Cognition & Affective Disorders Lab
Lab Director: Dr. Leanne Quigley
Dr. Leanne Quigley is an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program in the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. She completed a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Calgary in Calgary, Canada and a clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada.
Dr. Quigley’s research focuses on the interplay between cognitive and emotional factors in the etiology and treatment of emotional disorders, particularly depression and anxiety. She has studied biases in cognitive processes, such as executive functioning and attention, in depressed and remitted depressed populations. Some of her other projects have focused on emotion regulation and avoidance in depression, psychometric evaluation of measures of cognitive vulnerability factors, and cognitive mediation of treatment response in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression. Dr. Quigley teaches Statistics, Data Analysis, and Cognitive Therapy in the Ferkauf Clinical PsyD program. Click here to view Dr. Quigley's faculty page.
Caroline Capute
Caroline is a fifth-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program and a current Psychology Intern at the Atlanta VA Medical Center in Atlanta, GA. As the lab’s research assistant, she assists in study administration and oversees assessment training for new students entering the lab. Caroline graduated with a B.A. in Religious Studies from Williams College. Her honors thesis explored gender and sexuality in Jonestown and the Peoples Temple. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Caroline worked at a small PR firm, assisting media and tech companies with their public messaging. She is currently working with Dr. Quigley on a study that examines how difficulties with cognitive control may increase an individual’s vulnerability to depression. Independently, Caroline's dissertation examines the effects of attachment style on support-seeking and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Email: ccapute@mail.yu.edu
_JPG.jpg)
Stephanie La Gamma
Stephanie is a fifth-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program. She earned her B.S. in Psychology from Fordham University and her M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including outpatient alternative to incarceration programs, acute inpatient, and state forensic hospitals. Her dissertation examined the influence of adverse childhood experiences on cognitive control in depressed adults. Stephanie's research and clinical interests include trauma-informed treatment as well as violence risk assessment and management of adults involved in the criminal justice system. She is currently on internship at NYU-Bellevue Hospital Center.
Email: ssimeone@mail.yu.edu
Sarah Horne
Sarah is a fourth-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Harvard University, where she worked in the McNally Laboratory studying anxiety disorders and depression. Her undergraduate thesis examined the effects of affective expectations on experience in individuals varying in anhedonia. Sarah’s research at Ferkauf has centered around understanding the relationship between depression and motivation. For her Research Project I, Sarah conducted a systematic review of the willingness to expend cognitive versus physical effort for rewards in anhedonic and depressed individuals. She is currently working on her Research Project II, in which she is testing the effectiveness of an affective forecasting manipulation to increase the willingness to expend cognitive effort in depressed and anhedonic individuals. Her primary research interests include depression, anhedonia, affective forecasting, motivation, and reward learning. Email: shorne1@mail.yu.edu
Hannah Samson
Hannah is a fourth-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program. She earned a B.A. in Psychology/Neuroscience from Yale University and a M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She was an undergraduate research assistant at the Yale Child Study Center wherein she explored the biological-basis of autism spectrum disorder using EEGs. Hannah also was a research assistant in Yale’s OCD Research Clinic at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. She studied OCD using neurofeedback technology and fMRIs. At John Jay, she explored the construct of “successful psychopathy” in police officers through a longitudinal study. Hannah’s clinical interests center around forensic neuropsychology, while her research interests include cognitive inflexibility and executive functioning more broadly.
