Over 30% of people who start a PhD don’t graduate within ten years. This can be a grand disappointment and a real setback—and it can hold learners back from contributing to their full ability. But today, degree completion programs are helping some of these students to return to the academy, finish their studies, complete their research, and claim their diplomas. So what goes into designing a degree completion program? In this conversation with Diane Richard-Allerdyce, the founding director of the Completion Pathway in Antioch’s PhD in Leadership and Change, we ask her about all of these questions—and learn how taking into account educational trauma and structural barriers is key to helping students finally complete their dreams.

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Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the PhD in Leadership and Change, and the Completion Pathway that Diane directs. You can also read the announcement of the creation of the Completion Pathway.

This episode was recorded November 21, 2025 and released December 17, 2025.

The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch University

Host: Jasper Nighthawk

Editor: Nastasia Green

Producer: Karen Hamilton

Social Media Manager: Selina Starling

Work-Study Assistants: Dani LaPoint.

Additional Production Help: Jen Mont, Amelia Bryan, and Laurien Alexandre.

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To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the MS in Athletic Training that Ally chairs. You can also visit the main page for the Graduate School of Nursing and Health Professions. To learn more about the Coalition for the Common Good, visit the CCG website.

This episode was recorded October 22, 2025 via Squadcast and released November 19, 2025.

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The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch University

Host: Jasper Nighthawk

Editor: Nastasia Green

Producer: Karen Hamilton

Work-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe, and Liza Wisner.

Additional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, Jefferson Blackburn-Smith, Gina Calcamuggio, Jenny Hill, Kati Skon, and Laurien Alexandre

To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit

theseedfield.org

. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow

Antioch University on Facebook

.

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To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.

Physical and mental health are deeply connected, yet the medical field too often treats these as entirely separate domains. Deana Batross says that this is unfortunate, because medical procedures (like heart transplants) often have psychological side effects, and mental health conditions (like complex PTSD) often have physical causes. Luckily, Deana is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners trained in the biopsychosocial model that sees the patient as a whole person. In this conversation, Deana discusses how she thinks about trauma, shares how her students in Antioch University’s Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner program study this topic, and discusses her work advocating for greater access to physical and mental healthcare.

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Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program that Deana chairs. You can also visit the main page for the Graduate School of Nursing and Health Professions.

If you’d like to listen to a related podcast episode, try our conversation with the psychologist Stephen Southern about expressive writing's potential for treating complex PTSD: “Therapists Are Using Creative Writing to Treat Complex PTSD—and Build Resilience”. You may also be interested in our conversation with the therapist Rachele Moskowitz about somatic approaches to therapy: “Using Somatic Therapy to Understand the Trauma in Our Bodies”.

This episode was recorded September 22, 2025 via Squadcast and released November 5, 2025.

The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch University

Host: Jasper Nighthawk

Editor: Nastasia Green

Producer: Karen Hamilton

Work-Study Assistants: Dani LaPointe, and Liza Wisner.

Additional Production Help: Amelia Bryan, Jonathan Hawkins, Melinda Garland, Jefferson Blackburn-Smith, Gina Calcamuggio, Jenny Hill, Kati Skon, and Laurien Alexandre.

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To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.