Lab Members
Jiaqi Li
Jiaqi Li is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Adult Clinical Psy.D program. She received her B.S. in Psychology from The Ohio State University in 2017, and MSW from Columbia University School of Social Work in 2019. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Jiaqi worked as a clinical social worker at Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, where she provided therapy for primarily Chinese immigrants. Jiaqi has externed at CUNY Graduate Center, the Metropolitan Center for Mental Health, and Kingsboro Psychiatric Center. She is currently completing her doctoral-level clinical internship at Rutgers Student Health CAPS. Jiaqi’s research interests include meaning-making and the grieving process for therapists who lost their patients to suicide.
Fortune Manopla
Fortune Manopla is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Ferkauf Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. She received her B.A. from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, where she studied psychological reactance in response to COVID-19 related messages in order to complete her thesis. She has externed at the College of Staten Island Counseling Center, New York Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health Center, and NYU Steven A. Cohen Military Family Center. Fortune is currently completing her doctoral-level internship at the Bronx Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital. Her research interests include the strengths and limitations of grief interventions and the importance of obtaining patient feedback following treatment.
Julia Norman
Julia Norman is a fifth-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program. She received her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. She is currently an intern at Bellevue Hospital, where she previously served as an extern. Julia has also externed at Academics West and Mount Sinai's Psychosis Risk Program. Julia’s research interests have focused on perinatal loss and disenfranchised grief. For her dissertation, Julia is conducting a qualitative research study on the psychosocial needs of those who experience perinatal loss. Her goal is to focus on reproductive psychology after graduating this spring.
Micaela Raviv
Micaela Raviv is a fifth-year doctoral student in Ferkauf's Clinical Psychology PsyD program. She received her B.A. from Brown University, where she double majored in both Psychology and Judaic Studies. Prior to beginning at Ferkauf, Micaela served as a clinical research coordinator for the Center for Child Trauma and Resilience at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine. Micaela has held clinical positions in both inpatient and outpatient settings at NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NYCBT, and the Parnes Clinic. She is currently completing internship at the VA New Jersey Healthcare System, where she provides therapy in individual and group formats to veterans and their caregivers. Her doctoral research project focused on the experience of emerging adults who have a parent with advanced cancer. Her research interests include resilience after loss, emerging adult bereavement, psycho-oncology, and meaning-making.
Sam Bernstein
Sam Bernstein (she/her) is a fourth-year student in the Ferkauf Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program. She received her B.A. at Haverford College, where she majored in Anthropology and minored in Psychology and Health Studies. For Sam’s senior thesis, she studied the ways in which organized religion (specifically Reform Judaism) can provide psychological relief at the end of life and during grief, even for individuals who have not necessarily identified as religious throughout their lives. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Sam led a virtual support and activity group for individuals with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, interned at Family Services of Westchester’s Elder Abuse Prevention Program, and supported children and parents as they navigated the child welfare system at the Westchester Institute for Human Development. Currently, Sam has externed at Brooklyn College Personal Counseling and St. Barnabas Hospital; she is currently externing on the Geriatric Inpatient Unit at New York Presbyterian Westchester. Sam’s primary research interests include the psychological impacts of medical ableism, the role of non-familial care networks in coping with serious illness and loss, and end-of-life decision-making.
Fallon Smalberg
Fallon Smalberg (she/her) is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Ferkauf Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program. She received her B.A. from New York University, her MSW from Fordham University, and earned her LMSW in 2022. While at Fordham University, Fallon earned her hours towards licensure working with diverse populations including homeless individuals and New York City employees. She currently works at multiple private practices specializing in acute trauma dissociative disorders and completed her EMDR certification in 2023. Fallon also co-authored an article in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology while working as a research assistant at the UCLA Childhood OCD, Anxiety, and Tic Disorder Program. Fallon’s current areas of interest are grief in relationships and attachment styles.
Shibani Datta
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Shibani is a third-year student in the Adult Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program. She received her B.S. in psychology from the University of Washington in Seattle. Shibani previously worked at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she served as a clinical research coordinator for several mixed-methods psycho-oncology studies. In her second year, she externed at the Adult Literacy Program at Montefiore where she conducted psychoeducational neuropsychological assessments and therapy with adults with learning disabilities. At present, she is a clinical extern at the CUNY Graduate Center where she practices integrative short-term therapy. She also serves as a study interventionist for the psychotherapy trial “Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy to Meet Palliative Care Needs of Cancer Caregivers” at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. For her research dissertation, Shibani is conducting a systematic review on the bereavement experiences of young adults who have lost a partner to cancer.
Libby Dvir
Libby Dvir is a third-year doctoral student in the Ferkauf Clinical Psychology PsyD program. She received her B.A. from Williams College. Upon graduation, Libby worked as a live-in residential advisor at a group home for adults with severe mental illness. She then completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Argentina. Prior to beginning at Ferkauf, Libby worked at an alternative-to-incarceration program in Manhattan as its supervising intake specialist. Last year, Libby externed at the Pratt Institute's Counseling Center. She is currently externing at St. Barnabas Hospital, as well as providing therapy through the Parnes Clinic and as an interventionist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Her research interests include the interaction of grief with feelings of accountability and moral injury.
