Psychology Student Activities
Cultivating future discoveries in research and practice.
Our Derner School of Psychology doctoral students are passionate about their dissertation and research topics. Explore some of their areas of focus.
Fourth Year Students
| Name | Advisor | Research Interests | Externship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brigante, Mathew | Dr. Joel Weinberger | Unconscious processes in depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior | The City College of New York Counseling Center |
| Cain, Lylliam | Dr. Mark Hilsenroth | Psychotherapy process and outcome, object relations, interpersonal theory | Center for Attention and Learning at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health |
| Cavalcante Krause, Fernando | Dr. Michael Moore | Anxiety, depression, emotional regulation | |
| Chen, Liqiaonan | Dr. J. Christopher Muran | Microaggressions in therapy, ruptures, alliance | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |
| Cohen, Elan | Dr. Michael O’Loughlin | Critical and post-colonial psychology, psychoanalytic approaches to madness and trauma, Lacanian psychoanalysis | |
| Gaughran, Sean | Dr. Michael Moore | Narcissism, personality assessment, working alliance | NYU Child Study Center |
| Genovese, Juliana | Dr. Kate Szymanski | Shame, trauma, intergenerational transmission of trauma, gender issues in psychology, masculinity, relational theory | |
| Gottlieb, Kayla | Dr. Carolyn Springer | Orthodox Jewish women and spousal relationship satisfaction | Yeshiva University Counseling Center |
| Hougen, Clint | Dr. Carolyn Springer | Health and rehabilitation psychology, brain-behavior relationships/neurospychology | |
| Kiernan, Christina | Dr. Laura Brumariu | Optimism, peer relationships in middle childhood, parent-child relationships/attachment, anxiety, trauma/sexual violence | Adelphi University Center for Psychological Services |
| Lokai, Andrew | Dr. J. Christopher Muran | Therapeutic alliance, microaggressions in treatment, ruptures and repairs, neuropsychology | Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Neurological Surgery |
| López-Aybar, Laura | Dr. Lauren Gonzales | Critical psychology, mental health stigma, disparities in mental health, mental health and social justice, mental health policy | |
| McCullough, Brittany | Dr. Lauren Gonzales | Forensic evaluations for juveniles, trauma, neighborhoor context and recidivism | Derner Hempstead Child Clinic |
| Nissen, Kevin | Dr. Joel Weinberger | Trauma disorder development, personality pathology, hypnosis, nosology, and unconscious processing | Northport VA Medical Center |
| Rahman, Mariam | Dr. Michael O’Loughlin | Intergenerational transmission of trauma, historical trauma, sexual violence, shame, community mental health, healing | Pratt Institute Student Counseling Center |
| Rothbaum, Beatrice | Dr. Chana Etengoff | Minority stress, institutional discrimination, LGBTQ mental health | Pratt Institute Student Counseling Center |
| Schwartz, Yael | Dr. Kate Szymanski | Chilhood maltreatment and adult psychopathology, chilhood emotional maltreatment, maladaptive schemas, attachment, and depression | The Compassion Practice |
| Telzak, Sarah | Dr. Karen Lombardi | Unconscious transmission of shame in the mother-daughter relationship | |
| Wild, Mackenzie | Dr. Kate Szymanski | Intergenerational trauma, cross-cultural perspectives on trauma, the impact of trauma on cognition | |
| Wolpoff, Alexxa | Dr. Joel Weinberger | Implicit processes and hiring decisions, mitigating unconscious hiring bias | Nassau University Medical Center |
Third Year Students
| Name | Advisor | Research Interests | Externship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ackerman, Sayde | Dr. Michael Moore | Stigma and bias in borderline personality disorder; underlying mechanisms of depression | Mount Sinai Beth Israel |
| Chen, Crystal | Dr. Lauren Gonzales | Weight stigma in eating disorder treatment; mental illness stigma within psychology, culturally-informed understandings of attachment, cross-cultural adaptations of the Adult Attachment Interview. | |
