MARUM Supervision Workshop
Supporting mental health and well-being of early-career researchers
Working as a researcher in academia can be inspiring and joyful but it can also be demanding, both physically and mentally. Dealing with time pressure, job insecurity and competition on the one hand and personal challenges with communication, transcultural diversity and imposter syndrome on the other, may often lead to mental health disorders. Given that one in three people will suffer from some kind of mental health disorder at one point in their life, several studies suggest that people working in academia are especially prone to suffering from psychological distress. Mental health is thus not just a trending topic but one that all supervisors will most likely be confronted with at some stage. The Covid-19 pandemic and the corresponding restrictions for work and private life have increased many of these processes.
In this workshop, we want to discuss how we can support the mental health and well-being of the PhD students and postdocs in our groups. We invited a psychologist to provide us with some background and some tools to work with. Subsequently, there will be lots of time for exchange and discussion among us.
16 May 2022
12.00 - 17.00
MARUM I, room 2070 (or online via Zoom, if necessary)
Programme
| 12.00 - 13.30 | Input / Keynote (incl. Q+A): Dr. Desiree Dickerson: Supporting student mental health and well-being. A usefull toolbox |
| 13.30 - 14.00 | Joint lunch break (sandwiches, tea and coffee will be provided) |
| 14.00 - 17.00 | Discussion and exchange of experiences |
Input / Keynote
Dr. Desiree Dickerson
Supporting student mental health and well-being. A useful toolbox
“I’m an academic, not a therapist. How do I support my students’ mental health and well-being?”
Some group leaders operate on a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy with their group members and students when it comes to one’s life and its challenges. Some simply do not know how to approach the subject. In this interactive session you’ll develop a toolbox for navigating your students’ mental health and well-being.
- learn to ask the right questions,
- it’s about collecting data,
- developing a genuine open-door policy,
- the role of belonging, self-worth, and capability and how to foster it,
- caring for yourself along the way.
Dr. Desiree Dickerson (https://desireedickerson.com/) has a background as a researcher in neurosciences and clinical psychology. She is from New Zealand and has worked also in Australia, Austria and now Spain. Her goal is to take the best of neuroscience, behavioural economics, and psychological practice and break it down into meaningful, practical tools to help academics.