Words and testimonials from previous participants

Words and testimonials from previous participants

‘AbAc is time very well spent, for it actually gives you more time, not less. It helps you focus on your values, so that you find yourself concentrating on those things that energise you and that are meaningful to you, discarding what is trivial and unimportant’.  Pauline Phemister, Professor of the History of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh.

‘Together with colleagues, I have had the wonderfully stimulating, but calming, experience of Harriet’s exceptional delivery of development based on the Abundant Academy programme. Coming to know oneself and others, learning to manage energy and to find ways of always looking forward with anticipation and compassion to the next challenge: these have been gifts to us and would be to any colleague in our sector. I cannot recommend Harriet and the Abundant Academy programme highly enough’. Catherine Martin, Vice Principal, Corporate Services, University of Edinburgh 

‘The Revd Dr Harriet Harris of the Chaplaincy of the University of Edinburgh has brought a well-constructed space and purpose to several things that we have done together. This has enabled discussions to go further and deeper than would have otherwise been the case. At an individual level, this has enabled me to be more present to the staff and students who I am privileged to work with, more understanding of my own actions and inactions, and more able to appreciate diverse views. At an organisational level, and perhaps more indirectly, working with Harriet has enabled us to have braver, more confident discussions in the workplace and to pay attention to our purpose as a University and our role in society’ Professor Charlotte L. Clarke DSocSc PhD, Executive Dean, Faculty of Social Science & Health, University of Durham

‘Both this programme and Harriet are great. Harriet brings so much passion and professionalism, which really comes through in the set-up and the delivery. Feedback from participants has been excellent. Harriet recently ran a session for my HR team who really loved her approach and humanity.’ James Saville, Director of Human Resources, University of Edinburgh

‘I would like to thank you again for leading the imposter syndrome talk during our network meeting.  Your input was highly appreciated and valued by the trainees. I will cite directly one comment from the meeting feedback: “The surprise for being even better than I expected  was the speaker on impostor syndrome, who gave us an extraordinary moment especially due to her way to approach it”. I also talked with them during the meeting and they told me that your talk improved also the dynamic of the group and increased the interactions afterwards 😊. Thanks a lot!’, Paulina Wakula, PhD, Leducq ATTRACT Network Administrative Officer, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin

‘Harriet is a compassionate and thoughtful facilitator, and the discussion groups felt very safe and supportive.’ NHS Consultant and Educator

‘The Abundant Academy has been a real-life saver for me. I feel it provided much needed solace, support and clarity of thought throughout the year, I genuinely connected with the teachings and with the cohort.…Also, I have raved about it to so many family and friends who do say they see a profound change in me, a change I attribute to this course. Thankyou!’  Project Manager

‘I would recommend the course. It felt like a relatively big-time commitment, but I came out of each session feeling like it was worth the time. The overall progression of the course was really meaningful…culminating in what I felt to be a very fulfilled and empowered outcome’  PhD student

‘Being part of the wonderful group has been amazing, I have so much respect and care for all the course participants; at a time, I was feeling a bit oppressed by the machinations of [stuff at work], it reminded me why I love the university ... the people in it!’  Director of Professional Services

‘The AbAc course supported me greatly throughout a challenging period of my life. I had thought of myself as someone who was being mindful about a balanced daily life, but the course made me aware of how much I had been pushing myself in both my professional and family life and of how emotionally exhausted I was after two years of Covid. It helped both me and my partner to make important decisions: reduce our work, take more shared parental leave, make time and space for proper replenishment.’ PhD Student

‘I love all the other things I do in my life, but AbAc is so very special - and I know not just to me.  More than a life-saver.’ Sandra MacDonald, College Vice-Principal, University of Durham

‘A member of my staff has joined your Replenish course and when I read up on it, it sounded absolutely spot on for what we all need right now. You and your team really are good at hitting the nail on the head with your courses and I feel as a University we should be spreading this far and wide across the staff community as it really has been a tough few years and continues to be so.’ Director of Professional Services, University of Edinburgh

‘The course was really well set out: exercises lead to deep reflection and inspiring conversations. The sharing was often intimate even though most of the participants had never met before, I think this is because Harriet's wonderful facilitation made everyone feel safe and appreciated. I learned from the exercises as much as I learnt from what others were saying about their lives, and people were clearly becoming more optimistic as the course went on. What a wonderful experience - I am very grateful that I stumbled upon AbAc in a newsletter and would not hesitate to join again if it was continued!’  Suzy Paulus, PhD student

‘Before taking Abundant Academy I was challenged by exhaustion and managing work/life balance. I was experiencing burnout, with work and home pressures, compounded by Covid and family illness. It was difficult finding the opportunity to switch off from work, as I had a work mobile, and we were short staffed. I had no real summer break and was feeling overwhelmed.  I was signed off work for stress for a couple of weeks, but this was an indicator that I seriously needed to look at my wellbeing.              Harriet, I have always admired your work, so when I saw the Abundant Academy programme it sounded a great opportunity.’ Student Support Officer

