Psychology

This comprehensive program prepares you for a diverse range of roles in mental and physical health, education, business, and engineering. With a curriculum that includes courses on psychological disorders, addictions, health psychology, and clinical counseling, this degree is particularly relevant for addressing the complex mental health challenges in a post-pandemic world.

Expand your academic horizons by opting for a second major that complements your psychology studies. A double major in Psychology and Criminal Justice has been especially popular among our students, largely due to intriguing elective courses like Criminal Profiling and Forensic Psychology, which offer a multidisciplinary approach to understanding human behavior.

Open to all majors, this minor gears you up for a career as a certified child life specialist. The curriculum focuses on child development and psychology, preparing you to support children and families in healthcare. After completing the minor and recommended General Education courses, you will have all of the courses you need to continue on the path toward certification.

Child Life Minor Requirements

Ideal for majors like nursing, education, and biology, this minor provides a foundational grasp of psychology. It's designed to enhance your understanding of human behavior, making it valuable for careers requiring strong interpersonal skills.

Psychology Minor Requirements

Through the Office of Experiential Learning and the Department of Psychology fieldwork supervisor you can pursue internship opportunities in education, business, research and healthcare settings. The fieldwork supervisor meets with you to help find an internship that provides valuable experience for your personal career interests.

Many students are active in our Psychology Club and bring speakers and related events to campus while engaging with fellow classmates.

Psi Chi is the International Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology. Membership is open to graduate and undergraduate men and women who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests, and who meet the minimum qualifications. If you meet the necessary application requirements you will be invited to join the Psi Chi Honor Society.

PSI CHI Application requirements

• The Psi Chi Constitution requires that undergraduate student applicants to Psi Chi:
• Must be enrolled as a student at Molloy University
• Must have established a GPA at Molloy University
• Must be at least a second-semester sophomore
• Must be enrolled as a major or minor in the psychology program
• Must have completed at least 9 semester hours of psychology courses
• Must have an overall GPA that is at least 3.40 on a 4-point scale

* Undergraduate transfer students who wish to join must complete at least 12 semester hours at Molloy University

Please visit psichi.org for information about this honor society

Cheryl Camenzuli, Ph.D.

Professor
Department of Psychology
ccamenzuli@molloy.edu
(516)-323-3841

Areas of Specialization: Visual Development, Perception, Biological Psychology and Developmental Psychology

Dr. Cheryl Camenzuli earned a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Fordham University. She completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship awarded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Infant Visual Development. Dr. Camenzuli has a number of publications in infant vision and perception. As director of the Siena Women’s Center, Dr. Camenzuli received a number of grants supporting the Young Women’s Leadership Initiative, Gender Equity Education, a Domestic Violence Educational Initiative, and the development of an undergraduate leadership training course with an emphasis on family empowerment. Prior to teaching at Molloy Dr. Camenzuli taught at Fordham University and Hofstra University.

Melissa Gebbia, Ph.D.

Professor
Department of Psychology
mgebbia@molloy.edu
(516)-323-3848

Areas of Specialization: Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Academic Self-Regulation, Research Methods in Psychological Science, Application of Cognition to Education

Dr. Gebbia earned a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.  Prior to her current position on the faculty at Molloy University, Dr. Gebbia taught at Hofstra University, Baruch College, and consulted for a variety of organizations and nonprofits as an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist.  Dr. Gebbia has published articles in the areas of Assessment, Relational Aggression, and co-authored a chapter on learner developmental outcomes and intellectual styles for The Handbook on Intellectual Styles. Dr. Gebbia teaches Research Methods, Psychological Assessment, General Psychology, Organizational Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology. The goal of her research is to improve self-regulatory skills through direct instruction.  Dr. Gebbia conducts research on pedagogical approaches that contribute to Academic Self-Regulation and enhancing academic performance through motivation and learning strategies. 

Jennifer Elliott, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
jelliott@molloy.edu
(516)-323-3847

Areas of Specialization: Clinical psychology, Health Psychology, Psychopathology, Addiction, Interventions, Psychological Research

Jennifer Elliott has a PhD in clinical psychology from Syracuse University and is a NY state licensed psychologist. Prior to coming to Molloy, she was an Assistant Professor at Columbia University's Department of Psychiatry and a Research Scientist at New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), where she had NIH funding for addiction research. She is now an Assistant Professor in the Psychology department at Molloy University, where she teaches students about topics like Abnormal Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Health Psychology, and research, and runs an undergraduate research lab.  

Jaime Vitrano, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
jvitrano@molloy.edu
(516)-323-3846

Areas of Specialization: Child Development, Adolescent Development, Life-span Development, Categorization, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Disabilities and Neurodiversity, Undergraduate Research. 

Dr. Vitrano earned a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the Graduate Center of The City University of New York, and a B.A. in Psychology from Boston University. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Psychology Department at Molloy University, and teaches courses such as General Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Exceptional Child, and Senior Seminar. Her research interests include how and when children with autism understand object categories, and college readiness of neurodiverse populations.  

Kimberly Johnson

Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
kjohnson4@molloy.edu
(516)-323-3845

Areas of Specialization: Educational Psychology, School Psychology

Kimberly Johnson began as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Molloy University in Fall 2023. Kimberly is a doctoral candidate in the field of educational psychology at Regent University and is a licensed clinician in the state of New Jersey. Kimberly completed her graduate studies at Syracuse University and undergraduate studies at SUNY Stony Brook. Kimberly’s research interests are generational trauma, first-generation college students and their mental health.

Charles Callahan, Mary T. Fitzpatrick, Mary Ann O'Donoghue, Andrea Spata, Carol Guarcello

Daniel Calderone, Christian J. Lynch

Max Benezra, Annmarie DiFrancesca, Frank Dwyer, Talita Ferrara, Lauren Loyal, Lori McAndrew, Marie Mues, Steve Perino, Joshua Schwartz