Stress Reduction Techniques in Research

This workshop is specifically designed to provide PhD researchers with effective strategies for reducing anxiety and boosting confidence around and within the research process. It emphasises the benefits of practising self-compassion to develop a positive mindset around the PhD journey, and to develop more manageable approaches to the PhD research process.

Practising self-compassion throughout the PhD journey builds confidence, counteracts the effects of imposter syndrome and enhances confidence in the research process. It also creates an environment of psychological safety and encourages a culture of empathy, understanding, and mutual support among PhD researchers, fostering a sense of belonging and community.

The programme includes:

• Group sharing about experiences with stress;
• Academic dissociation: reducing anxiety that causes academic writer’s block or procrastination;
• Mindfulness and the body: using the body as a way to reduce stress and facilitate enhanced confidence around the research process;
• Non-research approaches to reducing anxiety;
• Mindfulness approaches to academic writing;
• Stress-reducing approaches to the research process;
• Mindfulness approaches to time-management and planning.

Outcomes

Participants in this workshop can expect to:

• Reduce their anxiety around the research process;
• Develop time management techniques as a method to reduce anxiety;
• Encourage and improve the practice of self-care within the research process;
• Enhance their confidence in academic writing and research practices.

Contributors

Dr Catriona Ryan is a poet, published academic, critical theorist and world authority on the work of Tom MacIntyre, with an international standing in Irish Studies. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority, an Honorary Research Fellow at UWTSD and a Doctoral Training specialist. She has worked in the Higher Education sector in Ireland and the UK over the past 14 years.

In 2018, Dr Ryan established Scriptor Cube Ltd., the first Higher Education company in the UK and internationally to provide wellbeing in Research and Academic Writing courses to PhD Researchers and Postgraduates. Her online workshops are based on new methodologies she developed designed to reduce anxiety and build confidence in Academic Writing and Research.