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Flor S

- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of Texas Austin (UT Austin)

Expertise

Counseling psychology; immigrant and refugee mental health; attitudes of discrimination and prejudice; English as a second language.

Bio

Flor Castellanos Sanchez (she/her/ella) is currently a third year PhD student in Counseling Psychology at UT Austin and is an active advocate for language justice in the U.S. Flor is the Founder & Director of Speakworthy, an interpreter training and language justice consulting agency; and the Educational Director of Shared Minds which works to provide academic mentorship to students with learning difficulties. Flor is interested in mixed methods and community-based approaches that study the mental health effects of trauma and displacement on immigrant and refugee populations. She aims to engage in research that holds the potential to influence public policy and clinical practices for immigrant and refugee populations. Prior to returning to graduate school, Flor earned a graduate degree in Educational Psychology from UT Austin & ran an interpreter training program for a non-profit in Austin. She has worked as a clinician, an educator and an interpreter with asylum-seekers in the US & with refugees in camps and schools abroad. This experience has led her to her work in mental health & interpreter training.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health

This research project aims to investigate the long-term effects of social media usage on the mental health of adolescents. The study will explore how different aspects of social media engagement, such as time spent, types of content consumed, and interaction patterns, may contribute to the development of various mental health outcomes over time. This research project aims to contribute valuable insights into the complex relationship between social media usage and adolescent mental health. Findings may help in developing targeted interventions or guidelines for healthy social media usage among teenagers, ultimately benefiting their overall well-being.

Coding skills

R Studio

Languages I know

Spanish - native speaker

Teaching experience

I have experience teaching German to first grade students in the U.S., experience teaching English to middle school and High School students abroad, experience teaching interpreting related courses at a community college, and experience teaching a course focused on issues of race and gender at the undergraduate level. I also have experience working as a teaching assistant at a U.S. college institute for courses in the department of educational psychology. Additionally, I have experience as an executive functioning coach through a local agency.

Credentials

Education

Texas Tech University
BA Bachelor of Arts (2013)
Classical & Modern Languages and Literatures
University of Texas Austin (UT Austin)
MA Master of Arts (2018)
Educational Psychology
University of Texas Austin (UT Austin)
PhD Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Counseling Psychology

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