Life & Career Planning

There are four licensed Counsellors and Psychologists at Champlain St-Lambert who are here to assist students in identifying and resolving any difficulties which could interfere in the attainment of their goals within the areas of personal, career, and educational development. This is done through understanding, identifying, exploring, and finding different alternatives to the issue(s).

Hours of Operation & Location

The counsellors are located in Student Services on the first floor of the F-block, and our offices are open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday to Friday. Meetings are by appointment and/or by drop-in (see below). However, if there is a crisis within the hours of operation, we will see the student that day. If a crisis occurs before or after those hours, please refer to the list of Emergency Numbers.

Resources are also available for faculty and staff members to look over if they are interested. A number of one-page documents touching on a number of issues can be downloaded from this here.

Who We Are

Veronica Wynne	Sue Dockeray	Debra Polomeno	Mel Berish

Scheduling an Appointment

Students can come in to Student Services to schedule an appointment with Céline, our secretary, or they can phone her at (450) 672-7360 ext. 355.

There are also daily drop-in hours where students can literally ‘drop-in’ to see one of the counsellors without an appointment. It is on a first come, first served basis. The drop-in hours change everday and are also posted outside of Student Services and on bulletin boards throughout the school.

Confidentiality Policy

All sessions between student and counsellor are confidential. This means that no information can be revealed to parents, staff/faculty, friends, or anyone else without the written consent of the student. For more information on this policy, please see one of the counsellors.

Personal Counselling

Students often times need assistance in dealing with an emotional or interpersonal issue that may be undermining their ability to achieve personal, academic, and/or career goals.

Counsellors are here to listen and explore the issue with students in a supportive, non-judgmental way. They will collaborate with students to clarify the concern(s) and to help students express their feelings. They will also assist them in viewing the issue from different perspectives, to explore and identify goals for change, and to determine an appropriate plan of action. The “plan of action” may include counselling within the College and/or referral to an outside community resource.

Some of the issues that students bring forth include: depression, anxiety, stress, wounds from abuse, transition/developmental difficulties, interpersonal relationships, familial concerns, sexuality and gender, diversity, self-esteem issues, etc.

Career Counselling

Some students come to CEGEP with an idea of what they want to do and which career path they want to pursue; but there are many students who are unsure or who feel confused about which path to take. Counsellors are here to guide students through this process by incorporating the following strategies:

• Self-reflection: To help students get to know their strengths, weaknesses, interests, passions, work values, as well as what are other influences in making this decision.
• Standardized tests: To help students gain a more concrete view/understanding of their interests and personality and to clarify which career fields might suit them.
• Researching careers: Students will learn the strategies needed to be able to thoroughly explore a career.
• Discussion: A dialogue will occur throughout the whole process so the student is able to fully comprehend what all of this means.

Study Skills

Sometimes students’ academic performance may be compromised because of a personal issue and/or there is something else that is going on such as time management, exam/class anxiety, procrastination, and/or motivation. Students may also have difficulty with study skills such as note-taking, preparing for exams, how to read a textbook, etc. Counsellors are also here to help you through these issues.

The counsellors will also be offering study skills drop-in sessions throughout the semester.

Career Centre / Employment Opportunities

There is an area within Student Services where students can sit and browse the different university calendars from across the country, read about different job descriptions from different sectors of the workforce, use the internet to research careers, etc. Please come down and visit and we will show you where it is.

Emergency Contact Numbers

Faculty & Staff Resources

• The Anxious Student
• The Depressed Student
• The Physically Aggressive Student
• The Suicidal Student
• The Verbally Aggressive Student
• The Violent Student