Members

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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Kokou Amenyona Atitsogbe

A graduate of a master's degree in occupational psychology from the University of Lomé in Togo and a Master's of Science in psychology of work and transitions at the INETOP-CNAM in Paris, I am now a teaching and research assistant and doctoral student in vocational and counseling psychology at the University of Lausanne. My thesis is an intercultural study of perceived barriers to university-work transition and adaptability in Switzerland and Togo. My areas of interest include career orientation and integration, intercultural psychology, psychometrics and personality psychology

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Marine Dagostino

After a bachelor's degree in psychology at Utah State University (USA), I am now pursuing a Master in Counseling Psychology at the University of Lausanne. My master’s thesis is on the influence of proactive attitudes and personality on the employability of individuals. Alongside my studies, I work as a research assistant at the Institute of Psychology, where I participated in the organization of the Doctoral Program in Vocational Guidance and Counseling in September 2016 in Lausanne. I am now collaborating in the editorial assistance of the International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance.

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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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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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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Cecilia Toscanelli

Teaching assistant and doctoral student in psychology of counseling and orientation at the University of Lausanne, I have a Master's degree in clinical psychology and psychopathology. My master thesis, in the field of social psychology, focused on the panorama around Proton Pump Inhibitors and on Swiss doctors’ attitudes and beliefs about the latter.

My interests are in the field of work, specifically on the social utility of work, on "bullshit jobs", on exhaustion trough boredom at work ("bore-out"), as well as on personality.

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Shagini Udayar

I hold a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in counselling and guidance psychology at the University of Lausanne. I am currently a junior SNSF researcher on the national research project “LIVES - Overcoming vulnerability: a life course perspective “, and I am also working on a research project on emotional intelligence. My scientific interests include the influence on professional trajectories of variables such as personal resources, individual characteristics, or cultural context ; fluid and crystallized components of emotional intelligence ; the relationship between vocational indecision, feelings of self-efficacy and self-esteem (meta-analysis).

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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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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.

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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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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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.