Tanya M
- Research Program Mentor
MA at Columbia University
Expertise
Digital Mental Health, Tech Product, Conversation Design, Psychology, Mental Health, Social Research, Women and Gender Studies, Feminist Psychology, Social Science, Culture
Bio
I am currently at Wysa - a AI enabled mental health firm. I work on building clinical programs, assessing their efficacy and clinical safety, partnering with research universities and institutions, designing conversations to have the greatest impact. I also work as a psychologist focusing on young adults and couples. I did my Master’s at Columbia in Clinical Psychology. I have spent the better part of the decade doing psychology research right from gender-based violence, to memory and cognitive function, to electronic health records, religion, lgbtq health, and sex ed. I have been fortunate enough to have my love of conversation be translated into a viable lifestyle. I grew up in India, moved alone to the States for college at UIUC at 18 and 2 years ago moved to NYC. I fell in love with Psychology during my first lesson in high school and have not looked back since. Every semester I fall deeper into a separate facet of the field and am now looking to bring my learnings out of the ivory tower. I have worked in research, human resources, non-for-profits, market research, and therapy. I am an avid painter, motorcyclist, solo traveler, and shoe collector.Project ideas
Curiosity
Are you interested in why people behave the way they do? Do you want to know what makes them tick? Or perhaps do you want to see how they react to different circumstances you set for them? Psychology is a beautiful field to help explore these within. We can incorporate other subjects and create projects curated to your interests. Identify a problem you want to fix- together we will uncover the possible solutions.
Exploration
Is there a certain culture you feel kinship with and want to know more about? Do you want to learn about the history of who we are as a people, and use that to inform where you want to go? With exploration projects we access a large group of opinions and highlight avenues for improvement. For example, we could look at the average high schooler’s anxiety rates, what do only-children have in common, or if people choose their own groups end up in them. We will spend some time going over options in general, then invest in some reading and learning, followed by exploring the society around you, and ending with an exhibition of your findings.
Policy
What changes do you want to see happen around you? Who is in-charge of those changes? Will public support create change or do authorities need to intervene? With policy you use your insight as the youngest generation and create a platform of learnings that need to be organized. End results may look like a social media-campaign, organizing a day of seminars or reaching out to authorities. You will learn how to read the literature, write your policy outline, organize events, and/or present empirical data.
Intervention
Identify a problem, create a solution, provide that solution, and measure how impactful it was. Will keeping a journal for a week help your body positivity; does walking 10,000 steps a day help you study better; will cleaning up your street make your neighbors cleanout their closets? With interventions we spend time observing behaviors, learning about studies that have already been conducted, design a program, and see if it achieves the behavioral change you’re looking for.