Doctoral training
Support to perform under pressure, for the whole of your doctorate
Doctoral research is demanding, often solitary, and rarely linear. When research becomes a venture, you answer for outcomes you do not fully control. Pressure rises when responsibility exceeds control. None of that is a sign that something is wrong.
That is why we start by getting to know you and how you work, not by waiting for something to go wrong. We are one team, from performance coaching to clinical psychology and psychiatry, and we are with you from the first week to the last.
The shape of the problem
A doctoral training programme brings researchers together as a cohort. The research itself is mostly done alone: in a lab, in the field, in the archive, at a laptop. Supervisors are experts in the research, not in how people perform under pressure. When research turns into a venture, success depends as much on how the team works together as on the science.
Most coaching is not equipped for mental health, and most mental health support waits to be asked for. Ours is designed to arrive first, and to stay.
How it works
Getting to know you: your individual assessment
At the start of the programme, every researcher is offered an individual assessment with one of our team, using validated, BPS-approved psychometric questionnaires. It looks at how you work best and how you respond under pressure. It also serves as your wellbeing MOT.
It is optional, and we recommend it to everyone. There is nothing to prepare. It is about how you work best, not about finding problems.
Working well together, then regular follow-up
Your results help you understand how you are likely to work with your supervisors and the others building the venture: where you complement each other, and where friction may appear under pressure. From there, we stay with you:
- Team sessions and performance coaching around the pressure moments that matter to you, turning what we learn into action.
- Regular check-ins with the same people, including when things are going well.
- Space to talk something through early, with someone who already knows you.
More support, under the same roof
Our aim is to keep support at the level of performance and coaching. If you ever need more, we step it up without a gap and without you retelling your story to a stranger:
- Clinical psychology, psychotherapy, occupational therapy and dietetics, within the same team.
- Consultant psychiatry, with a coordinated route into NHS or private inpatient care if and when required.
- Support into NHS services, working with your GP.
Specialist care is funded through private medical insurance, self-funding or the NHS. You decide which route is right for you. We help you get there.
Who we are
We are one multidisciplinary team: a performance coach, clinical psychologists, consultant psychiatrists, an EMDR psychotherapist, an occupational therapist and a dietitian, with careers spanning the NHS and private practice. Most coaching teams do not work with mental health, and most mental health services wait until you are struggling. We do both, from start to finish, so your support never breaks into pieces.
Confidentiality
Your individual assessment results stay confidential. Beyond that, two things are kept apart. Insight into how your team performs can be shared with your supervisors and the wider venture team only with your consent, and only where it benefits the programme. You can see what is recorded and who can read it.
Anything clinical stays with us. We do not report to your supervisor, your programme or your funder about what you discuss in clinical sessions. The only exception is where we believe you or someone else is at serious risk of harm, and we will always try to discuss that with you first. Beyond team-level insight, your programme receives anonymised uptake numbers only.
Questions
No. It is optional, and we recommend it to everyone. It is a single session and there is nothing to prepare.
The best time to meet us is before you need us
Leading or reviewing a doctoral programme? See how the pathway works for programmes.