The team

Dr. Simon Coulombe is Associate Professor in the Industrial Relations Department of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Université Laval. He is also a regular researcher at VITAM – Centre de recherche en santé durable. He holds a doctorate in community psychology from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Dr. Maude Villeneuve coordinates the Relief Research Chair in Mental Health, Self-Management and Work, and is dedicated to promoting self-management of mental health at all levels in organizations. Their research and practice interests lie at the crossroads of mental health in the workplace, creativity and neurodivergence.

Carol-Anne Gauthier, PhD, is the Chair’s coordinator. She is also a professor of psychology at CÉGEP Champlain-St-Lawrence and a lecturer in the industrial relations department at Université Laval. Her previous research focused on the career paths of highly-educated immigrant women, as well as on the career progression of women in traditionally male professions. Her areas of expertise include equity, diversity and inclusion, psychological health in the workplace and telecommuting.

Joël Gagnon, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at the Chair and was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Psychology in the Co-DOT laboratory. His research interests focus on the use of new technologies and self-management to improve service delivery in health and education. He also co-edited the book “Déjouer la procrastination pour réussir et survivre à vos études : Une méthode scientifique basée sur l’approche d’acceptation et d’engagement (ACT)” to help post-secondary students stay in school through self-management.

Maria Alexandrov is the Chair’s Communications Manager and Artistic Director. A graduate of the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Québec and a Master’s student in communications, Maria helps build bridges between the worlds of research and art. She is committed to making science think differently, and her work aims to democratize knowledge in a creative way.

Romina is a nurse and master’s student in public health at Université Laval under the supervision of Marie-Pierre Gagnon and Maxime Sasseville (co-directors). She also has a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Through her research, she hopes to contribute to the conceptualization of patient and citizen engagement with digital health technologies. She is also interested in the effect of digital technologies on the physical and mental health of people, particularly those in vulnerable situations.

Marie-France de la Fontaine is a doctoral student in psychology at Université Laval. In the winter 2022 session, she was a research intern at the Chair, where she contributed to several projects. She is currently writing articles to disseminate the Chair’s findings.

Marie-Claude Desaulniers is a recent Master’s graduate in Guidance Sciences. She is a consultant for the Chair. She previously worked as a research professional. The raison d’être of the project in which she has been involved since October 2021 is the adaptation of Relief’s anxiety self-management workshops to the international student population at Université Laval. More specifically, she has been working on themes aimed at supporting students towards a better understanding of their own anxiety, more accurate and benevolent self-observation, as well as setting goals for salutary wellness in terms of lifestyle habits.

Karine Dufresne holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from UQAM, as well as a master’s degree in operations research from Polytechnique de Montréal. She is currently enrolled in the DESS program in Artificial Intelligence at Université Laval. As part of the Chair, she is involved in the development of computerized tools for data enhancement. These tools will improve the process of collecting, processing and analyzing data.

Chaima Fehri is a research assistant at the Chaire de recherche sur l’intégration et la gestion des diversités en emploi (CRIDE) and the Chaire de recherche relief en santé mentale, autogestion et travail (CRRSMAT). She is a doctoral student in industrial relations at Université Laval under the supervision of Kamel Beji and Simon Coulombe (co-direction). She holds a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance from the Faculty of Economics and Management in Tunis, and a master’s degree in economics with a focus on development economics. Her thesis focuses on the risks of casualization and socio-professional integration of temporary foreign workers in Quebec. Her main research interests are the socio-professional integration of immigrants in Quebec and the securing of their migratory pathways, as well as the analysis of public immigration policies. She is also interested in job insecurity, decent work, well-being at work and social well-being.

Alexandre Gaudreault, CHRP, is a senior human resources consultant with a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations from Université Laval. Master’s student under the supervision of Simon Coulombe. His essay focuses on men’s well-being in male-dominated workplaces. His research interests include workplace well-being and labour relations management.

Zina Kharchi is a doctoral student in education at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and a project manager at the Chair. She is currently coordinating the Université Laval-funded project Création d’un programme de soutien à l’autogestion de l’anxiété pour favoriser la santé mentale et la réussite des étudiants internationaux. For her thesis, she is interested in the well-being of international students through their adaptation process, from a positive psychology perspective. In general, she is interested in the ethnocultural diversity of migrant and immigrant populations and their well-being.

Michelle Khau is a research assistant at the Chair. She holds a master’s degree in neuroscience from McGill University and a master’s degree in intelligence and transformation from Université Laval. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology (research and intervention) at Université Laval, under the co-direction of Simon Coulombe and François Vachon. Her thesis will focus on sustainable interventions to promote the mental health and well-being of workers. Her research interests include sustainable mental health promotion, cultural clinical psychology, individual psychology and early intervention.

Yenan Liang is a research professional at the Chair and a sociology teacher at the college level. She holds a master’s degree in sociology from Université Laval. Her dissertation focused on the construction of transnational identities among Chinese immigrants in Quebec City. Her research interests focus on immigration and integration, identities, the study of nationalism, the sociology of culture and globalization.

Mélanie Mercuri is a doctoral student in psychology (professional profile – Psy.D) at the Université du Québec à Montréal. She is collaborating as a research assistant on projects involving the co-creation of a new mental health service for the community organization Relief – Le chemin de la santé mentale, and the qualitative exploration of the experience of receiving this new service. Her research interests include mental health self-management, qualitative and participatory research, and existential psychology.

amela Rubi Mondragon Carranza holds a master’s degree in public health from the Université de Montréal and began her doctorate in clinical psychology (intervention/research profile) at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in fall 2022. She has been helping to update Relief’s depression self-management workshop since summer 2021. She is also currently writing a manuscript on the results of the survey “Surmonter l’invisible : une étude des effets de la crise du COVID-19 sur la santé mentale des travailleurs canadien.ne.s (volet francophone)”.

Tyler Pacheco is a master’s student in community psychology and a doctoral candidate in social psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University. His work focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on the mental health of Canadian workers.

Christine Sauvé is a Master’s student in psychoeducation – thesis and internship profile – at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. She is in charge of clinical research activities for the community organization Relief- Le chemin de la santé mentale. As part of her dissertation, she is collaborating with the Chair on a participatory research project aimed at creating a new mental health service, and is interested in the lived experience of the participants involved in this process using the experience-based co-design approach. Her research interests include mental health self-management, participatory research, recovery and empowerment.

Yosr Tammar is a research assistant at the Chair. She is a doctoral student in industrial relations at Université Laval under the supervision of Sylvain Luc and Simon Coulombe (co-directors). Her thesis focuses on the well-being and employment relationship of French-Canadian workers during COVID-19. Her research interests include positive psychology, well-being at work, human resources management, social well-being, and sustainable health promotion.