Aaron Frazier
Aaron is a second-year Psychology Master’s student whose clinical interests broadly lie at the intersections of trauma, substance use disorders, depression, and anxiety. His research interests include using natural language processing and psychophysiology to detect differences in psychobiological correlates of such presentations, and how the auditory system may be leveraged to alleviate symptoms related to them. He is also interested in coactivation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and how it may be implicated in the effective processing of emotional experiences. Aaron became certified as a Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP-A) while working at Fairfax Detoxification Center in Chantilly, VA. His experience working at Detox informed his decision to pursue a Concentration in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling at the New School. In his spare time, he plays bass guitar and hangs out with his pet ball python, Sprinkles.
Stephen Kirsch
Stephen is a second-year Master’s student interested in the impact of trauma on emotion and its physiological expressions. His current research examines the manners in which complex trauma disrupts and dislocates the physiological processes of emotion, including the difficulties in identifying and describing emotional experiences. Additionally, Stephen is exploring the process through which the boundary between self and other dissolves for individuals with low interoceptive awareness, specifically exploring whether fear accelerates this process. Stephen graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his research focused on the social economy of male bodies. Outside of the lab, Stephen enjoys the occasional casual-turn-serious spikeball match, and he’ll never turn down a game of hearts or cribbage.
Anna Sanford
Anna is a second-year clinical psychology masters student interested in understanding how experience is inscribed in unconscious communication and autonomic responses. The patterns of language and the specificities of word choice yield insight into the internal structures that hold memory, shame, and faculties of emotional regulation. How do these structures form and shift in the event of trauma, and how is their formation reflected in language? Other interests include the impact of childhood trauma on development, specifically complex trauma as a precursor to attention deficits and hyperactivity in children. In addition to academic work, Anna is an educator at Teaching Brooklyn, leading social skills groups for elementary school and middle school students with neuro-developmental disorders. Anna has a very lively basset hound mix, Yarrow. You can catch them going for early morning walks in Brooklyn.
Jared Fel
Jared Fel is a first-year Psychology MA student at NSSR currently on the Substance Use and Mental Health track. While in the early stages of his research journey in the lab, Jared brings a neuroscience-focused research background from his undergraduate studies and hopes to merge this foundation with his profound interest in trauma to investigate dissociative PTSD. You can find some of his previous contributions to the field in published works, such as this article from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Outside of the lab, Jared enjoys experimenting with new cooking techniques, playing board games, struggling to complete the latest crossword, and embarking on scenic hikes.