Members

Stéphane Bonzon

Holder of a Master degree in vocational and counseling psychology from the University of Lausanne and a Master degree in career management from the University of Geneva, I am interested in career development in the context of digital transformation, uncertainty and search for meaning. I am particularly interested in effectuation, which makes possible to act and create value in uncertainty, similar to what entrepreneurs do by transforming the environment. I write and communicate about its contributions, especially in the field of vocational and career psychology. I have been working for the State of Vaud since 2011, where I successively helped adolescents and then young adults in their career development and construction, as well as with their professional integration. During 2021-2022, I am supervising the field practices of students in Master of vocational and counseling psychology at UNIL.

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Eva Clot-Siegrist

After studying vocational and counseling psychology, clinical psychology and psychopathology in Lausanne and Paris-V, I worked as an postdoctoral assistant at the University of Lausanne and as counseling psychologist at the Vaud Cantonal School for Deaf Children (Lausanne). Since 2000 I teach in the counseling department of the Institute of Psychology where I supervise the field practice of master's students in career-counseling and counseling psychology. I work in parallel with public and private organizations in the field of individual and group assessment. My areas of interest include biographical narratives and career and life paths, sense of well-being at work, and transitions and processes of identity building.

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Jean-Pierre Dauwalder

I am president of the Swiss Federal Authority for Psychology (PSYKO) and professor emeritus of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Former head of the Department of Vocational Psychology and Career Counseling, I have organized, through my career, international conferences on behavior modification, health psychology, vocational guidance and self-organization, was member of many editorial boards and published more than 130 articles, books and chapters. I am the former President of the European Society for Vocational Designing and Career Counseling (ESVDC), and a founding member of the Life-Design Research Group, NICE-Erasmus academic network, UNESCO Chair Council and many professional associations in the fields of psychology and counseling. In 2010, I was honored by the Award of the IAAP (Division of Counseling Psychology) in Melbourne and, in 2013, by the first ‘Julius-Suter-Medal’ for Applied Psychology in Switzerland.

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Federico Durante

After a Bachelor's in psychology from the University of Geneva I obtained a Master in vocational counseling at the University of Lausanne. I was later trained in intercultural approaches and narrative coaching, and became a certified SFP coach. Since 1998, I work with the State of Vaud, mainly in schools and career counseling centers. I work primarily with young migrants and other school students who are from unprivileged backgrounds or at risk of marginalization. I am also currently employed by “L’Ecole de la Transition” (formerly “OPTI”) as a counselor, and by the Institute of Psychology as a teaching assistant.

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Sylvie Franz

After studying vocational and counseling psychology, I worked as a research assistant and psychologist in Switzerland and Canada in the fields of counseling and guidance, adult education and supervision of psychologists. I teach at the Institute of Psychology for the Master in Counseling and Guidance Psychology and in the MAS in Human Resource Management and Careers. As a psychologist with a private practice, I accompany adults in a skill assessment process. My areas of interest include transitions in career paths, migration and socio-professional integration, group approaches, and the processes and tools of OSP care.

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Jonas Masdonati

After obtaining a doctorate in education from the University of Fribourg and working as a practitioner and researcher in the fields of counseling and vocational training, I joined Université Laval (Québec) as a professor of counseling. Since 2015, I have been a professor at the UNIL Institute of Psychology, where I am responsible for the counseling and career guidance programs. My research focuses on school and vocational transitions, career reorientations, building identity in the workplace, integration and vocational training, values and the relationship to work, and the processes and effects of career counseling.

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Koorosh Massoudi

Holder of a doctorate in psychology from the University of Lausanne and specialized in the management of stress, I am a teacher and researcher at the Institute of Psychology. At the heart of my activities is an inquiry into the paradoxical nature of work, as a vehicle for creativity, self-fulfillment and human solidarity, but also as an unbridled race that sometimes leads to conflict, suffering and exclusion. In addition to my research on health promotion and the prevention of psychosocial risks at work, I teach psychological assessment methods and counseling techniques. I am also a consultant to individuals and companies.

