The Life Project

Podcast

Gatherings

Services

Ongoing Research

Core Research Interests

Clinical Psychology × Cognitive Science, Parapsychological & Exceptional & Anomalous Experiences, Cognitive Outliers & High-Potential Profiles, Psychotherapy Integration (Psychodynamic & CBT), Sleep Science & Oneirology, Consciousness Studies, Altered States of Consciousness, Raw Reality Science, Personality & Political Psychology, Trauma & Resilience, Philosophy of Mind & Psychology, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Entrepreneurship.

The Life Project Coordination

Coordinating The Life Project, an independent interdisciplinary project focused on science communication, research discussion, community-based learning, and collaborative intellectual work across psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and related subjects.

Applied Experience

Research assistance, psychological first aid training, meta-analytic data synthesis, academic writing, science communication, technical projects and project strategy.

Clinical Orientation & Focus

My clinical orientation is integrative — primarily psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral — with an open door to people of any age and background. My intended primary client community is Iranians inside and outside Iran, with a broader focus on adults in general. Within that practice I plan a particular specialization in people with parapsychological, exceptional and anomalous experiences and cognitive outliers, which is also the thread connecting my clinical and research goals at the intersection of clinical psychology and cognitive science. Sleep and dream science, consciousness studies and altered states are my wider interests within cognitive science. I am currently in the seventh semester of my bachelor’s program.

Gaming & Gamification

Develops game-based and interactive concepts, browser prototypes, strategic text systems and learning-oriented gamification.

Technology, Innovation & Future

Develops websites, digital tools, automation and interactive systems using Python, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQLite and related tools.

Academia, Education & Research

Supports research-oriented communication and collaboration with academic groups when appropriate. No institutional affiliation is implied beyond the relationships explicitly stated in this profile.

Media & Content Creation

Develops educational media, podcast episodes, dialogue-based content and science communication materials.

Project Development

Long-term project systems, research-oriented development, documentation and future organizational planning.

Podcast & Conversation

The Life Project’s podcast and dialogue work, covering psychology, cognitive science, public education and interdisciplinary topics.

Gaming & Gamification

• Four free Telegram games: Baqa 1 (Survival 1) text-based strategy, a war-game simulator, a sports-game simulator and a full-scale Mafia game.
• Browser games in HTML, CSS and JavaScript with logic-driven gameplay and user-input systems.

Technology, Innovation & Future

• Built The Life Project App with every section of the project embedded inside it.
• Designed psychological mini-apps and mini-games as interactive tools.
• Developed and maintained Telegram bots with Python, Aiogram and SQLite.
• Designed and built websites with HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Relations & Networking

• English & IELTS gatherings: Session 1 on Artificial Intelligence, Session 2 on Money.
• Film-viewing gathering with analysis.
• Interdisciplinary Learning & Research gathering: Psychology Learning and Research, Session 1.

Media & Content Production

• The Life Project Interdisciplinary Podcast: introductory episode and first episode published.
• Dispatch: a seasonal/monthly interdisciplinary collection.

Academic Materials

• Study notes, presentations and academic packages, including a comprehensive collection of psychology study notes (from biological psychology to other subfields), psychology notes for the national university entrance exam (Konkur) and a separate Historical Psychology guide, produced under my own name as an individual.

Product & Branding

• Product positioning, brand identity and advertising campaigns with more than 100,000 combined views across domestic and international platforms.

The Life Project — Public Science Writing

Produced public-facing psychology and science content as part of an independent project, focusing on clear explanation, analytical writing and interdisciplinary discussion.

Research Projects (Unpublished)

• Individual Undergraduate Research: Anomalous Experiences and Psychological Distress — The Role of Meaning-Making and Reality Appraisal in a Non-Clinical Iranian Sample. Conducted under faculty supervision.
• Sleep Psychology and the History of Kings’ Dreams: A Qualitative Study. Conducted under faculty supervision.

Books

• Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Psychology: From Theory to Application in Everyday and Extraordinary Life — a comprehensive reference work on psychological theory and its application across everyday and extraordinary experience, including a section on the psychology of Persian poetry: a comparative reading of emotional concepts and situations in the divans of several poets, using a shared and replicable method. Unpublished.

Synapse Journal — Article

“From Experience to Meaning”, published in Issue 3 of the specialized journal of the Brain & Cognitive Science Association, Allameh Tabataba’i University.

Sazandegi Newspaper — Film & Media Critique

Published structural and psychological critiques of selected film and media works.

Dideban Magazine — Writer

• The Unpretentious Phoenix: Multi-layered psychological analysis of human mental structure confronting trauma, crisis intervention, and post-war resilience.
• Evolutionary Roots of Rumination and Perfectionism: Evolutionary psychology analysis exploring the “Social Ranking Mind,” cognitive diminishing returns, and subjective vs. objective perfectionism.
• Literary Critique — Sophie’s Choice: Analysis of social triangles, trauma bonding, unconscious guilt, and ideological/pathological spectrums of evil.
• Character Analysis — a Major Fantasy-Series Character: Identity development, secure relationships preventing dark traits, and proactive defense mechanisms against fundamental rejection.

