PROFIL PRACOWNIKA: Paulina Szymańska

I have held a research and teaching position at the Institute of Psychology since 2011. In 2018, I was awarded a Ph.D. in social sciences in psychology with distinction. From 2020 to 2024, I have been a Deputy Director of the Institute of Psychology for Teaching. I participated in European research and educational projects related to stress reduction and inclusive education, where I co-authored interactive games and training materials for educators, aimed at promoting inclusion in various areas.

As a practitioner, I support individual patients, couples, and families in crisis situations. For over a decade, I have collaborated with educational institutions, public, and private organizations, promoting psychological knowledge and conducting training and workshops on psychosocial skills for various age groups.

I conduct research on the functioning of individuals in early adulthood. I am particularly interested in topics such as:

• the digitalization of social life and its consequences;
• social aspects of the therapeutic process and the perception of therapists;
• a systemic approach to the family (including functioning in the roles of mother and father);
• work-life balance and its determinants.

Selected scientific and educational projects:

• "RESET  Redesigning Equality and Scientific Excellence Together"  (Horizon 2020, 2021-2024)

• "Parental technoference and the inter- and intrapersonal context of motherhood" - Grant for young researchers IDUB 2022

• "Parental technoference and the shaping of a supportive family environment by mothers - the perspective of the autodetermination theory" (Miniature 5)

• "VRXanny. Virtual reality for anxiety and mental stress reduction in university students" (Erasmus+ 2021 - 2023)

• "Why is brother a wolf to brother? On the determinants of sibling relationships in early adulthood" (Target grant for young scientists and PhD students in 2018)

• "Measuring positive and negative affect in children. Polish adaptation of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS–C)" (Grant Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Lodz for 2017)

• "Hey! Teachers, don`t leave the kids alone!" (Erasmus+ 2016 – 2018).