We recognize that graduate students face many unique challenges. The experience can sometimes feel isolating and overwhelming, and maintaining a sense of community is important. If you are a graduate student at UBCV or UBCO, please join Getting Through Grad School.
This group will be offered again in fall 2023. Check back in September.
Why this group is worth it:
- Join a small, welcoming & non-judgmental community of graduate students coming together in solidarity, facilitated by CS staff.
- Graduate students face many unique challenges. The experience can sometimes feel isolating & overwhelming, & maintaining a sense of community is important. Seize the opportunity to connect with others over shared ups & downs of grad school experiences.
- Topics are generated by participants so that relevant themes may be addressed. Past topics have included motivation, managing relationships with mentors, handling uncertainty about career goals, creating work-life balance, feelings of being an imposter, procrastination & perfectionism, isolation & loneliness. We know that, for various reasons, these issues may be hard to talk about within a small program, a competitive environment, or with supervisors.
- Learn to apply grace & grit to succeed in your challenges
- Foster resiliency & self-agency
- Practice new coping strategies & skills
- Connect with useful resources
New this term, we will be offering 3 types of sessions:
- Coffee break – Bring your own coffee or tea & join us in this “open topic” support session
- Staying on track – Feeling stuck with your research or project? Come for accountability, support & strategies to get on track.
- Skills & strategies – Each session we will present a new skill or strategy for practice for stress management & relaxation, regulating mood, or managing your thoughts
Who should attend?
- Grad students at UBCV & UBCO
- Those who might benefit most are graduate students feeling stuck progressing through their program, isolated, lacking support, struggling with a negative culture in the lab/relationships, experiencing supervisory struggles, and managing feelings of powerlessness in the system.
- We recognize the unique individual needs of each student and will provide alternate options if group programming is not an appropriate referral option or fit.
You may join the support group at any point during the term & your attendance can be flexible & as needed. To participate, you must be in British Columbia & attend from a private & quiet space with a stable internet connection that can support Zoom.
Facilitators:
- Karen Flood, PhD, Registered Psychologist, Counselling Services
There are other online support groups that may be of interest to grad students including Mindful Stress Managemnt, the (Re)Claim and Connect: A guided storytelling group for Asian Canadians, Global Connections: A support group for International Students, and more.