Dialectic Student Weekly — Editorial Board & Writer

Writer for Kharazmi University Sociology Department; authored the psycho-social novel Dilemma across multiple issues.

Selected Certifications & Training

• The Science of Mind and Decision Making Specialization (45 Hours) — University of Cambridge | August 2026.
• Methods and Statistics in Social Sciences Specialization (120 Hours) — University of Amsterdam | July 2026.
• Abnormal Psychology Specialization (40 Hours) — Wesleyan University | August 2026.
• Philosophy and the Sciences: Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Sciences (15 Hours) — University of Edinburgh | August 2026.
• Entrepreneurship: Launching an Innovative Business Specialization (35 Hours) — University of Maryland, College Park | August 2026.
• Psychological First Aid and Crisis Support (150 Hours) — IranCrisisLine | July 2026. Intensive training in crisis intervention and supportive communication.
• Comprehensive Researcher Training in EEG/ERP (50 Hours) — Shahid Beheshti University & Cortex Academy | Nov 2024. Theoretical and practical hands-on brain wave recording. Instructors included faculty from the University of Padua.
• From Download to Discovery: Using Public Datasets in Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Neuroscience (4 Hours) — ATU | June 2026. Dataset quality, metadata, secondary-data research design, reproducible reporting.
• Application of Cognitive Neuroscience in Humanities (60 Hours) — Cognitive Science Lab, ATU & Ministry of Science | Starting June 2026.
• Memory: From Neuroscience to Assessment and Enhancement (18 Hours) — National Brain Mapping Lab | June 2026.
• Alzheimer’s Disease from a Neuroscience Perspective — Mashhad University of Medical Sciences | Sept 2025.
• Modern Psychoanalysis: “Enactment and the Fear of Breakdown” — led by a professor from NYU | Shiraz University & ATU | Oct 2024.

Selected Academic Seminars & Workshops

• Journal Club: Causality in an Integrated Framework — Organizer and Presenter | Brain & Cognitive Science Association, ATU | Oct 2026.
• How Should the University Act in the Modern Era? — Organizer and Participant | Session with a senior professor | Sep 2026.
• ISPSM 4th Annual Online Conference (International Society for the Philosophy of the Sciences of the Mind) — Participant | November 4–6, 2026.
• Neuroaesthetics in the Digital World — Organizer and Host | ATU Cognitive Talks | July 22, 2026. Conceptualized and hosted international panel exploring neuroscience, digital media, and aesthetics.
• Psycho-Social Reading of Suicide in High-Risk Groups — Organizer and Speaker | Nov 2024.
• Cross-Cultural Trauma & Suicide Prevention Summit — Speaker | Sep 2024.
• Evolutionary Psychology Workshop | ATU | Nov 2024.
• Pre to Post Trauma Psychopathology Workshop | Connectome Academy & ATU | Aug 2024.
• Research Methodology Workshop | ATU.
• Mindhunter Seminar: Criminal Psychology & Crisis Intervention | SBU | June 2024.
• Behavioral Psychology Seminar (based on the book Behave) | ATU | Dec 2024.
• Roundtable: Cognitive Harms in the Digital Age — with invited faculty | ATU Brain & Cognition Student Association, ATU Cognitive Science Lab & Tabriz University | Participant | Sep 14, 2026.
• Seminar: Intercultural Intellectual Challenges of Students | ATU | Nov 2023.
• Commemoration of a Leading Iranian Scientist: A Cognitive Look at the Mind and Abilities of a Scientist — with invited faculty | Organizer and Participant | ATU Brain & Cognition Association with Brain Club | October 24, 2026.
• Online Demonstration: Saturday Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy demonstration with a volunteer, led by a licensed psychologist | Zoom | Participant (observer) | Ongoing.
• Cinematic Structural Critique of “Absence” Panel | ATU | Nov 2024.

Selected Honors & Awards

• First Place — National Cognition Challenge Game (first edition) — Brain & Cognitive Science Association, ATU.
• Winner, Effective Speech Competition: Persuasion & Influence — Allameh Tabataba’i University (ATU) | June 2026. Outstanding performance in persuasive communication & structured argumentation.
• 3rd Place — International Chess Contest, Resalat Square Chess Academy; Chess Class A.
• SAMPAD Owj 5 Festival Award — National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents.
• RoboCup Iran — Group Co-operation Award — Member of “Wild Eagles” Robotics Team, Lightweight Primary League | April 2019.

Skills & Competencies

• Core: Supervised Counseling Practice, Psychological First Aid, Psychological Assessment (training level), Research Assistance & Coordination, Meta-Analysis, Community Management, Strategic Planning, Gamification & Text-Based Game Design, Board Game Design, Scientific Translation, Teaching (English, Sciences), Science Communication, Brand & Campaign Development, Academic Material Production.
• Technical & Analytical: IBM SPSS, MATLAB, Python, R, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C, SQLite, Aiogram, VS Code, EEGLAB, ERPLAB, Psychtoolbox, PsyTask, Meta-Analytic Data Extraction, Risk of Bias Assessment, Applied LLM Use (research support, writing, coding, with output verification).
• Languages: Persian (Native), English (B2), Kurdish (B2), Spanish (B1).
• Media, Design & Office: DaVinci Resolve, OBS Studio, Affinity, Microsoft Office.
• Other Interests: Chess (Class A), film & series analysis, podcasts & educational YouTube series.
• Academic & Intellectual Interests: Psychology, cognitive science, consciousness research, sleep and dreaming, science communication, interdisciplinary project design.

