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Laura Thompson
Hi. I’m Laura. I am currently just finishing a Master’s of Education in Developmental Psychology and Education at the University of Toronto. I also have a professional background in Design, Creative Advertising and Personal Branding,
I am passionate about psychology and I find the human psyche to be amazing, with tremendous capacities that can be self-constructive or self-destructive, constructive at large scale or destructive at large scale. I am fascinated by human consciousness which seems to have an infinite dimension and mediates between these constructive and destructive capacities. That’s in general what fascinates me about the whole domain of psychology. My specific research areas of interest are metacognition, which refers to the awareness of thought processes, steering cognition, which refers to how attention is being regulated, metacognitive strategies and meta-skills.
Besides psychology and design, I have many other interests such as organic art, world music, I collect Rubik cube-like like puzzles, I like biographies and memoirs and I like to observe, understand and classify lifestyle choices around the world.
My Experience
Summary of Qualifications and Transferable Skills
- Research experience from working as a Research Assistant in a university research lab
- Research experience from an internship with a nonprofit organization serving newcomers and refugees
- Expressive arts therapy group facilitation experience
- Experience with CBT, trauma-focused CBT, expressive arts therapy, psychoanalytic therapy
- Excellent experience working in a team and governance experience
- Excellent experience in promotions, branding, design, photography,
video, animation, web and social media
- Entrepreneurial experience; Clients included psychologists
- Professional experience with office practices, documentation, and reporting
- 5+ years of volunteered involvement in non-profit governance and community service
- Ability to communicate in 4 languages: English, Spanish, Italian and Romanian
I’ve always been attracted to working on innovative ideas in technology; my interest in HCI has sparked many years back while watching archived videos of pioneer research of five-year-olds interacting with the original Macintosh computer.
University of Toronto
Research Assistant
Contributed to a platform that will provide students with cutting-edge, relevant, practical, discipline-specific academic language support.
2021-Present
ArtBiz Alliance
Personal Branding Consultant
Worked directly with a diverse range of entrepreneurs to create, launch, develop and steward personal branding projects, using print, video and internet advertising media.
2009-2020
Promotivate
Art Director
Art directed various print, television, and web campaigns from concept to final.
2008-2010
Mark IV
Creative Director
Managed a small creative department and art directed various point-of-sale marketing projects from concept to final, primarily for Frito-Lay and Pepsico brands.
2006-2008
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”
– Albert Einstein –
my CURRENT GOAL
I have a formal education and professional experience in communication design and several years of experience with user interface design. I’m am now seeking opportunities to integrate this experience with my recent graduate education in Developmental Psychology.
My specific research areas of interest are in metacognition which refers to the awareness of thought processes, steering cognition, which refers to how attention is being regulated, metacognitive strategies and meta-skills.
- Academic Research
- Design
- CBT, Trauma Focussed CBT, Psychoanalisys
- Expressive Arts Therapy
- ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCE
- Personal Branding
Awards & Education
University of Toronto
M.Ed.
Developmental Psychology
GPA 4.0
2020-Present
York University
BFA
Specialized Honours in Graphic Design
Dean”S Honour Roll 1997
Your University Talent Scholarship
1993-1997
ISIS Canada
training certificate
Expressive Arts Therapy
2012-2013
OSEB
training certificate
Business Development
2014-2915