Service:
PhD Completion Intensive
Help your ABDs finish!
Reduce delay and attrition among your ADHD PhDs
Don’t give up on your most promising PhD candidates!
Your ADHD PhD candidates started strong. They had brilliant research questions, impressed their committees, and showed exceptional promise. But now they’re stuck—and every passing semester puts their degrees, your completion rates, and your program’s reputation at risk.
Here’s what you’re likely seeing:
- After a great start, many incredibly talented ADHD PhD candidates stop moving forward. They get stuck, and may take years to find their way to a completed dissertation.
- Their supervisors want to help, but often don’t have the ADHD-specific knowledge or the hours needed to get the PhD candidate back on track.
- Completion rates suffer as promising candidates drag past funding windows and departmental timelines
- As the PhD candidate spends more time looking for alternative funding opportunities and sources of income, they spend increasingly less time on their dissertation, and struggles when they do.
The longer they stay stuck, the harder it becomes to finish. Their confidence erodes, their supervisors grow frustrated, and your program statistics take a hit.
But it doesn’t have to end this way with ADHD-informed dissertation coaching.
Table of Contents
PhD Completion Intensive
Investment: €3500 per semester, per PhD candidate
The PhD Completion Intensive includes six months of weekly, one-on-one coaching designed specifically to get ADHD PhD candidates unstuck and moving toward completion.
What’s included?
- 6 months of weekly 1-on-1 coaching with a PhD writing coach (24 sessions)
- Dissertation roadmap and milestone planning tailored to their timeline and ADHD brain
- ADHD-specific accountability systems that create momentum without burnout
- Monthly progress reports to advisor/department, (if requested) so everyone stays aligned
Do you have questions about this program?
What actually happens in these sessions?
I don’t use a cookie-cutter program. Every PhD candidate gets stuck in different ways, so I create a personalized plan for each person based on where they are and what’s blocking them.
Since 2020, I’ve helped PhD candidates complete their dissertations—including some who had been stuck for years and were in their seventh year of their program.
Here’s what we typically address
- Building realistic doctoral completion timelines that work for their ADHD brains—and communicating them effectively so supervisors know what to expect
- Creating chapter-by-chapter argumentation structures that align with academic standards while preventing the scope creep and overwhelm that paralyzes ADHD writers
- Prioritizing dissertation work amid teaching, family obligations, and the financial pressures that pull candidates away from writing
- Addressing the behavioral and mindset blocks that keep ADHD academics from hitting milestones—perfectionism, fear of judgment, analysis paralysis, and more
- Maintaining physical and mental health so they don’t burn out or drop out before defending
Each ABD support session builds on the last, creating momentum that carries through the entire semester.
How this will benefit your institution
When you invest in PhD completion coaching, everyone benefits:
Your department gains:
- Faster time-to-degree completion
- Reduced ABD rates and better completion statistics
- Stronger graduate program reputation
- Improved retention of talented candidates
Your supervisors gain:
- Specialized support they can't provide themselves
- Relief from the frustration of watching promising students stall
- Regular progress updates without micromanaging
- A collaborative partner in getting their student to the finish line
Your PhD candidates gain
- Renewed hope and momentum after months or years of being stuck
- ADHD-specific strategies they'll use throughout their academic career
- The confidence to finish and defend successfully
- Tools to navigate future writing challenges
Your stuck PhD candidate transforms from a completion-rate liability into a successful graduate who brings prestige to your program.
Who the PhD Completion Intensive works best for
Though I have helped PhD candidates in every stage of their program, this intensive is best for those PhD candidates who:
- Have an ADHD diagnosis (formal or self-diagnosed)
- Have completed their research and are now in the writing phase
- Are behind schedule and labelled “All But Dissertation” (ABD)
- Are intrinsically motivated to finish and ready to put in the work—even if they don’t currently know how
Common challenges they face
- Time management and organization that worked earlier in the program no longer functions
- Feelings of isolation, hopelessness, or shame about being stuck
- Overwhelming paralysis when thinking about the entire dissertation
- Difficulty prioritizing the PhD when facing financial or emotional pressures
- Lost confidence in their ability to complete
This program requires genuine motivation. I can provide strategies, accountability, and support—but the candidate must truly want to finish. I cannot coach someone who has already decided to leave their program.
