with literally 20 iterations of each chapter (20 x 10 = 200). A year ago they dropped a bombshell saying that I had to get rid of the penultimate chapter!! Which threw out every chapter as I had to get rid of all reference to the topic...arrgghhh....Now that I have submitted, on reflection I think that my experience was due to supervisors who were too busy to pay attention at a deep level to what I was writing ANd I did not know the conventions of my specialism...I hadnot published an article before starting to write up....these two factors combined to make it extremely difficult...I have to commend my supervisors though because they never gave up on me and would not let me submit until they were happy with the product...now I wait for the examiners results....