Frontiers in Psychology, a joint program between the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology and Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women, is Ferkauf’s effort to enlist and educate the next generation of forward-looking psychologists and therapists. The program is coordinated by Michael Gill, assistant dean of Ferkauf, and Meirah Shedlo, academic advisor and special projects manager at Stern College. As Gill pointed out, this initiative “directly helps the psychology students understand the various areas and opportunities available in psychology at the graduate level,” and Shedlo noted that because the program “allows our students to discover a range of topics within psychology guided by stellar faculty and research scholars,” the program has garnered “great positive feedback from our undergraduates.” (More on that below.) Frontiers offers six sessions designed to prep the undergraduates for later graduate-level study in psychology.

• Dr. Leslie F. Halpern, dean of Ferkauf, and Director of Admissions Edna Augusta– “Overview of Graduate School in Psychology”
• Dr. Kenneth Critchfield, Program Director, Clinical Psychology PsyD - “Love and Psychotherapy ”
• Dr. Melanie Wadkins, Program Director, School-Clinical Child Psychology PsyD – “An Introduction to Exposure Therapy for Anxiety”
• Dr. Jon Feldman, Program Director, Clinical PhD (Health Emphasis) – “An Introduction to Clinical Health Psychology: How Clinical psychologists Can Help Patients with Asthma”
• Dr. Lindsdale Graham, Clinical Assistant Professor, Mental Health Counseling MA – “Culturally Responsive Counseling”
• Dr. William Salton, Program Director, Marriage and Family Therapy MS “Working with Asylum Seekers – the Arrival of the Fittest”

Dr. Halpern noted that the important takeaway from the Frontiers program is that “students learn about our graduate programs directly from Ferkauf’s program directors and faculty and have a chance to ask the questions that are most relevant to their individual academic and professional goals,” an outcome that Dr. Karen Bacon, the Mordecai D. Katz and Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean Undergraduate Arts and Sciences, feels is most crucial to the mission of the University: “We often speak about ‘One Yeshiva University,’ and the Frontiers Program is a representative of this approach of bringing together the strengths of all our units and our affiliates in the service of educating students and creating new knowledge.” YU News caught with several of the students in the program to talk about the value of the program to them.

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Abby Goldberg ’23S Major(s): Psychology and biology  So far, my experience with the Frontier’s program has been incredible. I have had the unique opportunity to step foot onto the Ferkauf Graduate school campus and engage in meaningful discussions with professors regarding various topics in psychology. It is a true privilege to be exposed to so many experts in the field and be able to learn from each and every one of them. I know that this program is already allowing me to gain crucial insights about psychology and will help me chart my future studying the discipline!

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Yuval Surpin ’23S Major(s): Psychology, neuroscience track As a psychology student who holds the goal of continuing to graduate school for psychology and to work in the field, the Frontiers in Psychology program seemed to be a perfect match for me. I appreciate the time and the opportunity given to me to learn from a variety of professionals and influencers in the field of psychology. I enjoy hearing from them and expanding my knowledge on their work. I am also excited to hear their takes on what the future holds and to heed their advice for the direction of the field. Furthermore, I am happy to be able to share this experience with other students who hold similar interests as me as we work together to shape the future of psychology.

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Josh Segal ’22YC Major(s): Psychology I chose to participate in the Frontiers in Psychology program to gain a better understanding of what graduate school would look like for psychology. By participating in the program, you are exposed to an array of professors discussing the process of applications, acceptance and the subjects that are taught in the school. It allows you to learn in depth about the field, providing a glimpse into what potential courses would entail. As a student majoring in psychology, I joined the program to garner a better understanding of what I want to do within the field and what that process would look like. It is an incredible experience to have as an undergraduate.

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Samuel Cohen ’23YC Major(s): Psychology Being a part of this program has been a very rewarding aspect of my education at Yeshiva University. As someone who would like to be a psychologist one day, being a part of a program that enables me to learn more about different fields within mental health has been very enlightening. I love that I’m able to expose myself to topics that aren’t covered in my undergraduate psychology classes. I particularly  enjoyed learning from Dr. Critchfield about Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy and discussing what the world would look like if it was more widely practiced.

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Edan Friedman ’23YC Major(s): Psychology This program is very helpful because it exposes me to new fields in psychology, such as new forms of psychotherapy and child psychology.

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Abigail Minkove ’23S Major(s): Major The Frontier in Psychology has been an eye-opening and informative experience in the different fields of psychology. I have really enjoyed getting to know the faculty teaching at Ferkauf and their breadth of knowledge in their specialized fields as well as the various other fields of study. I chose to take this course because I was intrigued by the opportunity to learn from many different psychologists with experience and knowledge in their respective fields. I was also interested in exploring a variety of fields of psychology, and I believe that the Frontier Program provides a glimpse into various methods of practicing psychology. I hope that this program will help me further explore different paths in psychology and pique my interest in the varying fields by helping me narrow my focus to a particular interest. The Program also provides me with resources and connections to reach out with questions or discuss more information with the welcoming faculty. The few classes that we have explored so far have been really interesting, and I look forward to learning more and continuing to expand my knowledge of psychology.

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Yonatan Ganchrow ’24YC Major(s): Psychology I chose to take Frontiers in Psychology because I have a strong interest in the field of mental health, but I am still unsure about which specific domain I want to work in. Frontiers gives me the opportunity to hear from many different professors at the forefront of their respective specialties in psychology and to learn about all of the latest developments in the field. I have gained a lot so far and look forward to learning more.