Mina Sarcevic
Mina Sarcevic is a third-year student in the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. program at Ferkauf. She received her B.A. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis. After graduating, Mina worked as a medical technician at an urgent care in St. Louis. Her research interests include grief related to loss of community and/or identity as well as trauma informed grief care.
Tomás Greenberg
Tomas Greenberg is a third-year student in the Adult Clinical Psychology PsyD Program at Ferkauf. He received his B.A. from Cornell University, double majoring in Psychology and Spanish with a minor in Inequality Studies. After graduating, Tomas worked as a bilingual interventionist for two years with The New York Foundling, using Functional Family Therapy (FFT) to manage a caseload of ten families. He is currently an extern at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, providing individual and group therapy to inpatients with Severe Mental Illness (SMI), as well as conducting psychological testing. His doctoral thesis focuses on the utility of psychedelic-assisted therapy in reducing death anxiety among terminally ill patients while incorporating indigenous perspectives for holistic healing.
Sarah Beatty
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Sarah Beatty (she/her) is a second-year doctoral student in the Ferkauf Adult Clinical PsyD program. She received her B.S. in Cognitive Brain Science from Tufts University in 2022. At Tufts, she was a research assistant in the Psycholinguistics and Linguistics Lab and completed her senior honors thesis on cross-modal compound word production. After graduating, Sarah worked as a clinical research coordinator running double-blind research studies examining the effects of different pharmacological treatments for major depressive disorder. Sarah is currently externing at Marymount Manhattan College. Her research interests include early life and young adult bereavement, and bereavement within nontraditional family structures.
Jonny Koralnik
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Jonny Koralnik is a second-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. He received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where he majored in Anthropology and Marketing and minored in Psychology. After graduating, he worked in the marketing department of a financial institution and volunteered at a crisis text line for work-related issues. He is currently externing at the Brooklyn College Personal Counseling Program. His research project explores the use of humor in existential psychotherapy.
Leah Salama
Leah Salama is a second-year doctoral student in the Ferkauf Clinical Psychology PsyD program. She received her BA from Northwestern University with a double major in Psychology and International Studies and minor in Global Health. She received her MSPH from Johns Hopkins University where she completed her practicum with the mental health program at HealthRight Uganda. Most recently, Leah worked at the Penn Collaborative for CBT and Implementation Science, where she coordinated a research study testing AI-based supervision tools for CBT in community mental health settings. Leah is currently externing at Zucker Hillside Hospital's Geropsychology track. Her research interests include immigrant mental health, substance use, and integrated care.
Rebecca Klein
Rebecca Klein is a first-year student in the Ferkauf Clinical Psychology Psy.D. program. She received her B.A. from Barnard College, where she majored in Psychology and minored in history. At Barnard, Rebecca worked as a research assistant in the Social Interaction Lab, served as a peer listener on Columbia’s crisis hotline, and helped people overcome speech-related anxiety as a Speaking Fellow. Her research interests broadly include non-death related grief, the role of humor as a coping mechanism, and the relationship between spirituality/religion and healing.
Helen Li
Helen Li is a first-year doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at Ferkauf. She
also holds a B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College. Her professional experience spans from clinical research, intervention, to international medical consultation. She is interested in psycho-oncology and the psychology of disease, with an emphasis on rare, chronic, and terminal illnesses. Helen is passionate about delivering appropriate palliative care from a cultural perspective, taking into consideration the different ways in which individuals and family units interpret the subject of death.
Helen hopes to develop treatment methods for cancer patients and family members,
incorporating neuropsychological factors that contribute to biological changes in the cancer
treatment process. The relationship between treatment effectiveness and psychological feedback may predict long-term stability of cancer survivors in both disease progression and emotional well-being. Additionally, Helen specializes in end-of-life treatment intervention from a holistic point of view; she is an advocate for discussions surrounding death prior to significant deterioration in patient condition, so that patients themselves as well as family members are prepared to face what is to come.
Leila Ojeda
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Leila Ojeda is a first-year doctoral student in the Ferkauf Clinical Psychology PsyD program. She received her B.A. from Queens College with a major in Psychology and a minor in Sociology, and her studies focused on Applied Behavioral Analysis. Upon graduation, Leila received her certification through the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) and worked as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) with children and young adults on the autism spectrum. From there, she went to John Jay College of Criminal Justice and received her M.A. in Forensic Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Victimology studies. Prior to beginning at Ferkauf, Leila externed at a psychosocial oncology program working with cancer patients and or their family members, and facilitated a cancer support group in Spanish. Her research interests include trauma, loss of identity, meaning-making, and grief.