What academics say about my coaching
Why me?
I’m the only ADHD writing coach who has spent five years working exclusively with ADHD writers. Since 2020, I’ve coached hundreds of writers, including many PhD candidates—some of whom had been stuck for years in their seventh or eighth year of their programs.
I hold a Research Master’s degree, so I understand the challenges of extended academic writing projects firsthand. But my real expertise with dissertations comes from hundreds of hours working directly with ADHD PhD candidates, learning what actually works through practice, not just theory.
I understand:
- The neuroscience of ADHD and how executive function challenges show up in dissertation writing
- The specific structure and demands of dissertations across disciplines
- The emotional toll of being stuck and how to rebuild momentum when hope feels lost
- The institutional pressures PhD candidates face—funding deadlines, visa concerns, supervisor expectations
I don’t just understand ADHD in theory. I’ve spent five years developing and refining strategies that work specifically for neurodivergent brains tackling massive, complex writing projects.
Do you want to talk to me?
How this works
Working with me is easy.
1. You schedule a free 30-minute strategy call with me
We’ll discuss your program’s specific situation and whether this intensive is the right fit for your candidate.
2. I send you a proposal and referral link
If we decide to move forward, you’ll get a formal proposal and a unique link to share with your PhD candidate.
3. Your PhD candidate books their intake call
They’ll schedule directly with me for a discovery session where we assess mutual fit and answer their questions.
3. Coaching begins
Once we’ve confirmed this is a good match, we schedule weekly sessions and start building momentum toward completion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? Here are answers to common concerns:
What if the candidate needs to defend in 3-6 months?
Though it is not ideal, and I prefer when they find me sooner, I have worked before with candidates in this exact situation. Whether we would be able to meet the deadline does depend on how much of the dissertation is already written, how much time they have per week, and how severe the candidate’s challenges are. In the intake meeting, I’ll ask the candidate questions to scope out their goals and determine feasibility.
What if their supervisor no longer has any time or willingness to mentor them?
This is not an uncommon scenario for the PhD candidates I work with: pressures on faculty are high, and many supervisors can lose faith in a candidate’s ability to complete. As a result, they might decide to not offer any more support than they have to. As part of the coaching journey, I’ll guide the PhD candidate on communication strategies and setting realistic expectations – which might also benefit the candidate-supervisor relationship.
However, if the relationship is actively abusive, that needs to be addressed through institutional channels first and can significantly increase coaching needs and therefore delay completion times.
What if they’re international candidates with visa deadline pressure?
I’ve worked with PhD candidates on tight deadlines before, which in some cases can actually help the ADHD brain. We will factor any deadlines into our planning and milestone setting. If needed, and upon request, the monthly progress reports can also help demonstrate steady progress to visa authorities.
What if they’ve been ABD for 5+ years?
I’ve seen great success with candidates who had been stuck for many years. Without the right tools, they can remain stuck for years. But if they are still motivated to complete their dissertation, I will teach them the tools they need to rebuild momentum and complete their PhD program.
What if the candidate is sceptical or resistant about coaching?
I only work with candidates who genuinely want my help. If someone feels forced or isn’t open to trying new approaches, the coaching process will produce nothing but frustration for all involved. During the intake call I’ll have with the candidate, I’ll assess whether I believe we’ll be able to build a productive coaching relationship. If the candidate is still sceptical or resistant after that first call, I will not be working with them.
Can they extend beyond 6 months if needed?
Yes. Many candidates renew for an additional semester, especially if they’re working on a particularly complex dissertation. We can discuss continuation options as the semester progresses.
Give your ADHD faculty the support they need
Your ADHD PhD candidates have the brilliance, the research, and the potential to bring lasting prestige to your program. They can become the successful graduates who go on to make significant contributions to their fields.
They just need someone who understands both ADHD brains and dissertation writing to help them get unstuck and build sustainable momentum.
Let me provide that specialized support so your supervisors can focus on advising the research while I handle the ADHD-specific writing challenges. Your program gets improved completion statistics, and your candidates get their degrees.