About Mariano Casanova
In two words, I’m all about Change and Communication
Download my resumeCommunication and change are key to unlocking new resources and achieving new heights.
Whether it’s at the individual level, where I can help you transcend emotional wrinkles and re-energize the passion for your life and productive endeavors, or at the couples and family level, where I can help you achieve harmony with your loved ones and transcend difficulties, or at the corporate level, where I can help you prepare for new challenges, optimize the performance of your team, better communicate with your ecosystem or train your employees into superlative leaders, change is my goal and communication in all its shapes is my tool.
Psychologist and Filmmaker
As a psychologist I have focused on mental health and the power of communication to promote change. As a filmmaker I have focused on creating tools that help us see our relationship to others and to ourselves in new and constructive ways. Joining both disciplines, I have researched the psychological factors that help attend, understand, remember and be persuaded by audiovisual communication, and teach these techniques to educators and filmmakers. Check my book “Master Online Teaching: The Psychology of Communication for Online Education”.
My Values & Beliefs
I believe in the right to be happy, in the right to grow and develop, and in the right to live in harmony with our loved ones. I hold dear curiosity for the world and compassion and loyalty to each other.
My Background
Although I trained as a scientist, I was very lucky to be born into a family of painters, playwrights, musicians and poets. Early on I discovered theater and both the profoundly expressive powers of the human body and voice and the transformative power of walking in somebody else’s shoes. As a teen I was bent on learning the persuasive power of language, mainly to woo girls, but later to understand how language mediates our experiences and the way we relate to our environment, revealing its capacity to heal us.
Not by chance did I discover psychology, which seems to lay at the crux of science, art and humanism, an intersection where all my interests seemed to converge. During my time at university, and later as a college professor, I focused my research on the perception and cognition of audiovisual media, the ultimate communication medium that encompasses all other forms of communication: music, the body, the voice, literature, plastic arts, dancing, drama and, uniquely, magnification and movement of the point of view. I discovered that if I wanted to continue my research I would need to add a completely different career. So after I completed my training as a clinical psychologist I embarked on the study of film production. What a journey this has been.
Education and Work Experience
I hold a MA in film production and direction from Goldsmiths, University Of London. I also have a degree of Licentiate in Psychology from Universidad Central de Chile and later earned Professional Qualifications as Psychologist from the same university. I then trained in clinical psychology at Universidad Central, earning accreditation as a psychotherapist by the Board of Clinical Psychologists in Chile. I am also licensed as a Mental Health Counselor in the State of New York.
On earning my professional qualifications I lectured at DUOC, a college part of the Catholic University of Chile on the Psychology of Communication and Imaginative Perception. I was also asked to re-write the syllabus for Imaginative Perception based on my reserach. Throughout my stay I was consistently ranked among the top three academics by the Academic Staff Evaluation Committee, which included the input from students.
I have succesfully applied my research into the production of public announcement videos on topics like breast cancer, domestic violence and teen pregnancy to help reduce high-risk behavior; and educational content to develop critical thinking and teach the workings of the scientific method. I have also produced web content to help recent immigrants to NYC better adapt to their new social and cultural environment.
After graduating as a psychotherapist, I was invited by my mentor, then director of the school of psychology, to partner with her in the opening of a psychotherapy clinic. On moving to NYC to help the Hispanic population with the aftermath of 9/11, I worked as a psychotherapist for the Bleuler Psychotherapy Center and later was tasked with forming a Spanish Language division that augmented twelvefold the number of attentions. After that, I co-founded the Instituto Hispano de Psicología, where I was clinical director and currently am its executive director.
For the last 10 years I have been working privately coaching entrepreneurs and corporate managers in NYC, helping them make sense of their environments, navigate their careers or help them diagnose and intervene on problems with team interaction.
Aside from writing and producing public announcements and educational content, I enjoy writing screenplays and producing drama for film and TV. My aim is to generate engaging and fun content that debunks social stereotypes and helps us live better together.
Why Work With Me
In me you will find a knowledgeable, energetic and creative individual that will help you identify a problematic situation and will help you build the tools to change it. My areas of interest include:
Psychotherapy and Coaching
I’m interested in helping individuals, couples and families and other social groups examine the way they interact, finding strategies where communication is more effective and conducive to change, so they can live with more happiness and in harmony with their loved ones.
In the corporate arena, the focus is on being competitive in an uncertain and fast-changing environment, making the team more efficient and better coordinated or helping individuals set and achieve new meaningful goals.
Corporate Training
I enjoy providing in-person workshops where I teach first-line and mid-level managers the social skills required for team formation, leadership and problem-solving within a corporate structure and, in the post-covid new normal, how to care for the well-being of their direct reports and how to manage multicultural groups in in-person, online and hybrid environments.
I’m also interested in helping HR create online training material that will be effective in promoting new skills and values, done on time and within budget.
Audiovisual Media
My research on the perception and cognition of audiovisual media has led to important techniques that are applied successfully to education and persuasion. I teach these techniques to educators and content producers to help them better handle attention, understanding, memorization and application. I also help organizations develop attractive and persuasive audiovisual content that will help them better coordinate with employees, providers and investors.
Film Production
No less important, I’m interested in using drama in film and TV as a way to debunk stereotypes and foster the integration of different communities, and to give us the chance to reflect on our identities and the way we relate to others. I write for Film and TV and have been very lucky to produce and direct short and feature-length films.
If You've Read so Far
Thank you for your interest in knowing better who I am and what I do. If you find that the topics that I develop are of interest to you, please consider following me on social media (Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts) and subscribe to my podcast, blogs and other digital material I make available from time to time.
Testimonials
What other people say about me
Mariano is a sharp therapist of acute observation powers and warm empathetic and compassionate qualities. He also has a deep understanding of theories and systems in psychotherapy, allowing him to produce intriguing fresh perspectives and creatively use resources at hand. I have known Mariano since he was my student at the School of Psychology both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Throughout, he displayed a strong academic standing and influential leadership qualities. When he completed his training in psychotherapy I invited him to partner with me in the opening of a psychotherapy clinic and have followed with interest his international career.
Dr. Ana Zlachevsky, PhD.
Mariano is an exceptional coach. He provided support and perspective while I was dealing with very complicated office politics, calming my mood, clearing my mind and helping me find meaningful new goals. He was with me when I gave this exhilarating jump to entrepreneurship and being my own boss, giving me a healthy and objective view of my strengths and challenges that allowed me to better prepare for the changes ahead. I always have him on speed dial. I wholeheartedly recommend working with him.
Ana Ma. Echeverria
Mr. Casanova is a very talented psychotherapist. I was his clinical supervisor for five years while at the Bleuler Psychotherapy Center, where he was consistently ranked at “above average” and “clearly outstanding” categories at all the criteria of our performance appraisals. External audits praised his performance, the tools that he used for therapy and the soundness of his clinical interventions. Mariano’s reputation had grown immensely and had a long waiting list of clients that wanted to see him exclusively.
Hilary Abada, LCSW
Mr. Casanova is a producer that pays close attention to detail, has a talent for storytelling, knows how to reach different audiences, and skillfully manages his production crew. I met Mr. Casanova when he was a showrunner for “Familia Hispana”, a web series that helped immigrant Hispanic families better adapt to life in New York City. Mr. Casanova worked tirelessly and making imaginative use of scant resources. I later hired Mr. Casanova to help me develop and cast the web magazine “Ecos de Hoy.” Again, Mr. Casanova proved to be very knowledgeable, creative and resourceful.