Lab Alumni
Tara Agneshwar
Țara Agneshwar graduated from the Adult Clinical Psy.D program in 2024. Her dissertation focused on the use of religion and spirituality as a coping factor following bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tara has held clinical positions at the Yale New Haven Hospital Department of Neurology, New York Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health Center, and the National Institute for the Psychotherapies. Prior to attending Ferkauf, Tara received her Masters from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she worked as a research assistant in the Resilience Center for Veterans & Families helping post-911 OEF/OIF/OND Veterans transition to civilian life. Tara then completed her internship at the Syracuse VA Medical Center where she provided trauma-focused, general outpatient, and group therapy to individuals, couples, and Veterans with SMI. Tara’s research interests are the effects of religion and spirituality on trauma and bereavement, the manifestation of PTSD, and the grieving process.
Kevin Hardiman
Kevin Hardiman graduated from the Clinical Psychology Psy.D Program in 2024. He received his B.S. from Northwestern University, where his research explored cognitive bias in the appraisal of personal privacy. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, he worked as a researcher and consultant for the Gallup organization, where he specialized in survey research design and implementation. His clinical training includes dialectical behavioral therapy adapted for justice-involved veterans at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, clinical assessment of detainees for Correctional Health Services at Rikers Island, and outpatient neuropsychological assessment at Yale University Hospital System Department of Neurology. Kevin's research in the Grief, Loss, and Meaning Lab has explored how meaning and purpose in life relates to post-traumatic stress in veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury. He completed his clinical internship at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, and now continues his active duty service in the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps at Fort Belvoir.
Julia Kirsch graduated from the Adult Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program in 2024. Her dissertation focuses on grief rumination among people who have experienced a suicide loss. Julia has held clinical positions at Hunter College Counseling and Wellness Center, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, the Parnes Clinic, and Therapists of New York. In addition, she worked as a study interventionist at Memorial Sloan Kettering where she delivered Meaning-Centered Grief Therapy to bereaved parents. Julia completed her internship at the James J Peters VA Medical Center where she worked with individuals, couples, and groups, many of which have experienced combat and/or noncombat-related trauma. Julia’s research interests include bereavement, trauma, suicide, and how we find meaning in the midst of hardship. Before attending Ferkauf, Julia worked as a research assistant at Wesleyan University’s Reasoning and Decision Making Lab, where she wrote her thesis on indecisiveness and decision considerations.
Julia Kirsch
Rob Johnson
Rob T. Johnson graduated from the Clinical Psychology Psy.D program in 2024. Rob received their B.A. from Stanford University, where they majored in Human Biology with a concentration in Public Health and Systemic Poverty. During this time, Rob assisted with research into a novel public health intervention for Type 2 Diabetes, which emphasized autonomy and family relationships. Rob later completed the Post-Baccalaureate Program in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, assisting and designing social psychology research into the effects of emotions and inequality on social cognition. Rob has held clinical positions at Brooklyn College Personal Counseling, Manhattan Psychiatric Center, Zucker Hillside Hospital, and the Parnes Clinic. Rob's full-time psychology internship was completed at California State University, Monterey Bay, Personal Growth and Counseling Center. Rob’s research interests focus on how people change and grow, including corrective emotional experiences within psychotherapy and LGBTQ+ identity formation.
Elly Deutsch
Elly Deutsch graduated from the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program in 2025. He received his B.A. from Yeshiva University, where he majored in psychology. After completing his undergraduate studies, Elly studied at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) from which he has received Rabbinical ordination. As part of his studies at RIETS, Elly was awarded a certificate of completion of a joint-program between RIETS and the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, which trains aspiring Rabbis in areas of mental health including pastoral psychology and crisis, bereavement and marriage counseling. Elly has held clinical positions at Brooklyn College Personal Counseling, Pathways CBT Foundation, the Parnes Clinic, and Nassau University Medical Center. Elly completed his doctoral internship at Achieve Behavioral Health. Elly’s research has focused on the psychological value of the Orthodox Jewish bereavement rituals and practices, bridging the gap between the world of religion and the world of psychology.
Emma Ritter
Emma Ritter (she/her) graduated from the Ferkauf Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program in 2025. She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University. While at Wesleyan she worked as a research assistant in the Critical Health + Social Ecology (CH+SE) Lab, studying the intersection of social ecology, trauma, and health. Her honors thesis examined the influence of catastrophic climate events on mental health. Before beginning at Ferkauf, Emma worked as a case manager at STEPS to End Family Violence, serving as an advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence. She also participated in Avodah, a Jewish social justice fellowship that fosters a commitment to activism. Emma has held clinical positions at the Pace University Counseling Center, Manhattan Psychiatric Center, the Parnes Clinic, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). She also participated in clinical research at MSKCC as a study interventionist for therapeutic trials of a cognitive-behavioral approach for transplant survivors with PTSD and of a meaning-centered approach for bereaved parents who have lost children. Emma completed her internship at the Brooklyn Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital. Emma’s research interests include expanding the view of family in end-of-life and bereavement settings, which she explores through a social justice lens.
Lilly Scherban
