Meet Our Faculty and Staff

Laura B. Kestemberg, and Laura L. Wood. Our courses are taught by highly-trained licensed mental health counselors and diverse faculty members with clinical experience in the mental health field. Our faculty commit themselves to making the graduates of our Clinical Mental Health Counseling program the most knowledgeable and best prepared professionals in the counseling field.

At Molloy, the faculty is committed to service learning, experiential learning and promoting a transformative experience. In our graduate program, courses are taught by highly trained and licensed mental health counselors. Our graduate counseling faculty understands the importance of the counselor professional identity and promotes the growth and development of each student as a professional counselor.

We emphasize the importance of scholarly excellence, compassionate understanding, and competent practice. We believe that an education should not stop with the granting of a degree, so we encourage the continued pursuit of knowledge, scholarly publication, and research as modes of increasing professional competence and contributing to the development of the mental health and counseling fields.

Laura B. Kestemberg is a bilingual Spanish-English NYS Licensed Psychologist with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and her Master's degree in Clinical and School Psychology from Adelphi University's Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies. She has post-doctoral training in neuropsychology. Dr. Kestemberg has worked in a variety of clinical, medical, research, and higher education settings for 30 years.

Photo of Laura Kestemberg She joined the faculty at Molloy College in 2012 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling, and has been the Chair, Associate Dean and Director of the Master of Science Program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Molloy College since its inception. She has been teaching counseling courses at Molloy College since 2012, at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

She served as the Clinical Director at the Center for Autism and Child Development at Molloy College from 2013-216. She won Molloy College's Research Achievement Award in 2015. Her research and clinical interests include stress reduction and mindfulness techniques, developmental and emotional disabilities and their effects on family members, multicultural counseling, parenting groups, and supervision and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students. She has presented at local and national conferences (ACES, NARACES, ACA, NYMHCA, APA) on the topics of mindfulness techniques for counseling students, the effects of group therapy on parenting stress, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. She maintains a part-time private practice providing individual and group psychotherapy and assessment services to children and adults. More...

Laura L. Wood graduated with her doctorate in Counseling and Counselor Education from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis and is a NYS Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Registered Drama Therapist-Board Certified Trainer. Additionally, she has her M.A. in Drama Therapy from New York University and is the current President of the North American Drama Therapy Association. Previously, Dr. Wood worked at an eating disorder treatment center as the Lead Therapist where she facilitated individual, group and family therapies. Her focus and research areas include the treatment of trauma and dissociation, eating disorders, attachment, grief and loss, and the use of drama therapy and creativity in counseling. Specifically, she is interested in how therapeutic theater can help individuals in eating disorder and addictions recovery (www.recoverythroughperformance.com). She has both lectured nationally and internationally and published in these areas. In 2015-16 she was awarded the Drama Therapy Fund Research grant and the Molloy College Student Faculty Recognition Award. In addition to teaching, Dr. Wood is also the Practicum and Internship Coordinator for the CMHC program and is passionate about working with students. Dr. Wood sees clients in private practice, supervises and consults nationally and internationally, and facilitates intensive healing retreats. In 2018 she will be giving the Key Note address at the New York Mental Health Counselors Association annual conference. More...

Tyce Nadrich is a NYS Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Nationally Certified Counselor. He received a MSEd. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from St. John's Photo of Tyce Nadrich University and his Ph.D. in Counseling from Montclair State University. He has worked predominantly with adolescents across a variety of settings, including inpatient hospitalization, partial hospitalization, outpatient, and within juvenile detention. He also currently operates a private practice. His research interests include understanding the experiences of racially ambiguous persons of color, the experiences of persons of color in academia, multicultural counseling competencies and best practices, and the prevalence and effects of microaggressions toward persons of color. More...

Adjunct Faculty

Maureen Grissom is a licensed psychologist who received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Notre Dame. She completed a two year fellowship in Pediatric Neuropsychology in the Department of Health Psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she remained as a faculty member until returning to Long Island. She is currently the Director of Behavioral Science, Research Coordinator and Director of Admissions for the Family Medicine Residency Program at Southside Hospital-Northwell. She is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra-Northwell. She has published numerous articles and book chapters in the fields of psychology and medicine. Dr. Grissom has presented nationally and internationally and enjoys working with undergraduate and graduate students as well as medical students and resident physicians. In 2015, she received a North Shore LIJ Health System Teacher of the Year award. Her areas of interest include children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families as well as physician wellness and communication skills. Dr. Grissom is proud to serve as adjunct faculty for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Molloy College.

