Current Graduate Students
Ally Zikic
I am a sixth-year doctoral candidate in the experimental psychology program. Broadly, I am interested in understanding affective social competence in the friendships of adolescents and young adults. In my research, I aim to understand the concept of empathic accuracy – individuals’ ability to accurately infer others’ emotions. Thus far, most empathic accuracy research has focused primarily on the role of the individual who is responsible for reading and understanding their friend’s emotions. My work aims to draw attention to the role of the individual who is expressing and communicating their own emotions to their friend. More specifically, I am interested in examining the role of expressive accuracy – individuals’ ability to accurately express their emotions. Taken together, my work aims to shed light on the importance of the roles of both friends in conversations that involve affective communication. I am also interested in examining age-related differences in these skills from adolescence to young adulthood. In addition to my main line of research, I have conducted some work examining linguistic elements that are associated with perceptions of support during supportive interactions. I am also working on a theoretical review discussing the social cognitions involved in navigating important tasks of friendship, including instrumental and emotional support.
Katya Santucci
I am a sixth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at McGill University. My dissertation is focused on advancing understanding of friendship maintenance and dissolution in young adulthood. Specifically, I am interested in examining the role that interpersonal cognition and internalizing symptoms play in shaping friendship outcomes. I am also interested in using our research findings to develop and inform interventions that aim to help young adults maintain and strengthen their friendships. Clinically, I am interested in working with youth and young adults in crisis. I am completing a half-time internship with the Teenage Health Unit at the Jewish General Hospital.
Anik Setti
I am a fourth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at McGill University. I am interested in how youth regulate their emotions, either with or without help, and how greater skill at regulating emotions can help them navigate their relationships with peers.
I currently have two more specific research questions. The first asks how emotion regulation influences might help teens better express their feelings to a friend. The second takes a more longitudinal approach and asks how positive and negative interactions with friends over time can impact the development of emotion dysregulation. Clinically, I am interested in working with children, adolescents, and their parents or teachers to promote social competence.
Nour Haddad
I am a fourth-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at McGill University. My doctoral research broadly focuses on the impact of daily interactions with peers on adolescents’ well-being. More specifically, my current research project uses a daily-diary design to examine whether adolescents’ everyday positive and negative interactions with best friends and siblings are associated with their experiences of loneliness. I am also interested in examining whether reciprocal relations between these interactions and loneliness exist over time. Clinically, I am particularly interested in the treatment of internalizing disorders in older adolescents and young adults. I am currently doing a practicum at the MUHC Centre for CBT Research, Training and Intervention.
Jordan Pumphrey
I am a second-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at McGill University. I am currently interested in exploring how the associations between adolescents’ emotional communication skills and their friendship functioning and quality may be impacted by symptoms of depression. In my undergraduate and master’s work, I examined social cognition and wellbeing in an adult health population. I am excited to continue exploring these important concepts in my doctoral work while expanding my research to adolescent populations. Clinically, I am broadly interested in health psychology interventions and the support of family structures and social networks in the context of chronic health challenges.
Lauren Nordstrom
I am a first-year master's student in the Experimental Psychology program at McGill University. During my undergraduate studies at McGill University, I examined how facial expressions and semantic context contribute to accurate emotion communication, and whether the influence of these cues differs across positive and negative contexts. My graduate research builds on this work by expanding the focus to consider how personal experiences may also shape emotional communication and perception. My current work examines the relationship between relatability and empathic accuracy, investigating whether the extent to which individuals relate to others' experiences influences their ability to accurately perceive emotions when discussing positive and negative autobiographical events.
Ultimately, my research aims to advance our understanding of how life experiences shape emotional communication and interpersonal understanding and how these processes may contribute to the development and maintenance of friendships.
Alumni
Post-Doctoral Fellows
Doctoral Students
Drs. Morningstar, Cuttini, Kirmayer, and Dirks
Dr. Laura Cuttini
Dr. Michele Morningstar
Dr. Miriam Kirmayer
Dr. Thomas Khullar
Dr. Nicole Dryburgh
Dr. Alison Farrell-Reeves
Dr. Erin Macdonald
Dr. Allison MacNeil
Dr. John Cyfko
Undergraduate Students
Carla Castillo
Skylar Armstrong
Katya Santucci
Melissa Vitagliano
Jessica Cohen
Angela Brett
Jessica Burdo
Thyna Catamaran
Emily Todorov
Kaitlyn Axelrod
Lara Feldman
Olivia Petric
Shannen Ciricillo
Vanessa Scarapicchia
Todd Chan
Julia Boggia
Gillian McGovern
Leandra Desjardins
Ariane Desmarais
Marilyn Ahun
Finn Brennan-Kipp
Ariane Desmarais
Marlee Brownstein
Meagan Forest-Dionne
Julia Aboud
Sydney Turk
Sally Cuthbertson
Jaymee Fowler
Chloe Levesque
Jingfei Wang
Maria Leis
Jean-Philippe Gagne
Saskia Ferrar
Verity Le
Erinn Acland
Katrina Kairys
Nicholas Ostapchuk
Kimberly Dossett
Elizabeth Shum
Alyssa Wiseman
Emma Malcomber
Chaitali Desai
Katerina Giannoumis
Laura Bensimon
Jack Mangini
Emma Ponath
Stephanie Rajabi
Nathalie Cooke
Natalie Klein
Charlotte Ebsary
Christina Robillaird
Irene Giannis
Serena Romanelli
Maria Alcaraz
Catherine Archambault
Jade Pelletier Brochu
Addison Mott
Shiming Huang
Joshua Jackson
Megan Alton
Laura Bellhouse
Ciara Briscoe
Kathleen Charles
Bailey Bird
Ella Vezina
Fiona Mant