Academic Aftercare for PhD Survivors
The Graduate Recovery Lounge
The PhD can fuck you up.
You deserve a space to recover from the stress and pressure you endured in your PhD journey, as you reconnect with yourself and reintegrate into society!
You finished the PhD
But moving forward feels impossible when you’re still healing and recovering from the trauma and exhaustion.
Friends, family, even classmates and professors expect you to just move on. They ask you, “So what’s next?” They don’t get the difficult journey you just went through.
The PhD is an isolating experience all around. (Especially for women, 1st-gen, immigrants, and PoGM who don’t fit in with the white/patriarchal norms of academia.)
The mixed feelings: joy, grief, anger, anxiety, burnout, imposter phenomenon, etc. might feel uncomfortable. But they’re all normal.
The capitalist pressure to immediately find a job after graduation makes it hard to prioritize yourself and sort through these feelings.
You need curated space, time, and community where you can feel and heal with other people who get it. So you can find your new normal after the PhD.
You need academic aftercare.
Welcome to
The Graduate Recovery Lounge!
A community focused membership for folks on the other side of their PhD.
(Whether you finished or withdrew from your PhD program.)
There’s a lot of us trying to make sense of what life is after the PhD. Inside the Lounge, you’ll build your own personalized post-PhD journey, supported by coaching, creativity, and community among like minded folks who aren’t work oriented, but liberation oriented.
This is your space to prioritize yourself and recover with others who know exactly what it was like to suffer for the PhD and now want to thrive.
After the constant fuckery of pursuing a PhD…
You deserve some serious academic aftercare!
The Lounge is a unique space cultivated for you to safely recover after a traumatizing experience.
Every month, inside the Graduate Recovery Lounge, you’ll get access to:
Discord Tier
- daily support & community in Discord where you can build relationships and join conversations with others who are also recovering from the PhD
Discord + Coaching Tier
- daily support & community in Discord
- biweekly group coaching calls where you’ll share what’s working & not working in your current post-PhD lifestyle and gain a personalized strategy to reclaim your schedule
- weekly whimsy focused calls where you decide on an activity that you enjoy doing to reconnect with yourself
You don’t have to process your post-PhD journey alone.
Hi there! Grab your favorite stuffie and sit with me!
I’m Shine! I’m your alt advisor and practical grad expert.
I thought I’d be happier after I finished the PhD. Don’t get me wrong, I was. But I was more deflated than anything. It was an anticlimactic ending to a very traumatic journey. I couldn’t recognize myself anymore. I felt lost and had to pave my own way forward as I navigated post-PhD life.
Finishing my PhD meant I had to confront with a reality that I had been putting off for five years: I’m starting over.
It was both exhilarating and terrifying.
But for once, I felt in control. I was free to live without guilt and always thinking, “I should be writing.” I could rebuild my life the way I wanted it.
Are you unsure of how to rebuild your life after the PhD? I’m here to support you.
I spent two years navigating the post-PhD life, intentionally experimenting. I processed my feelings while prioritizing my joy and capacity. I’ve done the work so that I can help you in your post-PhD journey.
I want to join the Lounge, but I have questions…
Understandable! Let’s see if I can answer some of them.
I graduated more than 2 years ago. Can I still join?
I’m a faculty. Can I still join?
How is the Graduate Recovery Lounge different from therapy?
What's the difference between the $10 and $99 tier?
Both tiers have access to the Lounge on Discord! The difference is that in the $99 tier, you’ll also get weekly whimsy focused calls and biweekly strategy sessions as you move forward in reintegrating into society while reconnecting with yourself. If you feel like you need extra support as you navigate post-PhD life, this tier is for you!
I’m currently a PhD student. Can I still join?
I’m a PhD candidate and am set to defend within the next six-eight months. Can I still join?
Why are you trying to profit off people who pursued PhDs?
I totally understand your concerns, I was motivated to start this because of what I went through as a PhD student where my mentor and program failed to support me. While predation in higher ed exists, I’m not in this for the money. I’m just here to help students and graduates. That being said, I do offer a range of skills and advice and coaching coming from my own PhD training in power disparity in higher education and charge for the labor I do.
You can explore your post-PhD journey in community!
I’ll help you build a post-PhD life that follows your capacity without judgment or shame.
The Graduate Recovery Lounge isn’t a textbook with all the answers, but it is a non-judgmental and kind space for building a capacity-honoring lifestyle that anchors you month after month.
If you’re ready to reconnect with yourself, I’ll see you in the Lounge!
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