The Un-Dissertation

10 years. A decade. A third of my life up until then.

That’s how long it took me to finish my dissertation.

So I have a sense of just what you might be facing.

I am Dr. Karen Shue and as I described on the main page of this site, my own dissertation process was, well, not the highlight of my life. I started the process a bit anxious about what was to come and left the process with a Ph.D. and an aversion to writing much of anything. I made lots of future plans about what I wanted to achieve balanced in equal proportions with lots of avoidance and thoroughly got in my own way.

I gradually discovered how to get past that period of what I now call “dissertation recovery” and I’m interested in coaching others to make the whole dissertation project a different kind of experience – one that contributes to your future success rather than preventing you from undertaking future large or complex projects with energy and interest.

What do I bring to working with you on this?:

Short and sweet Credentials version:

• A Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from McGill University (one of Canada’s “Ivy League” equivalents for you U.S. types ;-)
• Background as a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Neuro-Rehabilitation Psychologist
• 20 years of experience as a brain expert in various settings
• Training and practice in neurofeedback and related methods of creating changes in brain patterns of activity
• Coach training from MentorCoach — an organization that trains professionals to enhance and transfer their existing skills to coaching practices

You can read more about my own professional journey on my neurofeedback practice website – Brain and Health. You can get a wider perspective on what I share about the brain and its impact on us by visiting my Neurofeedback on the Brain blog.

More About Me as a Real Person

But I believe you can learn about more about someone from sharing their Story,  so I would like to share some of my experiences, background, and skills and how they contribute to how I support ABD’s….

• My own challenges in a Ph.D. program – I understand the kinds of difficulties and “stuckness” you may be experiencing

As I shared, I took many many years to finally get my dissertation done. There were a number of things that contributed to this – I moved away from the university, my mother was dying and I went home to take care of her, I got a full-time clinical job, my advisor was -- well -- challenging – but I have to say that I was my own worst enemy.  I felt depressed, frustrated, angry -- and sometimes even hopeless.  Ready to quit.  

Many of the things I did to myself and let others do to me are the things I had to un-learn during my recovery period – things I want you to not have to recover from.  

• Ph.D.-Recovery: If it’s not accessible (or If I can’t make it accessible), then I’m not doing it

One thing I learned about myself from the whole “dissertating” process, is that I personally get totally bogged down by too much complication. As a dissertation survivor now well along in my recovery phase, I’ve learned that I need to make things as accessible and direct as possible in order to go as smoothly and quickly as possible. In fact, these days I refuse to do anything I can’t make accessible. My “dissertations” these days are legal reports — and I regularly get feedback from lawyers that my reports are among the most useful and clearest they ever get.

My relentless pursuit of accessibility includes the coaching I give, my view on the dissertation process, the strategies I offer — everything.

• As a neuropsychologist, I have expertise in how our brains function and what promotes optimal function (or interferes with that)

Based on my understanding of the brain as a nonlinear complex system that works best when it regulates itself with a minimum of interference from us, I strongly believe that we as human beings (and as dissertation writers) also function at our best when we identify how we work at our most natural and then enhance that natural flow by co-operating with it or ever so slightly tweaking it.  

As a neuro-psychologist also trained as a coach with a focus on positive psychology, I help you identify your natural flow and rhythms, your natural work style and capitalize on that to make working~playing on your dissertation as painless and natural as possible.

In other words, I teach you how to work with the way your brain works, instead of against it.

• I am an information sponge

I have so many interests and am a naturally curious person (my goal when I was 7 years old was to grow up to be a “Renaissance Woman” – knowing everything there was to know…I’m not quite there, but I’m still working on it….). I am definitely a collector of knowledge and information - I know about a lot of different things.  

This can be a benefit to you in that I have an interest not only in helping you finish, but in the actual content of what you are working on – I enjoy reading and giving feedback on what I understand of your work and offering connected information when I have it (and if you want it).  I can follow your dissertation wherever it needs to go.

• I am energized by discovering inter-relationships

 As a psychologist, I emphasize positive psychology approaches and strategies grounded in empirical research.  I prefer approaches that focus on the positive, the upbeat, the optimistic — what’s working.  As a neuro-psychologist, I specialize in the brain as a system — a collection of interacting elements. The idea is to strengthen those connections in our brain that serve us and let those that don’t weaken and fade away.

I love finding the connections between ideas, finding the links between “symptoms” and patterns and uncovering the easiest solutions.  I delight in making connections between what I know and something new or discovering connections between two different areas.

I put this to work for you as your UnDissertation coach by getting excited with you about your work (and even sharing some of my own connections, for what they’re worth ;-). You are not “just” a dissertationer to me — you are a whole person - a human system — and we need to take all of you into account to help you move along your path.

The benefit of working with me — using my unique background, skills and everything I bring to our work together — is that I blend my knowledge of the brain with coaching skills to help you identify practical strategies that work for you in whatever area you are feeling “stuck” by:

• Helping you identify your own patterns and most natural solutions, so you can create a flow of your own
• Making the dissertation process more accessible
• Getting excited about your work and the connections you share about your ideas as well as helping you find ways to get excited again about your own work — or at least to discover the ways that work for you to feel motivated and energized again
• Connecting all the threads of the dissertation process for you
• Playing with you along the way: your content, during practice orals (asking reasonable questions that may come up for you), asking for and responding to advisor feedback, etc.

And, because I love the inter-connections — I love learning from you about your dissertation, the dissertation process, and how I can be more helpful to you and other dissertationers!

Are you ready to allow a coach to help you get your dissertation done?  

You don’t need to be shy about using a coach.  When I was writing my dissertation, coaches didn’t even exist, but I can tell you I needed one!  Without that support, it took me years longer than it needed to, and cost me in stress, time, and frustration. (Not to mention the years of dissertation-recovery that followed!)

For a peek into the kinds of topics and discussions we have in our private UnDissertation groups, visit The Undissertation Blog on this website. To get an idea of how you can participate, visit the UnDissertationing Together page (I’m in the process of adding something new and kind of cool — in the meantime, just connect with me to talk about where you are and what you need.)

To discover where you are most blocked and your best bet to get unblocked by yourself, ask about my free UnDissertation Self-Assessment.

If you know you want coaching to get this project done, connect with me to talk about what service structure might work best for you and to see if we feel like a good match.