Photo of Professor Candice Crawford Professor Candice Crawford is a graduate of New York University's Mental Health and Wellness Counseling program and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Counseling from Montclair State University. Professor Crawford is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of New York and has served as a bilingual counselor working with children, adolescents, and their families. Also, she has served as a clinical supervisor in an outpatient substance abuse facility. Her research interests include multicultural competence in counseling and supervision, cross-racial supervision, and social justice advocacy. Currently, Professor Crawford is involved in numerous research projects and has presented at regional and national conferences. She is actively involved in her CSI chapter as President-Elect and was recently chosen as one of the 2017-2018 CSI Leadership Fellows and as one of the 2016 NARACES Emerging Leaders.

Christopher Fisher is a Postdoctoral Clinical Psychology Fellow at South Nassau Communities Hospital pursuing his NYS License in Clinical Psychology. He earned his Psy.D. and M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University, and additionally earned a Masters of Science in Education Degree (MS.Ed.) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from St. John's University. He specialized his studies and training in Long-Term Mental Illness (LTMI). He has worked predominantly with adults diagnosed with a broad range of DSM 5 disorders, including Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, PTSD and Personality Disorders. He has worked in several clinical settings including inpatient hospitalization, partial hospitalization, and outpatient settings at well-regarded hospitals in the New York area including Mount Sinai St. Luke's and West Hospitals, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and Queens Hospital Center.Dr. Fisher has received a wealth of training in providing individual therapy, group therapy, and couples and family therapy.

His research interests include race and aggression and their impact in psychotherapy, and implicit and explicit bias and their effects on diagnostic decision-making of clinicians when working with minorities. He has presented posters and served on several panels and symposiums at both national and international conferences.

Dr. Fisher is honored to be a member of Molloy College's Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program as an adjunct professor.

Jonathan Procter is a NYS Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), National Certified Counselor (NCC), and an Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS). He received his Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from Ohio University and his Master's Degree in Behavior Analysis from Swansea University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Procter has worked extensively with in-patient forensics crisis intervention populations, out-patient community mental health, and has served as the Clinical Director at a university in Southeast Texas. Most recently, he opened a small private practice in Rockville Centre, NY. His research interests include multicultural counseling competency development in counselor trainees, psychiatric rehabilitation, Relational Frame Theory (RFT) as it applies to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and research across the lifespan for members identifying with the LGBT communities. As a Counselor Educator, he is dedicated to mentoring and developing a student's professional identity as a Counselor. As such, students are regularly included in current research and state and national presentations. Dr. Procter remains active within the American Counseling Association (ACA) and subdivisions including: the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling (ALGBTIC), the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW), the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselor (IAMFC), and the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA). He teaches the course on career counseling to our Molloy CMHC students.

Emma Giordano is a first year counselor-in-training at Molloy and is currently a graduate assistant for the CMHC program. She was an intern for the National Eating Disorders Association and often creates presentations to speak to local students and teens about mental health awareness. After graduation, Emma hopes to work with adolescents and young adults with depression/eating disorders and has dreams to open her own private practice.

Angelica Terepka, Psy.D.
New York Presbyterian/Columbia University
New York Cognitive Therapy and Wellness Center

Dr. Terepka is a NYS licensed clinical psychologist trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy, trauma focused CBT, and acceptance and commitment therapy. She specializes in working with diverse populations, particularly with LGBTQIA+ and religious populations, and received the NYS Psychological Association Diversity Award for both her clinical and research contributions to the field of therapy. Dr. Terepka has specialized training in providing therapy to young adults and has held appointments at several university counseling centers where she developed and facilitated numerous workshops and therapy group focused on LGBTQIA+ support. She currently works as a psychologist for a hospital where she provides individual and group therapy to teens and young adults and their families; she also sees clients in private practice. In addition, Dr. Terepka is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology at Columbia University Medical Center, and maintains adjunct faculty appointments in Fordham University's Graduate School of Education Counseling Psychology program, Long Island University's Counseling and School Psychology program, and Molloy College Mental Health Counseling Program.

Photo of Theresa N. Eaves Theresa Eaves is the Administrative Assistant to the CMHC department and works to support both faculty and students alike.

Theresa N. Eaves
Administrative Assistant
CMHC Department
teaves@molloy.edu
516.323.3844

Dani Bryant is a third year Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate student, and is a Graduate Assistant for the CMHC Department. Outside of the classroom, Dani follows her passion and works as a theater maker, playwright, and arts educator. She also specializes in devised theater, and the creation of new work on the topics of gender parity and body positivity. After graduation, Dani hopes to work as a group counselor and registered Drama Therapist.