Academic conferences are wonderful occasions to share research and connect with others.
They can also bring stress, self-doubt and a sense of disconnection — feelings many academics know, and that make it harder to enjoy or make the most of these events.
It’s not just nervousness about giving a paper, though that can be part of it. At a conference, we meet a fair bit of uncertainty and a great deal of evaluation. This tends to put the nervous system on alert.
I offer a coaching segment that helps participants feel seen and supported as they navigate the trickier moments of being at a conference. So they feel more ready to present and connect, and so the conference feels more human and hospitable to all.
A coaching segment for your conference
Are you organizing an academic conference, and is your vision to create an environment in which people feel truly welcome and at ease?
I can support this by convening a space for attending to conference-related stress in ways that are practically helpful and that build community.
“My heartfelt gratitude for this offering, both to Catelijne for her vulnerable sharing and ability to point to common experiences as normal ones – and to the organizers for their consideration of the importance of such an offering.
It makes me proud of my academic community, knowing that it integrates such consideration and care for the emotional well-being of its members – and that it is able to recognize that there is much pressure in academic conferences (and also enjoyment, but … we need first to address the stressful parts to reach the enjoyments, or at least, I do ;-)”
This kind of feedback captures what I aim for and what we can work towards together: caring as a community for how people feel at the conference, and attending to the stressful parts so participants can enjoy themselves more!
If you would like to meet for an exploratory conversation to see if what I do fits your conference, please drop me a line.
More information:
The coaching segment I offered at the EASST-4S conference in Amsterdam.
A glimpse of the underlying thinking that informs this work.
Photographs on this page: beehive by Fabian Kleiser, landscape by Insung Yoon.