Finish Your Dissertation Once and for All!: How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move on with Your Life [Paperback]

Alison B. Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2009 | ISBN-10: 1433804158 | ISBN-13: 978-1433804151 | Edition: 1

Are you having difficulty finishing your dissertation? Are you feeling stuck after trying various approaches, or panicky about the entire enterprise? If so, it is unlikely that your cognitive abilities are to blame. More likely, the culprits are anxiety, self-doubt, procrastination, perfectionism, and the thoughts, feelings, and behavior that accompany these difficulties. This book was written to help you overcome these problems and finish your dissertation once and for all. Combining sychological support with a project management approach that breaks tasks into small, manageable chunks, experienced dissertation coach Alison Miller shows you how to overcome negativity and succeed beyond your own expectations. You will learn how to plan and structure the dissertation process, work effectively with dissertation chairpersons and committees, and take care of yourself on the dissertation journey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 181 pages
• Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA); 1 edition (January 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1433804158
• ISBN-13: 978-1433804151
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Education & Reference > Publishing & Books > Authorship

More About the Author

Alison Miller is the owner of The Dissertation Coach, a company that offers dissertation coaching, and dissertation workshops. She has worked with thousands of students coaching them to earn their doctoral degree. Alison is also the owner of Life Essentials, a company that offers life coaching and corporate workshops and training.

Alison has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor's in psychology from Cornell University. She speaks at companies and universities throughout the United States.

Alison is the author of Finish Your Dissertation Once and For All: How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move One With Your Life published by the American Psychological Association. Alison can be reached at www.thedissertationcoach.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changing, August 25, 2009

By 

Tracy Thomas - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finish Your Dissertation Once and for All!: How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move on with Your Life (Paperback)

Thank God I came across this book and the author in my desperation for a resource to help me get on track to even working on my dissertation.

The book clued me into everything that was getting in my way, and started me down a path where I can actually see how I will eventually finish this project. I'm afraid to think of where I would be, or should I say, not be, if I hadn't discovered this book.

December 13th. I am adding to my earlier review.

In my online courseroom today I stated the following to my classmates:

I can honestly say I lost what likely adds up to a few months, simply because I didn't know what I didn't know, and that made me very uncomfortable, so that the act of sitting down to work on this project felt like an exercise in pain avoidance. A book I can recommend that changed all of that for me is called

"Finish Your Dissertation Once and for All!: How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move on With Your Life"

~ Alison B. Miller

What once used to feel like a hate/hate relationship with my dissertation now feels like a Like/Like relationship that is bordering on a Like/Love relationship :)

Do yourself a favor and read this book.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars for people who weren't born knowing how to write a dissertation, October 31, 2009

By 

KB (Evanston, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finish Your Dissertation Once and for All!: How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move on with Your Life (Paperback)

This book contains everything Alison Miller learned through years of professional dissertation coaching--knowledge that I desperately needed as an 8th-year PhD student who had yet to produce a single chapter. Here's my advice: 1) Buy this book. 2) Read the first 50 pages and realize that you are not a failure as a graduate student just because you aren't having an easy time with the incredibly difficult process of writing a dissertation. 3) Go all out with the daily & weekly workplans she recommends--it might seem like an artificial process at first, but it's a process that now keeps me writing, and something I'm planning on doing for the rest of my career. Good luck!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for all learners, February 2, 2009

By 

Jennifer Lynn Collins "JLC" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finish Your Dissertation Once and for All!: How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move on with Your Life (Paperback)

What this book has helped me realize is that over the years I have piled on negative emotions, thoughts, and behaviors about being a student that have now become an obstacle course for me as I finish my dissertation. What brought me to this book was frustration - I have been a student who has been motivated to learn from fear and this fear has driven my work patterns. This is not learning and this is not living. These patterns are ineffective and I want my life back.

This book has given me the tools to recognize: 1. many many people experience similar blocks when they really want to complete something. 2. certain patterns of behaviors are linked to certain patterns of emotions that I have believed. 3. I don't have to believe these emotions or behaviors - I can recognize the pattern and choose differently. I have used these tools to get through some major dissertation hurdles quickly.

It does not matter if you are writing your dissertation, you are beginning a bachelor's degree, or you are trying to learn a new language or tackle projects around the house. I have recommended this book to many people - including several who aren't in school. The bottom line is about learning and about recognizing how your potential has been unwittingly covered up by thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that you have unconsciously chosen. Buy this book! Get your life back!