Marwa Alhikaimy, M.A., is a fourth-year doctoral student in Kean University’s Combined School and Clinical Psychology (PsyD) program. She holds a B.A. in Psychology, and an M.A. in Educational Psychology from Kean University. She has experience providing services to children, adolescents, and adults navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, neurodevelopmental differences, family-related challenges, and emotion regulation difficulties. Her research interests focus on emotion regulation and dysregulation, as well as diversity and culture related issues within underserved and Muslim communities. Marwa is currently working on her dissertation, which examines the role of cultural orientations in relation to Borderline Personality Disorder symptoms and emotion regulation strategies. 

Avi is a third-year clinical psychology doctoral student whose research interests center on trauma and the role of religion and spirituality in therapy, with a particular focus on how faith, meaning-making, and community shape coping and recovery. He is currently completing an externship at the VA, working with veterans and deepening his training in evidence-based, trauma-informed care. Outside of graduate school, Avi’s favorite hobby is playing guitar, which serves as both a creative outlet and a way to recharge, helping him stay present and grounded in his clinical and research work.

Morgan Fishman, M.A. is a third-year student in the Combined School and Clinical Psychology PsyD program at Kean University. She earned her B.A. in Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers University and her M.A. in Educational Psychology at Kean University. She is currently an extern at the Center for Cognition and Communication, a private neuropsychology practice in New York City that assesses and treats predominantly adults with traumatic brain injuries. Morgan's research interests include emotion regulation in sports contexts, as well as its physiological correlates. Her unfolding dissertation focuses on the roles of perfectionism and emotion regulation among athletes, especially as they relate to navigating setbacks.

Talia Levin, B.A. is a second year student in the Combined School and Clinical PsyD program at Kean University. She earned her B.A from Barnard College in Psychology and Sociology. Her research interests include intimate partner violence, sexuality, trauma, and emotion regulation. Her current project focuses on a cross-sectional study on experiences with sexuality among intimate partner violence survivors. She has been a research assistant at the VA in New York City for two years.

My name is Kiany Probherbs and my interests include increasing access to mental health services and decreasing mental health stigma in marginalized and underrepresented communities. I particularly want to work with places in the community and finding ways to make mental health more digestible and generally accessible such that people do not need to specifically go to a clinic to receive mental health services. I am currently a second year Doctoral Assistant in the program and am working on a literature review for a study on expulsion in early childhood settings. I received my bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at Bowdoin College and prior to starting at Kean University’s School-Clinical PsyD program, I worked at the Pediatric Anxiety Research center and provided in home exposure therapy to children with OCD or anxiety ages 5-18. I am originally from the Bronx, NY and am Caribbean-American with family from Jamaica and Trinidad. 

Stella Petrou, B.A is a second year student in the Clinical and School Psychology PsyD program at Kean. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from The College of New Jersey and minored in Spanish. She is a doctoral assistant in the PsyD program. Her research interests include grief and emotion regulation. She is working on a project to try and understand the context in which people use certain emotion regulation strategies in regards to different types of losses.

Ashley Taylor, B.A. is a second year student in Kean’s Combined School and Clinical Psychology PsyD program. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Kean in 2022. Her research interests center on increasing accessibility, psychoeducation, and the effective use of mental health treatment for underserved populations. This includes the integration of mindfulness-based interventions to support ethnically minoritized adolescents and adults experiencing emotional dysregulation and the impact of racial trauma. Currently, she is in the process of expanding a project that explores the complexity of racial and ethnic identity and related experiences that influence the academic well-being of Hispanic students. Her long-term goal is to replicate this work across other marginalized populations to aid in the improvement of retention rates and the successful completion of four-year college or university programs among minority students.

Doris Chen, B.A. is a first-year student interested in emotion regulation and relationships, especially the dynamics between parents and emerging adults experiencing psychological distress, mental health of parents, and enhancing the effectiveness of related treatments. She is currently working on a project involving emotion regulation and loneliness, and a project on improving the functioning of DBT consultation teams.

Evan Baidwan, B. A. is a first-year student in the PsyD program in Combined School and Clinical Psychology. He has a strong interest in researching interventions for individuals with severe mental illnesses, including Schizophrenia and Borderline Personality Disorder. He is currently working on projects focused on emotion regulation, loneliness, and clinician burnout within DBT practices. He is excited for the opportunity to work with Dr. Vijay and his peers in the ICED Lab on projects that have meaningful, real-world applications in clinical settings. 

Malia Coghlan, B.A. is a first-year student with research interests in trauma-informed care, multicultural psychology, serious mental illness, and how stigma shapes mental health experiences. She is currently working on a project called Navigating Grief with DBT, exploring how DBT aids in experiences of grief. She is very excited to continue learning about trauma, trans-theoretical approaches, and AAPI mental health through future research!