Dasha Sandra, MSc
Dasha Sandra is a graduate student in Clinical Psychology at University of Toronto.
She studies the potential unintended harms (nocebo effects) from mental health awareness. Previously, she studied the role of placebo effect in personalised medicine, as well as smartphone addiction and ways to reduce it.
Research
- Found that simply framing a sham treatment as personalised increases its effectiveness due to placebo effect (National Post).
- Co-authored several studies on
smartphone addiction:
its rates around the world,
its relationship with creativity,
and a behavioural intervention to reduce it.
This research now has a website with practical recommendations on how to reduce screen time.
- Found that people with certain personality traits are less sensitive to financial rewards.
Non-profit work
- Co-founded the Montreal Ukrainian Wellness Program - a mental health initiative that provides free support and psychotherapy to war-displaced Ukrainians in Quebec, Canada (as seen on McGill Health, CBC, and CityNews).