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Jérôme Rossier

After studying psychology at the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva, and the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), and scientific stays at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the National Institute of Health (United-States), and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), I am a full professor of vocational and counseling psychology at the Institute of Psychology of the University of Lausanne, and member of the psychology and educational sciences panel of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). My teaching areas and research interests include counseling, personality, psychological assessment, and cross-cultural psychology. I am the current editor of the International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, and I have recently co-edited the Handbook of the life design (Hogrefe). I am currently conducting several projects funded by the SNF about professional paths and people’s adaptability abilities.

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Shékina Rochat

After obtaining my doctorate’s degree in vocational and counseling psychology, I worked as Head of services for the Vaud State Office of Career Counseling before joining the University of British Columbia for a postdoctoral research project funded by the Swiss National Research Foundation. Currently, I am a substitute senior lecturer at the Institute of Psychology, and also the interim president of the CAS in Positive Psychology at the Formation Continue UNIL-EPFL Foundation. Being a practitioner-researcher at heart, my research interests focus on motivation, play, well-being, sustainability and indecision in the context of career counseling. In 2019, I published the book “L’art du conseil en orientation : une carte des interventions” (Lucnia).

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Kokou Amenyona Atitsogbe

I hold a PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Lausanne after a master's degree in the same discipline from INETOP-CNAM in Paris, and a master's degree in work and organizational psychology from the University of Lomé. I am currently a senior SNSF researcher and research coordinator at CePCO. My dissertation is a cross-cultural research on career development (career interests, career indecision, employability, entrepreneurial intentions, personality, perceived barriers to university-work transition) with different populations (university students, unemployed, and adult workers). My areas of interest include counseling and occupational integration, cross-cultural psychology, psychometrics and personality psychology.

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In 2015 I obtained a Bachelor degree in Sociology at the University of Alicante (Spain), and in 2019 I completed the Research Master in Sociology and Demography at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona. Although my research interests at the beginning were health inequalities and housework division, during my Masters’ I ended up becoming passionate about labour market and employment issues. In my thesis I study non-standard employment (in particular, temporary employment) and subjective and objective job quality, under the supervision of Felix Bülhmann and Jonas Masdonati. Having the advice of a sociologist and a psychologist helps me to evaluate these work-related aspects simultaneously from an individual-based and a context-based perspective. At the same time, I try to take advantage from my personal experiences as a non-standard worker during the recession years in Spain to study the topics that I work on today. 

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Marine Cerantola

Recently graduated with a master’s degree in counseling and guidance psychology from University of Lausanne, I currently work as a teaching and research assistant and doctoral student. Throughout my studies, I’ve had the chance to work as a student assistant and to do an internship at the CePCO. My master’s thesis focused on involuntary career changes from a social psychological identity perspective. These different experiences gave me the opportunity to discover the field of scientific research and to develop and increase my interest in the latter.

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Laurence Fedrigo

I own a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of Lausanne (with a one-semester exchange at University Laval, Québec). My master’s thesis focused on the adequate evaluation of refugees’ academic and professional aptitudes during the counseling process. I later worked in the promotion of foreigners’ professional integration and fight against racism. After these experiences, I wanted to deepen my understanding of the integration process of newcomers in Switzerland in order to propose a new career counseling intervention. As a result, I am now a PhD candidate in Counseling Psychology and a teaching assistant at the CePCO. My research interests also encompass the relationship to work and access to decent work.

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Caroline Frésard

After a career in teaching literature and on-the-job psychology studies, I completed a Master's degree in Counseling and Career Counseling Psychology at the University of Lausanne. My master thesis focused on the relationship between marginalization and decent work, as well as the attitudinal variables that moderate this relationship, such as proactive personality, career adaptability, critical consciousness and work volition.

I am currently working as a doctoral student at the SNSF on involuntary professional reconversions with a qualitative approach. My areas of interest are identity processes, and narratives generated by professional transitions.

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Anouk Jasmine Albien (PhD)

Ms. Dr. Anouk Jasmine Albien, a first assistant in the research center for counseling and counseling psychology (CEPCO), has received several awards for her research excellence. The most recent award is the EU’s prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship for her 'Skilled Migrant Adjustment to Career Transitions' (SMACT) project proposal, which will be hosted by Prof. Jérôme Rossier. This research project begins in September 2021 and runs until 2023, and is in line with European 2020 Strategy flagship initiatives of fostering employment, reducing poverty and social exclusion to inform human resource management and career counselling practices. Dr. Albien interests are in career development trajectories – specifically, career transitions, mobility and migration, including vulnerability, resiliency, work and non-work mechanisms. In the next five years, she aims to broaden her understanding of migration, career transitions, career development of vulnerable population groups and human resource/career challenges in times of crisis as well as diversifying the research methods and career interventions used to address these complex research issues.

