I recently had my second year progression viva and it didn't go as well as I'd hoped. As a bit of background my supervisor has been flakey this year (to put it mildly) and as I'm doing a 'new type' and 'non-traditional' creative PhD there's a lot of confusion (at both ends) about what I should actually be doing/how much etc. Changing supervisor isn't an option because its a small department and no one else is specialised in my subject area. So in the end I did the best I could and what I thought was right. When I did occassionally meet with my supervisor I was told my work was really good and I was ahead of where I should be, so it was a bit of a shock when in the progression viva I was told I wasn't and that in fact I needed to do a hell of a lot more. I was also given a lot of suggested changes that I didn't agree with and neither did my supervisor, but I'm torn between who's advice to take. And to make it worse, instead of defending myself/my work I just went into my shell and was too upset to say anything. I did pass, however feeling major impostor syndrome and fading confidence in my project following this. Any advice/shared experiences/telling me to pull myself together would be much appreciated!

Yep, you've had a bit of a shock to the system, but this is good in the end because now you will work harder. Better to be told now than to be told in the real viva! Better do what they ask you to do since one of them will probably be your internal.

Are you doing a practice-led arts PhD? If so there is a great book (essential reading) called 'Visualizing Research' by Gray & Malins that might help you clear up some issues. I would listen to the feedback you got and think carefully about the direction your Phd is taking - at this point it's a great opportunity to make sure you're on the right path!