DBT-RU Student Clinicians

Jayati Bist (she/her): Jayati Bist is a second-year clinical Psy.D. student at GSAPP. She completed her M.A. from Boston University and B.A. from St. Xavier’s College, India. She has prior experience working as clinical research at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and a graduate assistant at Center for Anxiety and Related Disorder. Her research interests include transdiagnostic cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying anxiety and mood disorder as well as development of culturally adaptive evidence-based interventions.

Alejandra Sanchez-Sarmiento (she/her): Alejandra Sanchez-Sarmiento is a second-year clinical Psy.D. student at GSAPP. She received her B.H.S. and B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida and completed the Post-Baccalaureate Clinical Fellowship at McLean Hospital’s 3East DBT Partial Hospital Program. Previously a clinician at Rutgers’ Counseling, Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program & Psychiatric Services (CAPS), Ale now works at DBT-RU. Her research and clinical interests include suicide and self-harm, BPD, emotion dysregulation, and DBT implementation in Hispanic and Latino communities.

Kelly Shah (she/her): Kelly Shah is a third-year clinical Psy.D student at GSAPP. She received her B.A. in Economics from Lehigh University and found her way to the clinical field while working at a mental-health startup. At Rutgers, Kelly is focused on becoming a skillful and effective clinician. In addition to her training in the DBT Clinic, Kelly will continue to treat children, adolescents, and adults at the Rutgers Anxiety Disorders Clinic for a second year. She has also treated college students with anxiety and depression at Rutgers CAPs.  Her interests are wide and include emotion dysregulation, trauma, and treatment of religious populations.

Thanharat (Poojah) Silamongkol is a fourth-year clinical Psy.D. student at GSAPP who is serving as an advanced practicum student and peer supervisor for DBT-RU. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Macalester College in 2018. She is currently completing her practicum at the NYU Child Study Center using DBT, GB-CBT and other modalities with adolescents and children. Her prior clinical experiences include working as a clinician at DBTRU, GSAPP's Center for Psychological Services, and Rutgers’ Counseling, Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program & Psychiatric Services. Prior to coming to GSAPP, she worked as a research coordinator at the Research in Adolescent Depression Lab at the University of Minnesota. Her clinical and research interests include suicide, self-harm, emotion regulation, and attachment in adolescents.

May Stern (she/her): May Stern is a second-year clinical Psy.D. student at GSAPP. After receiving her B.A. from Brown University, she worked at the Renfrew Center Eating Disorder Clinic in Philadelphia as a behavioral health counselor and as a research assistant at CHOP’s Eating Disorder Research Program. She also worked at Stanford University’s Eating Disorder Program for two years as a research coordinator, investigating the etiology of and novel interventions for eating pathology. May’s prior clinical experiences include Rutgers’ Counseling, Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program & Psychiatric Services (CAPS). Her clinical and research interests include eating pathology, emotion dysregulation, self-harm, and self-efficacy.