Lara Desanto Email & Phone Number

Los Angeles, California, United States

• Act as the on-site trauma-informed therapist at Santa Monica High School (and formerly John Glenn High School) for Margaret's Place, a school-based violence intervention and prevention program designed to help students, faculty, and families address violence in school, at home and in the community.• Provide individual and group art therapy to youth exposed to violence, abuse, bullying, and unhealthy relationships. Create new art therapy group curricula around identity exploration and processing trauma.• Teach trauma education/violence prevention curriculum and create and present educational workshops to youth covering topics of healthy relationships, violence, trauma, coping skills, consent, and more.• Provide outreach, referrals, and workshops for school staff and parents.• Develop, implement, and facilitate a weekly peer leadership group aimed at empowering students to run anti-violence campaigns and activities to educate the school community about healthy relationships and violence-related issues.

• Pitch and write 8+ original feature and news stories for publication per month on HealthCentral.com on a variety of health topics, including mental health, sexual health, and chronic diseases like cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and more.

Arlington, Va

• Acted as editor of the Sexual Health, Digestive Health, Head and Neck Cancer and Gynecological Cancer verticals, recruiting writers, assigning pieces, editing articles and more.• Wrote original feature stories and patient education articles for publication on HealthCentral.com on a variety of health topics, from cancer to sexual and mental health, using AP style and company style.• Led curation, copy writing and editing for 14 monthly or weekly email newsletters on health topics including diabetes, women's health, rheumatoid arthritis, heart health, chronic pain and more.• Created posts for social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.• Wrote and edited copy for multimedia stories in award-winning "Live Bold Live Now" series on individuals living with chronic illness.• Supported and helped implement editorial strategy for HealthCentral.com with the help of analytics tools.

Los Angeles, California, United States

∙ Provided individual art therapy services via a psychodynamic lens to adults ages 22-80 living in the LA area via telehealth using Doxy.me.∙ Created, recruited for, and facilitated art therapy groups on topics such as mindfulness, navigating your 30s, and emotional expression, including a group for adolescents ages 14-16 onsite at the Boys and Girls Club of Venice.∙ Maintained progress notes and compiled treatment reports for clients to ensure proper documentation of treatment plans and sessions.∙ Treated clients with a range of mood disorders and issues with grief and loss, traumatic experiences, chronic medical conditions, gender and sexuality exploration, and more.∙ Completed 12-week counseling skills course emphasizing evocative empathy and psychodynamic interventions.

∙ Helped design curriculum for art therapy group focusing on themes of identity and emotional expression for transition-aged youth (17-22) via the Avis & Mark Ridley-Thomas Life Learning Center.∙ Co-facilitated weekly art therapy group, working with youth who have experienced trauma, substance abuse, domestic violence, and more.

Los Angeles

• Provided individual art therapy services in person and via telehealth to children ages 4-13 in an at-risk school community.• Offered mental health support for difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, interpersonal struggles, emotional expression, grief processing, and more.• Maintained progress notes for clients to ensure proper documentation of session content and interventions.• Managed session schedule and communication with parents, including offering family support and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.• Co-facilitated open studio-style art therapy workshops for fellow students training to be clinicians via Zoom to aid in stress relief and assist in processing of current events.• Helped lead week-long creative arts summer camps via Zoom and Microsoft Teams for middle school students and incarcerated youth in Los Angeles.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

• Wrote and edited original news articles for publication on WTOP.com on deadline and in a clear, concise manner.• Posted, organized and managed content on WTOP.com using WordPress.• Helped make decisions about the homepage layout, story selection, headlines and blurbs based on Web analytics and stats.• Distributed news content and engage with WTOP's audience through social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.• Sent breaking news alerts via email, text, apps and social media.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

• Edited, fact-checked and proofread patient education materials for print and online, including pamphlets, FAQs, books and fact sheets, on a wide range of women’s health-related topics. Used Adobe InDesign to make changes to documents. Ten million pamphlets are sold yearly and distributed mainly through medical offices. Free FAQs and fact sheets can be found at www.acog.org/Patients.• Wrote select pamphlets, all online patient education FAQs and occasional blog-style newsletter content.• Edited documents for patient readability, with experience using readability software and other tactics to lower reading levels.• Assisted in the production of the college’s book on prenatal care, "Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month."​• Created infographics for patients to explain complex topics related to women's health care using Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.• Ran social media for "Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month." Doubled Twitter followers in 2-month period for @ACOGPregnancy. Created social media headers and icons using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign.• Managed reprints and revisions of all patient education materials.• Managed and acted as a contact for freelance writers.• Updated and maintained database of publication information for all patient education materials.• Promoted in seventh month from Editorial Assistant to Editor.

Santa Monica, Ca

• Edited industry and procurement research reports and media articles for grammar and content, ensuring writing adheres to IBISWorld and Chicago style guidelines.• Designed research reports and marketing materials for publication using Adobe InDesign and Illustrator.• Promoted in 11th month for consistently meeting and surpassing monthly benchmarks and taking initiative on special projects.• Edited and wrote content for marketing materials.• Led team of seven editors in writing and publishing press releases using PRWeb.• Acted as editorial mentor for new analysts, offering extensive writing help in the early stages of their reports. Occasionally offer one-on-one writing help for more tenured analysts on an as-needed basis.• Proofread department's writing manual and update company style guide using WordPress.

New York, Ny

• Read and critiqued fiction and nonfiction submissions for grammar and content.• Wrote reader’s reports for Young Adult and Middle Grade manuscripts.• Researched potential markets, specializing in self-published New Adult authors.

Ithaca, Ny

• Led a staff of 20 editors and their reporting teams in covering community news.• Managed production of online daily and weekly print publication, editing all stories.• Designed and implemented a new production schedule focused on publishing daily online content with Google Drive and WordPress.• Coordinated layout of 28-page print edition using Adobe InDesign.• Wrote music, film and book reviews and news articles.• Launched and wrote for blog about internet trends.

Ithaca, Ny

• Managed calendars and took calls for Vice Presidents of Student Affairs and Campus Life.• Answered phone inquiries from students, parents, faculty and staff in detail.• Made copies and performed other clerical duties.• Worked college events such as commencement and other ceremonies.• Located information in college database.

Ithaca, Ny

• Collaborated with authors to design book covers with Adobe InDesign and Photoshop.• Proofread fiction and nonfiction manuscripts.• Updated website design.• Helped organize the publication of a poetry anthology inspired by feminist writer Adrienne Rich.

Bath, United Kingdom

• Wrote short stories based on art in the museum’s collection to read to children during weekly storytime.• Helped run art workshops for children aged 5 to 11 as well as special needs children with a weekly art club, field trips and outreach.

Los Angeles, Ca

• Fact-checked and proofread articles.• Communicated with public relations contacts on behalf of the magazine.• Pitched and wrote stories for the front-of-book section.• Attended and reported on luxury events in the L.A. area.

Ithaca College, Ithaca, Ny

• Read and edited all newspaper pages for grammar, spelling, AP style and Ithacan style.• Recruited and trained the copyediting staff and informed other members of the editorial board of frequently appearing errors.

Master'S Degree, Marital And Family Therapy With Specialized Training In Clinical Art Therapy

Ba, Writing, Honors Program

Activities and Societies: The Ithacan, Buzzsaw Magazine

Nondegree Graduate Student, Women'S Studies

• Took graduate courses in the women's studies program: Fundamentals of Feminist Theory and Women and the Law. • Worked as a graduate.

Education record

Study abroad program in Bath, England