Creativity and Mental Health as a PhD Student

This week’s episode explores creativity, mental health and the PhD process.

 

Theo Stickley trained in mental health nursing and then did an MA in Counselling and qualified as a counsellor and worked as a nurse. In 2000 he began teaching at the University of Nottingham where he worked until 2019 when he retired. His PhD was in the arts and mental health. He supervised 11 PhD students and has externally examined 15 theses. He has 140 publications and now volunteers with a charity befriending asylum-seekers and refugees.

 

Theo talks about the PhD as a creative process and points to the importance of keeping a reflexive journal that documents the discoveries that you are making as part of your research “adventure” as he calls it!

 

He also talks about how tapping into your own creative intuition can help you if you are feeling stuck on your PhD journey.

 

We also talk about choosing a supervisor with a view to seeing if you can develop a good relationship with that person and not relying solely on academic credentials for your choice of examiner.

 

Finally Theo explains why there is no need to worry about your viva!

 

You find out more about Theo here:

Work website:     https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/healthsciences/people/theo.stickley1

Personal website:  https://theostickley.co.uk/

 

Click here for Theo’s Top Ten Tips

 

Let us know what you think of this episode at: phdliferaft@yahoo.com

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