Finish Your Dissertation Without Losing Yourself

Join a small-group coaching program that gives you the accountability, expert guidance, and community support you need to make steady progress—even when life gets lifey.

Spring 2026: January 5 – May 15 | Weekly 30-minute sessions
Limited to 35 total spots

You’re Not Alone in This

If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or isolated in your dissertation journey, you’re not the only one. These are the struggles doctoral students tell us about most:

Self-doubt about whether you’re doing it right

That voice in your head asking “Am I on track? Is this good enough? Maybe I’m not cut out for this” can be paralyzing. You need someone who can say “Yes, you’re on track” or “Here’s what needs to shift.”

Exhaustion from juggling everything

Between your job, family responsibilities, coursework, and dissertation work, you’re trying to do it all. The grind is unsustainable, and you’re running out of steam.

Momentum that’s hard to maintain

Your committee takes weeks to respond. A family emergency derails your schedule. Work gets busy. Life keeps interrupting, and every time you lose steam, it’s harder to get back on track. You need consistent support that keeps you moving even when everything else is unpredictable.

How the Dissertation Finishers Circle Works

This isn’t just another accountability group. It’s a proven 5-step process that helps you make consistent progress without burning out.

1. Show Up (Come As You Are): Join the weekly 30-minute accountability session from wherever you are—car, airport, pajamas. No shame, no excuses needed. Just show up.
2. Report & Celebrate (Name Your Progress): Share what you actually accomplished since last week—not what you didn’t do. Even partial progress counts. We celebrate what you did, rather than dwell on what’s left undone.
3. Get Unstuck (Expert Support + Resistance Work): Bring your challenges—IRB complications, committee dynamics, methodology questions, or that thing you keep avoiding. Get expert guidance grounded in 15+ years of experience AND work through the emotional and psychological barriers when needed. This is where you get both the “how-to” and the “how-to-keep-going.”
4. Right-Size Goals (Make Them Doable): Craft goals that fit your actual life context—accounting for class and work obligations, job interviews, family emergencies, and life getting lifey. Goals are specific, bounded, and achievable within the week.
5. Keep Going (Build Momentum Through Consistency): Accomplish weekly goals using strategies learned in our sessions. Show up again next week to repeat the cycle. Progress over perfection. Scoring versus scorekeeping. With support, you persist your way to FINISHING!

What You Get in the Finishers Circle

• Weekly Accountability: 30-minute sessions every week where someone is paying attention to your work and progress—not just once a month or when you remember to check in.
• Expert Guidance: 15+ years of experience supporting doctoral students across multiple prestigious universities. Get help navigating IRB, methodology, committee dynamics, and the actual work of finishing.
• Small Group Community: 8-10 students max per circle. Share space with peers who understand the journey without competitive pressure or comparison.
• Real-Life Goal Setting: Goals that account for your job, family, interviews, and life getting lifey. No unrealistic expectations—just steady, sustainable progress.
• Email Support Access: Get unstuck between sessions when questions arise. You’re not alone in this.
• Compassionate Accountability: Structure that keeps you moving forward paired with flexibility to meet you as a whole human being. No shame when life happens—just adjustment and continued progress.

Is This Right for You?

The Finishers Circle is perfect if you’re:

• Just starting your dissertation and want to build good habits from the beginning
• Stuck in the messy middle, struggling to see the path forward
• Pushing toward the finish line and need accountability to cross it
• Working with limited advisor or committee support
• Balancing full-time work, family responsibilities, and life
• Feeling isolated in your program without peer support
• Ready to make consistent progress without sacrificing your well-being

Meet Your Guide

Dr. Jayne Lammers brings over 15 years and 65+ doctoral students worth of experience supporting dissertation completion. As a former tenured professor and Fulbright U.S. Scholar with a PhD from Arizona State University, she brings deep expertise in dissertation methodology, committee dynamics, and the actual work of finishing.

At the University of Pennsylvania, she’s coached executive Ed.D. students from proposal draft to final upload in under a year, and helped doctoral candidates who felt stuck finally finish. Her approach works across institutions and programs because it addresses what institutional support often misses: students need both expert guidance and psychological safety to show up as whole humans while doing this hard work.

Proof of concept: In the past year, 6 students who had stalled during COVID found renewed energy working together. Half (3 students) graduated after 6 months, and the other half are in final phases on track to finish in May 2025 after years of stalling.

Students describe her coaching as “lovin’ and shovin'”—the steady structure that keeps you moving forward, paired with the flexibility to meet you wherever you are.

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Spring 2026 Program Details

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What Makes This Different

Unlike generic accountability groups or rigid academic support:

Community Without Comparison

Share space with peers who get it, without competitive pressure. This isn’t about being the best—it’s about making progress together.

Expert Guidance That’s Human

15 years of experience across three prestigious universities (ASU, University of Rochester, Penn GSE). You get wisdom from someone who’s seen it all and remembers what it’s like.

Weekly Touchpoints

Someone paying attention to your work every single week—not just when you have a committee meeting or remember to check in.

Right-Sized for Real Life

Goals that account for jobs, family, interviews, and life getting lifey. Your dissertation matters, but so do you.

No Shame, Just Progress

Celebrate what you DID, not what you didn’t. Come as you are—pajamas, car, airport, wherever. We’re here for the work, not the performance.

Both the How and the How-to-Keep-Going

Get practical strategies for IRB, methodology, and writing AND work through the emotional barriers that keep you stuck.

Secure Your Spot in a Dissertation Finishers Circle

Only 35 spots available for Spring 2026

Still have questions? Email Me