Celeste Sangiorgio

Dr. Celeste Sangiorgio serves as Research Assistant Professor in Behavioral Health within RIT's College of Health Sciences and Technology and holds an Adjunct Faculty position. A licensed clinical psychologist, she specializes in developing digital therapeutics—particularly games—for teaching cognitive behavioral skills in conflict resolution, communication, and self-belief formation.

Her educational credentials include a Ph.D. and M.A. in Clinical Psychology from St. John's University (2015-2021), a Predoctoral Internship at the Rochester Psychology Internship Consortium (2020-2021), and a B.A. in Counseling Psychology and Religious Studies from CUNY Hunter College. She maintains licensure as a Clinical Psychologist in New York State.

Dr. Sangiorgio's research bridges digital media and mental healthcare through four pillars: advocacy for mental health representation in games; creation of evidence-based digital therapeutics; teaching forensic psychology and digital healthcare courses; and direct clinical care for adults with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and OCD using integrative third-wave CBT and narrative approaches. Her work includes developing assessment tools for emotional states in digital environments and operating a virtual clinic for homeless adults.

Her publications reveal a trajectory toward applying psychological science in entertainment contexts, exemplified by 2024-2023 book chapters analyzing mental health themes in Taylor Swift and The Witcher, alongside empirical studies on eHealth interventions and disordered eating. This demonstrates consistent innovation in translating clinical practice into accessible digital formats.

As an educator, she teaches BHNS-311 (Diagnosing the Criminal Mind), BHNS-800 (Psychology Internship Seminar), and PSYC-510 (Senior Project), supervising student research. Her grant-funded work features the FDA-collaborated RITchCBT trial—a multidisciplinary effort across five RIT colleges testing digital avatars for treating substance use disorders and intimate partner violence.

She leads the RITchCBT project team developing digital therapy platforms and has created over-the-counter narrative games teaching CBT skills. Her clinical practice emphasizes long-term psychotherapy while advocating for expanded mental healthcare access through digital media.