Thanks JJJ! I'll keep up the cheerleading and use this forum for more great support from peers like you!

Thanks Culpea and Screamingaddabs! Your thoughts have been very helpful as I regroup after my meeting. I'm aware of how hard I worked and what I did right... regardless of receiving my advisor's praise or not. I suppose a big component in the process is being your own cheerleader which I'll keep in mind.

Hi all,

After a one year leave from my PhD program due to illness, I recently resumed my studies and submitted a chapter to my adviser. I had hoped for some positive reinforcement during our feedback session but was instead given a run-down of what didn't work exclusively. This said, I certainly don't need to be handled with kid gloves and welcome constructive feedback, nonetheless, I'm feeling a bit deflated and am wondering if my adviser has given up on me. Another factor playing into this equation may be cultural differences. As a North American, I've been trained to acknowledge my students' work with at least one positive comment (even if said comment is as simple as "thank you for your work"). Given that I'm now studying in the UK, I can't help but wonder if the truncated length of PhD programs necessitates that advisers pinpoint problems without lingering on kudos. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!