| Degtyarev, Zoren | Dr. Michael Moore | Using model-based approaches to characterize depression-related variation in social learning and decision-making | NYU Student Health Counseling Center |
| Delgado, Brian | Dr. Joel Weinberger | Unconscious bias towards ASD and correlation with academic outcomes. Effects of MIO subliminal on racial bias. | Brookdale University Hospital |
| Fayyaz, Sundus | Dr. Kate Szymanski | Examining the relationship between trauma, shame expression, psychopathology, and interpersonal relationships cross-culturally. | The City College of New York Counseling Center |
| Kisson, Kimberly | Dr. Carolyn Springer | Anxiety, depression, culture, and stress | Hofstra University’s Student Counseling Center |
| Krovatin, Brendan | Dr. Lawrence Josephs | Masculinity and the effects of non-normative masculine behavior on men’s feelings about their masculinity. | The National Institute for the Psychotherapies |
| Kulsa, Mila Kirstie | Dr. Michael O’Loughlin | Complexities of and intersectionality between severe psychiatric distress, psychiatric care, subjectivity, narrative, and restorative justice | The National Institute for the Psychotherapies |
| Mikelic, Maxwell | Dr. Christina Marini | Romantic relationship initiation, development, and maintenance; attachment interventions; SMI/psychotic disorders and romantic relationships | |
| Peebles-Dorin, Maggie | Dr. Karen Lombardi | Children’s experience of therapy, LGBTQ identity, parental identity, parent-child relationship | Brooklyn College Personal Couseling Center |
| Rodrigues, Gabriela | Dr. Laura Brumariu | Children’s positive traits, parent-child attachment, internalizing symptomology in preadolescence | Westchester Jewish Community Services |
| Sangster, Raynell | Dr. Karen Lombardi | Cultural issues in treatment, black youth and mental health | |
| Schwartz, Joshua | Dr. Karen Lombardi | Parent-child emotion communication, emotion regulation, same-sex parenting, LGBTQ mental health | Alice Brown Early Learning Center |
| Sheridan, Richard | Dr. Karen Lombardi | Psychology of religion and spirituality, psychodynamic theory & practice, dying and grieving during the Coronavirus pandemic | Sagamore Children’s Psychiatric Center |
| So, Christine | Dr. Kate Fiori | Romantic relationships and social network of emerging adults, reintegration of older adults during COVID-19 | NYC Health+Hospitals/Queens |
| Soultanian, Stephanie | Dr. J. Christopher Muran | ||
| Terry, Kendra | Dr. J. Christopher Muran | Language and literature in the therapeutic encounter | New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (NYPSI) |
| Teodoro de Assis, Renata | Dr. Michael O’Loughlin | Early childhood mental health, parental mental health, reproductive mental health, children’s experience in pediatric hospitals, eating disorders in early childhood, somatic psychoanalysis, psychosis in childhood | Medical Center |
| Tseng, Ting-Yun | Dr. Robert Bornstein | Interpersonal dependency and detachment, acculturation, psychometrics of Relational Profile Test (RPT) | CUNY, Graduate Center, Student Counseling Services |
| Tuminelli, Logan | Dr. Joel Weinberger | Unconscious processes in trauma, ruptures in early attachment, parentification, personality organization/dysfunction | Northwell/LIJ Zucker Hillside Hospital, Bipolar Centers |
| Vizlakh, Breanna | Dr. Michael O’Loughlin | Intergenerational trauma, psychological sequelae of asylum seekers and refugees; PTSD, working with veterans | Unified Behavioral Health Center for Military Veterans and their Families, Northwell Health |
| Waslin, Stephanie | Dr. Laura Brumariu | Parental emotion socialization, parent-child attachment, child psychological adjustment | Growth Psychology |
Second Year Students
| Name | Advisor | Research Interests | Externship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayala Aguilera, Nathalia | Dr. Laura Brumariu | Parents’ strengths and challenges in navigating children’s ASD diagnosis, parental resolution of the diagnosis, parental implicit and explicit cognitions | Derner Hempstead Child Clinic |
