Thank you Sim, Aloha, Pineapple and Hairui!! That does make me feel heaps better :P. I don't quite feel so alone now.

I will write down my plans, paste it in front of my monitor, and implement them the next meeting.

Good on you pineapple for having the guts to make such a positive change!

I will start off by meeting them one on one before meeting both of them (though it will be hard asking for their time- they always seem busy). That way they won't both double whammy me when I meet them both.

If that doesnt work, I will just be brave and spill my guts like you did pineapple!

Thanks Aloha! Yes Strength Within. :D (I was thinking of taking some assertiveness classes or something- I'm from an Asian country and have trouble challenging superiors sometimes).

I suppose I need to just say "Chin up!" and get through this best I can. I just wish I didnt feel so miserable afterwards.

I had an idea--I might opt to talk to my supervisors one on one before each meeting- just to go through what I've sent them (and ensure they READ what I've sent- they usually dont!!) - so before each meeting, they're well versed with what I've sent. Now it just feels like they're both always playing devil's advocate..why the ideas I give them are non-credible. they don't give enough positive feedback!

I am self-funded- I pay AUD10k a semester because I am an international student in Australia. :(

I don't think I can switch supervisors though...its not that acceptable here. There are no motor control Parkinson's experts where I'm at, unless I start getting supervised by neurologists instead (I'm in psychology)

Thanks for the supportive messages, they do help!!

I do try to take the reins in the meetings in the start, but it always ends up them digressing towards one article I cite which they think are weird- (which i didnt realise were weird because i didnt read them carefully enough) and being from an Asian culture I'm not very able to talk over them (and tell them they're going into unnecessary nittygritty details).

I will set an (timed?)agenda for the next meeting, and make sure we go through all the points (today we went up to page 2 of my 5 page document because of digression!!! )

Am 2 months into my PhD-had 4 meetings with my 2 supervisors (1 of which they forgot about).
My supervisors
1. often don't read summaries I send them before the meeting
2. always go into details of experiments (which I don't want to go into)throwing me off course making me forget what I really want to say- which makes me feel like shit.
3. are not experts in my research area(I'm looking at motor control and parkinson's- they are motor control experts- no knowledge about parkinson's).

They tell me that I am getting stuck in the experimental paradigms and not really looking at what are the good basic theories behind them.

I need to stop feeling like a puddle of dog poo after meetings.(usually have a teary/crying session post meeting-no office mates to talk to,very lonely)

Do I really need to know each and every paper that I talk about like the back of my hand, or are my supervisors just being pedantic?

Are skimming papers for ideas ok, or equivalent to just reading round and round in circles?

My partner says I beat myself up too much for not knowing every paper like the back of my hand.