Reflections on a visit by Hugh Kearns
Recently, UWA was very fortunate in having a visit by Mr Hugh Kearns , psychologist, author and Head of the Staff Development and Training Unit at Flinders University in South Australia. Amongst other commitments Hugh had whilst in Perth, he delivered three workshops for the Graduate Research School; two to an audience of PhD and Masters by Research students, and one to a group of supervisors from our academic staff. In these workshops, Hugh presented his ideas on what makes for a successful PhD experience, both for students and their supervisors. The following is a brief outline of Hugh’s first workshop. There is a valuable message here for just about anyone who is in the process of writing their doctoral or masters dissertation.
In the first workshop ‘Self Sabotage: How we do it and what you can do about it’, Hugh focused on those self-defeating habits we engage in - knowingly or otherwise- that serve to undermine the very goal we are all in the process of achieving; namely, writing and eventually submitting our thesis. These habits include procrastination of all and many forms; the scourge of perfectionism; the ‘impostor syndrome’ (brought about when comparing yourself negatively to others and feeling as though, unlike everybody else, you’re surely not intelligent or worthy enough to be at university writing something as enlightened as a thesis); and ‘cognitive busyness’ or doing many things at once which require only minimal skill and input as a means to avoid the dreaded thesis. This illusion of business we create is simply an obstacle we put in place to avoid any perceived risk of failure.
As a means of moving on from Self-Sabotage Hugh asserts that we need to become more self aware and recognise the patterns of behaviour we use to handicap ourselves. Only in understanding these patterns of behaviour can we identify why they are there in the first place. In fact, the fear of failure and the protection of self worth is perhaps the major catalyst for self sabotage. Addressing them and creating the energy to change old thought patterns and for trying new habits is the next step. Hugh suggests, as a first step, we create an action plan which challenges each of the old self handicapping practices. For instance; stop worrying about how good your PhD is; let go of the commitments that are preventing you from concentrating on your thesis; say no to distractions and get plenty of assistance through your journey – from your supervisor, mentor, peers and family.
Self sabotage is a condition we perhaps all engage in at some time. In entering a PhD degree there is plenty to gain and also, equally, plenty to lose. We are being evaluated in a domain of achievement and it is normal to have feelings of self-doubt. Self sabotage is a strategy many of us use to protect ourselves against the possibility of failure. Removing those external obstacles we put in place to avoid getting down to the business of writing the thesis is paramount.
I’ll make another entry on the second of Hugh’s workshops, this being ‘The Seven Secrets of Highly Effective PhD Students’ soon.
Hugh Kearns has two publications which will soon be in the Learning language and Research Skill Library in Student Services; The PhD Experience: What they didn't tell you at induction and The 7 secrets of highly successful PhD students.