Peer mentoring group hosts game show, builds connections within Psychology Department

January 11, 2022 (Volume 45, Number 9)

10 people standing behind podium and in front of banner, Freud's Family Feud. They are all wearing masks.

Pscyh Friends peer mentors are pictured after the 'Freud's Family Feud' game. In back row, from left, are Collin Petz (Freud), Liam Heart and Rachel Carpenter. In front, from left, are Aubrie Postma, Rachel Kloss, Casey Elkhoury, Sydney Spotts, Olivia Palumbo, Alli Cox and Kaylee Brandeen.

Photo Credit: courtesy photo

A Psychology Department peer mentoring program hosted an event inspired by a popular game show and infused with elements of the discipline. 

“Freud’s Family Feud" featured a student host who dressed up as Sigmund Freud. The competing family names were the “Id Family” and “Ego Family,” as a reference to one of Freud’s theories. 

Psych Friends is a peer-to-peer mentoring group for undergraduate students, led by Tessa Jordan, associate professor, who created the group with a few other faculty members.

“We focus on increasing psychology and behavioral neuroscience students’ academic success, but we also focus on improving students' well-being and making them feel connected to the department,” Jordan said. “The idea for ‘Freud Family Feud’ was generated by the Psych Friends peer mentors as a good way to build community in the department.” 

Students were not only given the opportunity to build relationships with peers, but were also able to engage with faculty outside the classroom. 

“It was really great because faculty were on the same teams with students, so it wasn’t students against faculty, it was students working with faculty against the other team,” Jordan said. 

All students with a major or minor in psychology or behavioral neuroscience were welcome to attend the event. 

 

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This article was last edited on January 10, 2022 at 3:5 p.m.

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