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Philippe Handschin

After obtaining a Master of Science degree in cognitive and clinical psychology and working in the field of professional reintegration with refugees, I am now completing a doctoral thesis on the professional integration of young adults without training and in a situation of rupture with the professional world. My research targets, among other things, the role of dysfunctional personality traits in integration difficulties, and the issue of integrating mental health issues into reintegration programs. In parallel, I collaborate on projects on the measurement of personality disorders and the impact of unemployment on well-being and perception.

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Nimrod Levin

I am currently a final-year doctoral student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and University of Lausanne. I completed bachelor studies in Psychology and in the Amirim Interdisciplinary Honors Program, and two master’s level studies in Computational Neuroscience and Vocational and Counseling Psychology. While my doctoral project focuses on developing psychodiagnostics methods for the differentiation of types of career clients, my research interests encompass the cognitive, personality, and emotional mechanisms involved in career decision-making, intervention research and assessment, individual and cultural differences, and psychometric theory. In addition, as a practicing psychologist and researcher, I led several social impact projects aimed at supporting the personal and vocational needs of traditionally marginalized groups, such as African refugees in Israel, LGBTQ individuals, women in STEM, and members of the Jewish community in Germany.

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André Oliveira Borges

After studying political science and psychology, I obtained a Master's degree in counseling psychology at the University of Lausanne. Through my training, I had the opportunity to work on different research topics, notably the school-to-work transition and the educational pathways of emerging adults. In addition, I have also worked as a counseling and guidance psychologist with young adults in pre-vocational and educational training. These experiences - both in research and practice - have naturally contributed to develop my sensitivity and interest in the study of vulnerable or marginalized populations who may face obstacles in their efforts to access qualifying training and decent working conditions.

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Michaël Parmentier

As a postdoctoral researcher in vocational psychology, I currently work as a senior FNS researcher in a project on involuntary career changes. During my PhD, I focused on the emotional anticipation of educational and professional transitions. Besides, my research interests venture to the preparation and adaptation to career transitions, the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in career development, as well as workplace socialization and dehumanization processes. In parallel, I have developed a broad interest in various methodologies, both at the quantitative and qualitative levels.

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Sabrina Tacchini
 

After several years as a job counselor, I chose to return to the University of Lausanne to work as an assistant and PhD student. Taking into account planetary boundaries and the important question of the living in our professional choices and ecological transition towards a more sustainable future will be the main theme of my thesis project. Indeed, I would like to understand these new ecological professional reconversions in order to deepen the possibilities of interventions in counseling and vocational guidance. I am also interested as a practitioner in ecological suffering, mindfulness, positive psychology,  and individual and collective resilience.

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Cecilia Toscanelli

Assistante d’enseignement et doctorante en psychologie du conseil et de l’orientation à l’Université de Lausanne, je suis titulaire d’un Master en psychologie clinique et psychopathologie. Mon mémoire de master s’est inscrit dans le champ de la psychologie sociale et a porté sur les croyances et attitudes des médecins suisses à propos des Inhibiteurs de la Pompe à Protons (IPP). Mes intérêts de recherche se centrent sur le travail, et particulièrement son utilité sociale, les « bullshit jobs », l’épuisement par l’ennui au travail (« bore-out »), ainsi que la personnalité.

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Shagini Udayar

As a teaching assistant and PhD student in career counseling psychology at the University of Lausanne, I completed a master's degree in career counseling psychology at the same university and also worked for two years as an SNSF junior researcher on the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES – Overcoming vulnerability: Life course perspective, as well as on another SNSF project on emotional intelligence. While my thesis project focuses on the impact of life events on career sustainability, my interests and other research also include the impact of personal resources and working context on career paths, the vocational guidance and professional integration of young refugees and asylum seekers, emotional intelligence and well-being at work, the influence of gender on children career choice, and the impact of MINT career promotion activities on young girls and woman career choice.

