Assistant Professor
Biography
Nisha received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Duquesne University, and her B.A. and M.A. in psychology and mental health counseling from New York University. Alongside her training as a psychotherapist, she experiments with integrating liberation psychology, hermeneutic phenomenological research, and the media arts to create therapeutic interventions for personal and sociocultural healing. She developed a "cinematic-phenomenological research method" that disseminates phenomenological research to the mainstream public in the format of short films to evoke empathy, compassion and solidarity. She is the founder of the Phenomenological Film Collective (PFCollective), a filmmaking-research group which utilizes cinematic-phenomenological research to produce social advocacy films. Her projects as a researcher, artist, psychotherapist, and educator seek to disrupt cultures of silence, evoke empathy and compassion, initiate dialogue, and build solidarity across difference. Prior to her career in psychology, she worked in the advertising industry in NYC for Saatchi & Saatchi NY and BBDO Worldwide, helping to produce TV commercials.
Education / Degrees
- B.S., Psychology and Communications, New York University, 2006
- MA, Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness, New York University, 2012
- Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Duquesne University, 2018