I agree with eng77 - unless money really is no object

OK, if your uni guidance does not have an option where you can choose to submit a thesis with papers in, then totally rewriting is your only option. And I would still state something like "since these have been published elsewhere (citations), they will bear close resemblance to the original work" . To cover my back.

Ah, no, if you insert the papers it can be (and indeed should be) word for word - you can literally copy and paste the whole paper, including its abstract and references, as a chapter in your thesis. There is no plagiarism issue as this is an accepted way of doing the thesis. You simply need to put a note at the start of the thesis stating what you have done. If the papers are published already you would state this and include the full citation. There is no need for any rewording or rephrasing. Hope this helps!

Just stick the papers in! Why do all this extra work for the sake of a format?

How about simply including the two papers in your thesis as two separate chapters? This way all you need to do is explain the structure of your thesis - much easier than presenting it all differently.

If you decide not to just insert the papers, then I think you have to take the rewording advice very seriously. I know of a PhD student who put parts of his already published papers into the thesis and it turned into a plagiarism case. It was a slightly different scenario to yours - as he had actually used text in his papers from the methods section of a paper of his supervisor - as instructed BY his supervisor! But as I say it turned into a real academic plagiarism case requiring a panel etc.

Welcome to the forum! : )

I imagine so but you need to ask around and find out what requirements are in the place you wish to study. I think the fact that you have sponsorship probably means you wouldn't have any problems securing a place.

It can be such a horrible and stressful time. A whinge and sharing about the hardships is needed sometimes! I still don't think you are stupid or incompetent - no matter what you say! But it's OK to realise that something isn't the right thing for you or you don't seem to be as good at it as others. I guess that's part of learning about ourselves. Hope you hang in there and manage to get it wrapped up in your planned time-frame.

Yes, and sometimes things go as planned and it isn't necessarily your fault or because you aren't clever enough. Like maybe the whole topic area just isn't the right fit for you. There are so many possible reasons why things don't always go well / as you imagined they would. Echoing what others have said a break might do you good. Not that you'll necessarily come back and think it all looks great after all, but maybe just that you'll feel more refreshed, more confident, kinder to yourself, and ready to just see it through.

Your examiners won't pass you out of pity. They get to see (and they pass) a whole range of theses and it is true that some are better than others. I wasn't pleased with mine at all. But it helped me to remind myself that I am not my thesis and my thesis is not me... my thesis was the product of 3 years that didn't particularly go well on lots of levels (supervisor issues etc). But I salvaged something from it and passed in the end. Not sure if helps to share that or not. But anyway, good luck. You can do it!

Congrats!!! I keep mine on. I'll remove them when I've enough post-PhD stuff to take their place and fill out my CV!

I haven't been I this situation so no advice to share but I just wanted to say welcome back! (:

You're welcome and I'm glad it's useful. They might have asked me some of the questions I prepared for. I don't quite remember. They defo didn't ask me to give a summary of what my PhD was about. I'm still glad I prepared a little blurb for that though, as it made me feel confident and ready for if they DID ask.

Argh that does sound challenging. I hope you manage to switch off from it a bit now. Just tell yourself that you want to look at it with fresh eyes before the viva, and so in a way not looking at it or thinking about it now, and doing some other activities and fun things, is actually a part of your preparation process.

I'm sure you'll do well :) Not sure if it's helpful but there's a paper you can Google that is realistic and might help calm anxiety for those going into viva. It's title is: it's a PhD, not a nobel prize.

All the best and keep us posted!

Definitely not - a Masters is always a good thing to have on your CV! Plus there are the other advantages you mention.

Developmental psychology is not so much focused on trauma and psychological interventions. That would come under clinical psychology.

If there are no accredited courses in the UAE then do you need a qualification to get your foot in the door? Or do you mean for practising in another country?

I think your idea is a good one, as it can potentially solve your problem of "this history". You'd make new links (or reestablish old ones) , have new references, and get a masters and more valuable research experience.

Another possibility could be to go straight to another PhD. I think it depends on whether you think the Masters would be useful and/or necessary.

A lot of people discover things aren't as they had imagined or hoped, and its OK to switch (as long as it doesn't become a recurrent theme of course, which it shouldn't unless you're really unlucky!)

Good luck Ladybird! My only advice would be to get the thesis back out say 2 weeks before the viva date and re read it with fresh (and refreshed) eyes - basically to refresh yourself and make sure you know what you did and why you did it. I used a highlighter and also scribbled additional thoughts in the margins. I also printed out a list of all my typos and errors (40 odd in the end I think). What else? You could also run a quick literature search to make sure you're up to date with any new research on the topic. If it helps, you could also prepare answers to the standard viva questions. I found it helpful/confidence boosting to be prepared to give a blurb on what my thesis was about (I wrote it down too so I could prompt myself if needed) - but ironically they didn't even ask for one!

Personally, I would use the time from now till then (a week or so before the viva) to just relax and do other things. This is what I found worked well for me. It ended up being just 1 week as I was unwell for the best part of the first week, but it was still plenty of time (and not so much time that I could overthink things or become more anxious).

Hope this helps!