==================================================
THE ALL-BUT-DISSERTATION SURVIVAL GUIDE(tm)
Devoted to practical steps for completing your
doctoral dissertation.
http://www.abdsurvivalguide.com
==================================================To subscribe, visit www.abdsurvivalguide.com
http://www.abdsurvivalguide.com/INDEX
1. Ben's note
2. Dissertation Distractions
By Anne Cowden, Ph.D., Norma Svedosh, Ph.D.
3. Inspired to Write? Contribute to the ABDSG
4. Request for Dissertation Friendly Resources
5. Words of Wisdom
6. Inspirational QuoteSUMMARY
=========In this issue Anne Cowden, Ph.D. and Norma Svedosh, Ph.D.
discuss one of the reasons most ABD's never finish their
dissertation and offer suggestions to help you complete this
important task.If you know of dissertation friendly resources or if you're
inspired to write, consider contributing to the ABDSG.We round out this issue with Words of Wisdom & an
inspirational quote.<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>
Ben's Note
November 4, 2004
Dear ABD Survival Guide Reader,
We're about six weeks away from the end of the year,
and it's time for you to do some planning for the
rest of 2004 and early 2005. Decide where you are,
and where you want to be, by the time the year turns
and 2005 rolls in. If you can, make a big push to
get as much work as possible, so you can start 2005
on a positive note.For some of you, the dissertation process is more
difficult than it needs to be, perhaps due to problems
with organization and attention. This issue's feature
article offers you some tips for screening yourself for
adult attention deficit disorder. We trust it will
provide some welcome information for those of you
who might be experiencing this condition.We're still waiting for new articles for the ABDSG,
and have another request: if you have any dissertation
friendly resources you've used and can recommend, please
send them to rachna@mentorcoach.com- we'll compile them
and post them on the ABDSG website so we can provide
more resources for all of you.As usual, we round it out with Words of Wisdom and
an inspirational quote.See you in two weeks.
Warmly,
Ben
P.S. If you are a helping professional interested in
coaching, please visit www.mentorcoach.com. If you are a
professional from any other discipline interested in
coaching, please visit www.ecoach.com=================================================
Dissertation Distractions
By Anne Cowden, Ph.D., Norma Svedosh, Ph.D.
=================================================Finishing a dissertation is unquestionably one of the most
daunting tasks you are likely to face in a long career. It
can also be a rewarding one if you realize how you function
around stress, pressure, lack of specific day-to-day
deadlines, limited supervision from your committee and a
host of new challenges you have not faced in academia.We want to share some insights to why many ABD's never
complete their dissertations.We will do this by posing some questions for you. Then we
will explain what you answers might mean as they relate to
your status as ABD and not Ph.D.Please check the appropriate description for each question
below, based on an assessment of yourself.1. How often do you have trouble wrapping up the final
details of a project, once the challenging parts have been
done?NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES OFTEN VERY OFTEN
2. How often do you have difficulty getting things in
order when you have to do a task that requires
organization?NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES OFTEN VERY OFTEN
3. How often do you have problems remembering appointments
or obligations?NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES OFTEN VERY OFTEN
4. When you have a task that requires a lot of thought,
how often do you avoid or delay getting started?NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES OFTEN VERY OFTEN
5. How often do you fidget or squirm with your hands or
your feet when you have to sit down for a long time?NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES OFTEN VERY OFTEN
6. How often do you feel overly active and compelled to
do things, like you were driven by a motor?NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES OFTEN VERY OFTEN
This 6-question Adult AD/HD Self-Report Scale-V1.1 (ASRS-
V1.1) Screener is a subset of the World Health Organization's
Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Please go to
http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/ncs/adhd/6Question0ADHD-
ASRS-v1-1.pdf to access the scale and evaluate your score.The symptoms of AD/HD in adults are often mistaken for a
stressful life. It has been estimated* that 3-7% of the
population has AD/HD. While great strides have been made to
effectively diagnose and treat AD/HD among children,
clinicians and educators acknowledge that it is
underreported and under-treated among adults. AD/HD is not
just a childhood condition as experts once thought. It can
be with you throughout your life, and left untreated can
lead to great frustration, job failure and relationship
difficulties. It may prevent you from completing your
dissertation.AD/HD affects people's thought processes in various ways.
Primarily, AD/HD interferes with the executive functions of
the brain; our ability to remember, manage, organize,
coordinate, analyze and synthesize information. Impairment
with any of these functions may result in forgetfulness,
inattention, lack of persistence toward future goals, and
inability to strategize.Many people have been able to overcome these obstacles by
working harder, having an exceptionally brilliant mind or
figuring out the system, and have been able to do fine until
now. Writing a dissertation is different from any activity
you have undertaken in your academic work. AD/HD may have
finally shown up full-blown and may be directly related to
why you have not finished your dissertation.If you feel you may have ADD, you may wish to seek
counseling at the college or outside. There are a number of
clinicians and coaches who specialize in dealing with ADD
clients. There are great medications and other tools that
can be used very successfully to manage ADD and you might
want to actively seek them through the proper channels.While you might feel upset if you are fairly sure you have
ADD, please don't be. The knowledge that you have it, even
in a mild form, might just be the key you need to unlock the
door to completing the dissertation. According to most
studies done on the attrition rate of ABD's, 50% across
disciplines never finish, a group you don't wish to join.
Getting help now may be the best educational move you have
ever made.On a final note, throughout history many great people have
had learning disabilities and probably many of them had ADD.