Email: hsamson@mail.yu.edu
Courtney Townsend
Courtney is a fourth-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. She earned her B.A. in Philosophy and Slavic Studies from Connecticut College and her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from The New School for Social Research. Prior to starting at Ferkauf, Courtney worked as a research assistant at the Substance Use Research Center of New York State Psychiatric Institute. She is currently an extern at New York Presbyterian-Westchester Behavioral Health's Substance Use Recovery Unit and the Database Coordinator for the Clinical PsyD program. Her research and clinical interests include the functions of substance use, identity continuity, and mood disorders. Email: ctownse1@mail.yu.edu
Kaitlin Levin
Kaitlin is a third-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. She earned a B.A. in psychology and religious studies from Northwestern University before completing a master's degree in social psychology at Arizona State University. Prior to attending Ferkauf, Kaitlin spent several years working as a trial consultant for a Chicago-based litigation strategy firm. She is currently externing at New York Presbyterian’s Women’s Inpatient Unit. Her primary clinical interests include women's mental health with a focus on reproductive psychology specifically perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Her research focuses on the role of metacognition in the etiology, maintenance, and escalation of depersonalization disorder. Email: klevin@mail.yu.edu
Aryeh Schwartz
Aryeh is a fourth-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program. He earned a B.A in Psychology with a minor in Marketing Management from Touro College. Prior to his doctoral training at Ferkauf, Aryeh worked as a research assistant at the Emotion Regulation Lab at Hunter College, where he helped conduct experiments investigating emotion regulation, anxiety, and attention bias. His first and second doctoral clinical placements were at the Brooklyn College Personal Counseling Center and The Manhattan Psychiatric Center. This year, Aryeh is an extern at The Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy & Research, a private practice focusing on the treatment of OCD, anxiety related disorders, and eating disorders. He also provides therapy at Ferkauf’s Parnes Clinic, gaining experience in both CBT and psychodynamic modalities. Aryeh’s clinical interests center around psychotherapy integration and providing psychoeducation and treatment to underserved populations. His research interests include the cognitive mechanisms of depression, particularly the deficits in autobiographical memory and future thinking present in mood disorders, which was the focus of his Research Project I. His Research Project II is an extension of this literature, and will investigate the association between autobiographical memory, future thinking, and depression. Email: aschwar9@mail.yu.edu
Chloe Hirschowitz
Chloe is a third-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. She earned a B.A. in psychology from Hunter College while volunteering for a research study exploring PTSD in World Trade Center first-responders. Prior to attending Ferkauf, Chloe worked at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center investigating topics ranging from childhood trauma to sexually transmitted infections in minoritized teens and young adults. She also spent some time volunteering as an emergency room advocate for sexual assault and intimate partner violence survivors. Chloe is currently externing at Brooklyn College Personal Counseling Program. Her clinical and research interests include anxiety, depression, PTSD, and sexual wellbeing in adolescents and young adults. Email: chirscho@mail.yu.edu
Wendy Woods
Wendy Woods is a second year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Cornell University and she received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. Wendy has worked in the Social Psychology Lab at Cornell University studying implicit biases, and she did research in the Spirituality and Psychology Lab at Columbia University studying measures of belonging and ways to implement holistic teaching in elementary schools. Her master's thesis focused on reviewing measures of spirituality in the clinical setting. She is currently working on her Research Project I, where she is examining the literature to make meaning of spiritual concepts through a cognitive lens. She is particularly interested in connecting concepts like law of attraction and gratitude to interpretation biases, and examining how those biases are influenced by depression. She hopes to further investigate some of these connections in her Research Project II. Email: wwoods@mail.yu.edu
Blake Katz
Blake is a second-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. She earned her B.S. in Psychology from Tulane University. Prior to her graduate school studies, she worked in Copenhagen’s Futurization of Thinking and Behavior lab, which focuses on the personal and global futures of college students living in the United States, Denmark, and China. She is currently externing at the College of Staten Island Counseling Center, and her clinical and research interests include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and third-wave cognitive behavioral therapies. Email: bkatz8@mail.yu.edu
Jack Mangini
Jack is a second-year student in the Clinical Psychology PsyD program. Jack graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from McGill University. His undergraduate thesis focused on the role that empathic accuracy plays in perceived social support. Before coming to Ferkauf, Jack worked at the Institute for Child Development at SUNY Binghamton where he taught children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He is currently working with Dr. Quigley on a systematic review that examines the role of social support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Email: jmangin1@mail.yu.edu
Chayim Rosensweig
Chayim is a second-year student in the Clinical Psychology Psy.D Program. He earned his B.A. in Psychology at Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University. Prior to his graduate training at Ferkauf, Chayim worked as a Sr. Research Assistant at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and at the James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is currently a pre-doctoral extern at the Pace University Counseling Center. Chayim’s primary research interests include identity and psychopathology, depression, anxiety, suicide, and community psychology. Email: Chayim.rosensweig@mail.yu.edu
Eli Silverman-Lloyd
Eli is the lab's research coordinator. He earned his B.S. in Psychology from Oberlin College prior to joining the lab. Eli was a research assistant the Rhode Island Hospital working on a NIH-funded study testing a dyadic web-based dating violence intervention program that teaches healthy dating relationships, emotion regulation, and communication skills for middle-school boys. Contact Eli for any questions about the research study or the lab: eli.silvermanlloyd@yu.edu