IncLab Team
Oliver Yimeng Xu is a third-year doctoral student in counseling psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. As a member of Inclab, he researches the epistemological assumptions foundational to whiteness and racial hierarchies and how they structure psychological research methods. His doctoral research focuses on Asian American mental health, specifically the unique challenges that second-generation Asian Americans face in relation to model minority imperatives. Oliver also currently serves as the Chair of the Asian American Psychological Association Division on Students. He previously worked as a biochemical researcher at Columbia University Medical Center and sought to enter a career in engineering before discovering his passion in psychology.
Outside of school, Oliver is a semi-professional ballroom dancer and a community leader in the post-collegiate ballroom dance scene in New York City.
Educational Background
Masters of Arts, Psychology in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2022
Masters of Science, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 2019
Bachelors of Science, Biomedical Sciences and Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, 2015
Oliver Yimeng Xu is a third-year doctoral student in counseling psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. As a member of Inclab, he researches the epistemological assumptions foundational to whiteness and racial hierarchies and how they structure psychological research methods. His doctoral research focuses on Asian American mental health, specifically the unique challenges that second-generation Asian Americans face in relation to model minority imperatives. Oliver also currently serves as the Chair of the Asian American Psychological Association Division on Students. He previously worked as a biochemical researcher at Columbia University Medical Center and sought to enter a career in engineering before discovering his passion in psychology.
Outside of school, Oliver is a semi-professional ballroom dancer and a community leader in the post-collegiate ballroom dance scene in New York City.
Educational Background
Masters of Arts, Psychology in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2022
Masters of Science, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 2019
Bachelors of Science, Biomedical Sciences and Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, 2015
Cindy Asencio Arroyo is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to pursuing her doctoral studies, she worked as a full-time bilingual mental health counselor in a community mental health care clinic in Brooklyn, NY. As a team member of IncLab: Critical Counseling Psychology Research for Social Inclusion, she researches the presence and impact of whiteness, as a sociopolitical force, in psychological research and practice. Cindy’s additional research interests include critical analysis of counseling practices, intersections of social class and psychotherapy, psychopolitical literacy development, and the impact of political, social, and economic forces in the counseling space.
Cindy is an avid non-fiction reader, hiker, tea connoisseur, Letterboxd member, and dessert enthusiast.
Educational Background
Masters of Education (Ed.M.), Mental Health Counseling w. Bilingual Latiné/x Mental Health Concentration, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2023
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Psychology, Swarthmore College, 2020
Cindy Asencio Arroyo is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to pursuing her doctoral studies, she worked as a full-time bilingual mental health counselor in a community mental health care clinic in Brooklyn, NY. As a team member of IncLab: Critical Counseling Psychology Research for Social Inclusion, she researches the presence and impact of whiteness, as a sociopolitical force, in psychological research and practice. Cindy’s additional research interests include critical analysis of counseling practices, intersections of social class and psychotherapy, psychopolitical literacy development, and the impact of political, social, and economic forces in the counseling space.
Cindy is an avid non-fiction reader, hiker, tea connoisseur, Letterboxd member, and dessert enthusiast.
Educational Background
Masters of Education (Ed.M.), Mental Health Counseling w. Bilingual Latiné/x Mental Health Concentration, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2023
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Psychology, Swarthmore College, 2020