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Ieva Urbanaviciute

I hold a doctoral degree in Psychology from Vilnius University (Lithuania). My thesis was focused on investigating career planning and vocational decision-making among undergraduate students. Currently, my research interests lie at the intersection of work and career psychology. After obtaining my Ph.D., I worked for several years as a researcher at Vilnius University, where I was involved in research collaborations on job insecurity, career choice, self-determination, psychosocial working conditions, and psychological well-being. In addition to this, I also taught courses in work psychology and career guidance. As of 2017, I work as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lausanne on the career transitions and pathways project within the NCCR LIVES.

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Claire Leeming

I obtained my doctorate in psychology in 2015 while working in the project IP207 "Professional pathways" at the national research center "Lives". My research focused on the contribution of personal and professional characteristics to well-being. I worked at the University of Bern as a post-doc in the department of organisational psychology, before returning to the University of Lausanne as a research officer at CepCo. My research interests include personal and professional resources, well-being , professional transitions and the integration of different life domains. I have teaching experience at HEC Lausanne and the University of Bern

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Marc Abessolo

After a career as an elite footballer, I started university studies in psychology and obtained a first master's degree in the psychology of work and organizations from the University of Neuchâtel and a second in counseling from the University of Lausanne. A research assistant and a PhD student at the Institute of Psychology, my thesis focuses on the importance of professional values in the career paths of employed people and in particular on the development and validation of a scale to measure career values relevant to contemporary careers. My research interests relate to new forms of career known as "borderless and protean", professional values, career development, as well as career success.

Eloïse Banet

After a Master's of Science in Psychology and further training in law, I worked in the field of socio-professional reintegration. Interested in individual differences and how people can make best use of their abilities, I specialized in psychology of vocational counseling. My thesis focuses on the use of humor in career counseling. I am also interested in the processes of social influence and the construction of professional identity in relation to decent work or “dirty work”.

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Maxime Rochat

While completing my Master's degree in vocational and counseling psychology, I am a research associate for an SNSF project (SPAS and CHUV) on the influence of personality traits on the difficulties of self-occupational integration. My research interests include the causes and effects of conflicts between work and family life and the prospects of reconciling these two areas. In addition, I am interested in job satisfaction, career transitions and life paths, job integration and retraining, and resources, difficulties and strategies to cope with change.

Christian Maggiori

I received my Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Fribourg in 2010 with research on the daily emotional experience of the elderly. Afterwards I had the opportunity to work at the Federal Statistical Office of Neuchâtel, the University of Fribourg, the University of Lausanne and the National Research Center LIVES. Since 2014, I am Professor at the University of applied sciences (HES-SO), Fribourg. My main areas of interest and research are occupational transitions including retirement, work insecurity, work resources, well-being and affectivity, and old age and ageism.

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Sarah Robinson

I hold a master's degree in Integrative and Social Clinical Psychology from the University of Geneva, and a Master's degree in Anthropology from Stanford University.  I am currently collaborating on the Personality and Mental Health Project in Namibia (PersoNa) as a junior SNSF researcher, focusing on qualitative and quantitative data analysis.  I also work as a psychotherapist at the Pôle Santé Sociale of the University of Geneva, and I am in training for a specialty in cognitive behavioural therapy.  As an intercultural psychologist and researcher, I am oriented towards issues of self-definition and individual adaptation throughout life, especially when difficulties arise.

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Amber Gayle Thalmayer

I have a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Oregon (United States), where my dissertation focused on the relationship between personality traits and the use and effectiveness of mental health services. I also carried out projects on the structure and measurement of personality, and on personality structure and measurement across cultures. After my studies, I worked with the University of Los Angeles to assess the impact of a change in law on access to psychiatric care. I also assisted on a study on moral values, and I am working to develop a new measure of behavioral health risk with a large EAP provider in Oregon. My current projects continue to focus on personality across cultures, values, moral character, personality, and mental health.

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Robin Zufferey

After a Master’s degree in Career Counseling Psychology at the University of Lausanne and a professional experience as a career counselor, I worked as a research assistant at the University of Lausanne on a project regarding work engagement. Because of my strong interest in research, I started a doctoral thesis and became a teaching assistant. My research interests are the relationship to work, the meaning of work, and career shocks. Parallel to these activities, I am conducting a research project on the vocational certification of adults in the Lausanne area.

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