Parapsychological & Exceptional & Anomalous Experiences

Parapsychological, exceptional and anomalous experiences, and their relationship to meaning-making, reality appraisal and psychological distress.

Cognitive Outliers & High-Potential Profiles

Cognitive outliers and high-potential profiles, studied alongside their clinical and cognitive-science implications.

Clinical Psychology

My primary professional interest: formulation, intervention, psychopathology and crisis communication, pursued at the intersection with cognitive science.

Psychotherapy Integration

An integrative orientation — primarily psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral.

Cognitive Science

The cognitive-science side of my focus: perception, memory, decision-making and the neuroscience of mind, studied alongside clinical questions.

Sleep & Dream Science

Dreaming, sleep architecture, memory consolidation, emotion processing, and altered states of consciousness.

Consciousness Studies

Mind, selfhood, subjectivity, altered states, and philosophical-neuroscientific questions of experience.

Altered States of Consciousness

Altered states, dreaming and their clinical and cognitive-science relevance.

Raw Reality Science

A developing research direction at the intersection of cognitive science, consciousness studies and the study of exceptional and anomalous experience.

Philosophy of Mind & Psychology

Conceptual questions about mind, cognition and consciousness that frame empirical work.

Personality Psychology

Trait structure (Big Five), individual differences, measurement, and person-level behavioral patterns.

Trauma & Resilience

Crisis intervention, post-war adaptation, trauma bonding, post-traumatic growth, and psychological survival.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Machine learning and AI as tools for, and subjects of, research in psychology and cognitive science.

Entrepreneurship

Long-term project development, interdisciplinary systems, documentation and future planning.

Science Communication

Public education, accessible psychology, media-based learning, podcasts and interdisciplinary discussion.

Gamification

Text-based systems, life simulations, strategic decision-making environments, and interactive learning design.

General Services

Educational, research, content and executive services across the project’s fields: writing, editing and review; research support and literature review; study notes, packages and slides; translation; scientific, educational, media and analytical content; psychology, cognitive-science and interdisciplinary services; project and group-activity planning; games, interactive systems and gamification; and tools, websites, apps and bots.

Specialized Services

Projects and requests with a defined subject and need: research-oriented work in selected areas and dedicated solutions related to raw reality science, the study of anomalous and cognitive experiences, and the use of advanced technological tools. Each request is reviewed independently; feasibility, method and scope are set after an initial review.

Custom Services

Beyond general and specialized services, dedicated services can be designed for individuals, groups and projects: from an idea or a defined need, a combination of research, educational, technical, media and executive services can be framed as one independent order.

Individual capacity

All materials and services on this website are provided by Navid Shams as a natural person, under his own name. The Life Project is a project name and a platform for independent activity; it is not a separate legal entity, company, institute or registered association, and project areas are internal categories. Service agreements and orders are made directly with Navid Shams. This website creates no employment, agency, partnership or representation relationship with any person or institution.

Scope of services

General, specialized and custom services are provided on request. After an initial review, scope, steps, cost and timeline are agreed, and no order begins without that prior agreement. No result, grade, admission, publication or specific achievement is guaranteed, and nothing on this website is an offer that binds the author before such an agreement is made. Any research involving human participants requires appropriate ethical review and informed consent.

No clinical or professional advice

Educational and research activities do not include therapeutic, psychotherapy, clinical-diagnostic or other regulated professional services that require a license, and nothing here is medical, psychological or legal advice. Educational and psychology-related content is for general information only and does not replace consultation with a qualified, licensed professional.

Emergencies

This website is not a crisis, emergency or clinical service. If you or someone else is in danger or in crisis, contact local emergency services or a qualified professional immediately.

Academic integrity

Academic and scholarly support is provided within the principles of research ethics and academic integrity. It does not include completing assessed assignments in place of the client or submitting them in the client’s name. Clients remain responsible for complying with the rules of their own institutions and publishers.

Affiliations & third parties

Universities, laboratories, organizations, programs, publications and individuals are named only to describe study, training, participation or collaboration. Such references imply no endorsement, sponsorship or responsibility on their part for this website or its services, and the views and materials presented here are the author’s own. Third-party names, marks and media remain the property of their respective owners.

Intellectual property

Materials created by Navid Shams are protected to the extent permitted by applicable law and may not be copied, redistributed or reused without prior written permission. Nothing on this website grants a license unless expressly stated in writing.

Privacy, links & updates

This website has no forms, accounts or analytics of its own; your browser stores only a language preference. Fonts load from Google Fonts, and hosting providers may log technical request data. Messages sent by email, Telegram, Contra or other channels are handled under those platforms’ policies and used only to respond. External links lead to sites the author does not control. Information reflects the author’s records at the time of publication and may be updated without notice.