‘On the Abundant Academy Programme, I have found everything useful and interesting.  I particularly enjoyed connecting with other people, in such an open and supportive way, the opportunity to share, reflect, and listen to others.  It made me realise that many people have challenges, and perhaps feel lonely – connecting with people is so important to wellbeing. My partner in particular has commented that I have more energy since Abundant Academy.  It has helped my energy levels, and clarity of thought.I feel wiser and more confident since the programme. I use the archetypes a lot. They are really useful in many different situations, such as when I have had a stressful time or busy day, when I am worried about my family and times of uncertainty, when we think about the world’s future, in giving permission to do things for the greater good without feeling guilt.  Fear, guilt and perfectionism are what can hold me back – understanding the inner critic has been really helpful.  Taking part in the programme made me realise that many others have these challenges.  I feel this is just the beginning of a new journey, and am thankful for being part of the Abundant Academy community.  Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity.’ Student Adviser

‘A week ago I was broken and beating up on myself. But after hearing what you said I have been much more loving to myself and it’s made all the difference. I’m a completely different person. And I’ve been able to be like that with others on my course too, and to treat them with love when they are trying to tough it out.’ Postgraduate Student

‘This work [Abundant Academy] feels very precious and brings with it all manner of abundance. I find myself passing on a version of your notes to my grown-up daughter. The wonderful thing about your record of the meeting is that it is genuinely personal and conversational, and it works its way into my relationship with my daughter. There is an internalising that precedes the passing on, and this is where the work is done…I also wanted to tell you that I feel genuine affection for and solidarity with my mighty companions. This is remarkable, given that we've only 'met' three times, and it can in large measure be attributed to the ineffable qualities you bring to the sessions. To say you are an 'effective facilitator' doesn't really come close, which is not to say that there isn't a particular 'skills set' in the background. The real mastery, it seems to me, is that you keep it in the background. This is rare, in my experience….In short, I really don't know how you do what you do. I'm just so very glad that you do it.’  Dr. Annie Pirrie, Reader in Education, University of the West of Scotland

‘Thank you for the incredible mind-boggling, life-changing support, wisdom and insights you have given us on the Replenishment course and the brilliant bonus days. You feature very heavily in my gratitude-diary. Your killer opening salvo at the last session about why are we here and honing our sense of purpose are such fundamental and necessary questions that just get drowned out in our daily to-do-lists and gave me a lot to think about and helped me make sense of some recent events.          The Replenishment course has been invaluable for my own well-being but it also enormously helped me with dealing with students, my personal tutees in particular and some struggling students on their Year Abroad. Even seemingly simple ideas like treating yourself before tackling a chore was a revolutionary concept for me (delayed gratification was a cornerstone of my upbringing!). And I don´t understand how Jung and the archetypes have passed me by for so long. They are absolutely fascinating and such a great tool for analysing and understanding behaviour. I have been given an award nomination from one of my tutees. The course helped me so much with finding ways to support her and I wanted to feed that ripple-effect back to you.’  Dr Annette Gotzkes, Head of German Studies, University of Edinburgh

‘It's been fantastic to step out of the day to day and have time to reflect, and the tools to reflect with, that other similar programmes don't give in quite the same way. The approach of the programme has given me a strong foundation for ongoing reflection over time. There is so much that I will keep using, and I now have different lenses to help me see things in a different way.The group has been such a safe and compassionate space to share insights and reflect together on the programme, It's been a great experience, I'm so glad I signed up!’ Professor in the Edinburgh Clinical Medical School

‘I just wanted to say thank you for a very helpful day. I’ve been feeling a little amiss of something recently and knew the Abundant Academy call would help me to stop and reflect. It was very useful to think about the archetypes again…I also just wanted to say (which I now realise I may have never done) that the Abundant Academy course helped spark my interest in poetry - looking through my notebook I have written down every poem yourself and Steph started the sessions with. I now write poetry myself which I find very therapeutic, and I’m using poetry as a tool to connect with cancer patients/families in my research. So thank you for this!’  Kirsty Ferguson, Oncologist, Cambridge

Harriet Harris

Revd Dr Harriet Harris, is a licensed Coach and Trainer, a former academic postholder,  and lead University Chaplain at the University of Edinburgh, where she has grown what is widely regarded as the ‘flagship’ Chaplaincy in the UK. She serves on the core Leadership Development Group at the University, which informs the 150-strong Leaders’ Forum, and she delivers executive leadership coaching and training within Higher Education, Healthcare and Creative Industries.

She received a First Class degree and her D.Phil from the University of Oxford, and began her career as a successful academic, with Junior Fellowship at New College, Oxford, and a tenured lectureship at the University of Exeter whilst still in her twenties. Her first book, Fundamentalism and Evangelicals (OUP 1998, 2008), became the highest selling Oxford Theological Monograph. She left her academic post  to become a university Chaplain, first at Oxford and then at Edinburgh, so as to support academia at a community level, and to explore at depth how vision and purpose provide the compass and rationale for a university and for an academic career. 

Having worked all of her life in collegiate (Oxford), campus (Exeter) and city (Edinburgh) universities, she has  a  significant understanding of, and affinity with, academia and higher education needs. She developed the Abundant Academy suite of trainings out of 10-years’ work with staff and students on the purpose of the University, creating What’s the University for? Series, and collaborating with the Scottish Government, NHS and global universities on bringing Compassion into the structures and ethos of Higher Education. She won the Glasgow Herald Award in 2022 for establishing the best Student Support Service in Scotland, and has been made an MBE for Services to Multi-Faith Education and Community Cohesion, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.