Think of Mozart, who was impatient, impulsive, distractible,
emotionally needy, creative, innovative, irreverent and a
maverick. Many other geniuses such as Einstein, Edgar Allan
Poe, Abraham Lincoln and scores more may have had ADD, and
by anyone's standards did very well indeed. Think of this
as food for thought and then act if you think and feel it
will be of assistance. Good luck, deal with those
distractions and get that Ph.D. now.=================================================
About Anne Cowden, Ph.D., Norma Svedosh, Ph.D.
=================================================Anne is co-founder of Multicultural Coaching Network. She
has been a tenured professor for many years and worked as a
consultant, pedagogical writer for many publishing firms,
researcher, manager, legislative analyst and human resource
manager. She specializes in working with ABDs with and
without AD/HD as well as coaching PhDs seeking employment,
guiding them in the interview process through the
achievement of tenure and through promotion and
organizational politics. The Academic Coach can be reached
at Drannecowden@aol.com. All inquiries are welcome.Norma is a founder of Princeton Personal Coaching and co-
founder of Odyssey Coaching, Consulting and Training. She
is a licensed social worker and professional coach who
specializes in AD/HD. She provides individual, family and
group coaching to adolescents and adults with ADHD, parents
of children with ADHD, and spouses/partners of individuals
with ADHD. Prior to her work as a professional AD/HD coach,
Norma spent 18 years as a policy analyst and researcher for
the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services, staffing
committees, drafting legislation and analyzing policy issues
in the areas of child development, maternal and child
health, alcoholism and drug abuse, welfare programs and
senior citizen services. She can be reached at
nsvedosh@princetonpersonalcoaching.com.=================================================
Inspired to Write? Contribute to the ABDSG
=================================================We'd like to issue an open invitation for all recent
Ph.D.'s, faculty advisors, university professors,
consultants, graduate students and writing coaches to share
your personal insights and wisdom regarding the dissertation
process. If you'd like to write for the ABDSG, please
contact rachna@mentorcoach.com to request our guidelines and
list of possible topics. You can also view our archives at
http://www.abdsurvivalguide.com to see what we've recently
published and/or to get some ideas.We look forward to broadening our knowledge base through
your participation.When you share what you know, we all benefit.
Thanks in advance-Ben & the ABDSG staff
=================================================
Request for Dissertation Friendly Resources
=================================================In our ongoing efforts to make the ABDSG even more useful
for you, our readers, we're in the process of compiling
dissertation helpful resources in all categories. Do you
have editors, statistics consultants, software, books, or
other resources that you're using and are finding valuable?
If so, can you please share this information with Rachna
(rachna@mentorcoach.com), and she'll put together a
compilation of resources, posted on our website, so you can
find everything you might need - all in one place.Again, please send any relevant and helpful resources to
rachna@mentorcoach.com and please put ABDSG Resource in the
subject line.Thanks in advance for your help.
=================================================
Words of Wisdom
=================================================Get over the idea that the dissertation is an embodiment of
who you are; keep it as simple as possible, keep things
manageable, and write as you go. I spent far too much
energy worrying about making the dissertation speak to how
" deserving" I was, and not enough time just writing the damn
thing. I worried myself into paralysis for YEARS, and this
was very damaging. Just get on with it.=================================================
Inspirational Quote
================================================="Effort only fully releases its reward after a person
refuses to quit."
~~Napoleon Hill=================================================
Your Own Coach
=================================================If you are considering whether to get your own coach to help
you reach your academic goals, send any email to:
ben16-76471@autocontactor.com=================================================
BEN DEAN, Publisher, ABDSG
=================================================Ben holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas
at Austin. He is the founder of MentorCoach
(www.MentorCoach.com) a virtual university training
accomplished mental health professionals to become
extraordinary coaches.He is also founder of eCoach (www.ecoach.com) which helps
interdisciplinary professionals become coaches.
Ben lives in suburban Maryland with his wife and two young
children, and Walnut, their hamster.=================================================
RACHNA D. JAIN, Editor, ABDSG
=================================================I'm a dissertation coach and licensed psychologist based in
Maryland, with a doctorate from the University of Denver.
I'm the Editor of the ABDSG, as well as the Author of "Get
It Done! A Coach's Guide to Dissertation Success" and "Get
it Done Faster: Secrets of Dissertation Success". If you'd
like to learn more about me or my books, please visit my
website: http://www.ExcelWithEaseCoaching.com
< http://www.excelwitheasecoaching.com/> If you have
questions about this newsletter, you can direct them to me:
rachna@mentorcoach.comI'm excited to be working with you to meet your academic
goals. You can do it!=================================================
THE ALL-BUT-DISSERTATION SURVIVAL GUIDE(tm)
================================================="The All-But-Dissertation Survival Guide"(tm) focuses on
ways to help its readers more readily overcome the
roadblocks that often seem to stand in the way of completing
the dissertation. It is read throughout the world.=================================================
INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH A DISSERTATION COACH? READY TO
TAKE THE NEXT STEP?
=================================================Email ben16-76471@autocontactor.com You'll receive an email
outlining the application process, follow the instructions
and submit the form. Your application will then be forwarded
to potential coaches so that you might arrange a free,
initial consultation. Various fee plans are available.=================================================
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=================================================First, congratulations!!!! Yeaaaaaa!!!! Second, please send
any email to: FreeAtLast@mentorcoach.com Within seconds,
you'll receive a note from Ben.=================================================
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=================================================Ben J. Dean, Ph.D MentorCoach(tm)
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