| Blake, Elyse | Dr. Lawrence Josephs | Conflict in romantic relationships, human computer interaction, emergent technological disorders | The Village Institute |
| Chassman, Emily | Dr. Joel Weinberger | Unconscious processes in shame and mental health stigma | Mount Sinai Beth Isreal, Addictions Unit |
| Goldman, Samantha | Dr. Karen Lombardi | Sexually coercive behavior, #MeToo cultural narratives, Theory of Mind, empathy, | |
| Gruenstein, Jessica | Dr. Nathan George | Question-asking behaviors during reading and reminiscing and their relationship to children’s emotion knowledge | Alice Brown Early Learning Center |
| Kanani, Anxhela | Dr. Lauren Gonzales | Cultural Dimension, attitude towards help seeking and shame proness | |
| Khan, Amna | Dr. Kate Fiori | Social network/sociability of emerging adults; parent-child religiosity and mental health outcomes; parent-child bonding | Derner Hempstead Child Clinic |
| Levy, Dorin | Dr. Joel Weinberger | ||
| Liang, Qianlin | Dr. Lawrence Josephs | The impact of social factors on sexual activities in romantic relationships. | Adelphi University Student Counseling Center |
| Linn, Emily | Dr. Carolyn Springer | Mental health effects of COVID-19 on healthcare workers and their children; vicarious acquisition of stress, anxiety, trauma | Mount Sinai Beth Israel, ACT Team |
| Lombardi Civin, Chloe | Dr. Michael O’Loughlin | Psychoanalysis, intersectionality, post-colonial studies, trauma, transracial and transnational adoption, film | Adelphi University Student Counseling Center |
| Luong, Emily Hang | Dr. Chana Etengoff | Multiculturalism, intersectionality, depression, Asian American mental health | Long Beach Reach, Port Counseling |
| Marte, Chrystal | Dr. Kate Szymanski | Trauma, intergenerational trauma, resilience, factors which make individuals resilient to past traumatization | Mount Sinai Beth Israel |
| Viswanath, Pavithra | Dr. Kate Szymanski | Trauma, attachment, parental reflective functioning, emotional regulation, acculturation and immigrant mental health | Derner Hempstead Child Clinic |
| Pereyra, Andrea | Dr. Lauren Gonzales | Foster youth, trauma, resilience | St. Christopher Ottilie RTF |
| Petrovska, Elena | Dr. Carolyn Springer | Psychoanlaytic and psychodynamic theory and practice; unconscious factors involved in repetivite patterns, such as rapid-repeat teenage pregnancy | IPTAR (Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research) |
| Podell, Samuel | Dr. J. Christopher Muran | Therapeutic alliance, rupture, motivation, substance use | Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Addictions Unit |
| Rabinowitz, Yocheved | Dr. J. Christopher Muran | The termination phase of psychotherapy | St. Albans VA |
| Schiff, Talia | Dr. Dominic Fareri | Neuroimaging psychological processes and pathology, reward processing in healthy and clinical populations | Saint Christopher Ottilie (SCO) Residential Treatment Facility |
| Sheridan, Silas | Dr. Robert Bornstein | Personality assessment; personality disorders; moral psychology | |
| Wainstein, Jeffrey | Dr. Karen Lombardi | Countertransference, (role-)play, mentalization, and the virtual | Derner Hempstead Child Clinic |
| Wang, Wei-Qian | Dr. Dominic Fareri | Prosociality and reward processes in decision making, cultural and language nuances in treatment modalities, stigma and shame associated with mental health | Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Dual Diagnosis |
| Xu, Yuanruo | Dr. Carolyn Springer | Multicultural psychology and cultural competency in clinical practice, including Asian Americans. | Long Beach Reach, Port Counseling |
| Zylstra, Micah | Dr. Kate Szymanski | The relationships between suicidality and individual/collective trauma, mortality awareness and death anxiety, COVID-19 effect on mental health/psychological functioning | New York Health Hypnosis and Integrative Therapies |
Location
Hy Weinberg Center, 220
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