There are several licensed Counsellors, Psychologists, a Counselling intern, and a Social Service Technician 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 documents touching on a number of issues can be downloaded from here.
Who We Are
Mel Berish, Psychotherapist mberish@crcmail.net
Wanita Jones, Psychologist wjones@crcmail.net
Debra Polomeno, Psychologist and Career Counsellor dpolomeno@crcmail.net
Muriel Harushamagara, Social Service Technician mharushamagara@crcmail.net
Bouny Te, Social Service Technician (on leave of absence)
Scheduling an Appointment
Students can come in to Student Services to schedule an appointment with Céline Bourgeois, our Administrative Assistant, or they can phone her at (450) 672-7360 ext. 355 or send her a MIO message.
There are also daily drop-in hours where students can literally ‘drop-in’ without an appointment. It is on a first come, first served basis.
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 need assistance in dealing with emotional or interpersonal issues that may be undermining their ability to achieve personal, academic, and/or career goals.
Counsellors are here to listen and explore these issues with students in a supportive, non-judgmental way. They collaborate with students to clarify the concern(s) and to help students express their feelings. They 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.
Students seeking career counselling services for the first time will participate in a group workshop first. They can then meet with a counsellor/psychologist individually to continue their exploration. Students can sign up with Student Services Administrative Assistant, Céline Bourgeois, or send her a MIO message.
Students can also research information about careers on various websites. Students must go to the Omnivox homepage and click on the ‘Career Corner’ link under the ‘Student Groups’ category on the right hand side.
Finally, if students have a quick question relating to career exploration, they can send a MIO message to ‘Career Counsellor’.
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.
Emergency Contact Numbers
Police/Fire/Emergency
9-1-1
Longueuil Police (St-Lambert)
(450) 463-7011
Hôpital Charles LeMoyne (Emergency/Urgence)
(450) 466-5050
Hôpital Pierre-Boucher (Emergency/Urgence)
(450) 468-8144
Royal-Victoria Hospital (Emergency/Urgence)
(514) 934-1934
Jewish General Hospital (Emergency/Urgence)
(514) 340-8222 Loc. 5011
Herzl Teen Clinic
(514) 340-8253
CLSC-Samuel-de-Champlain (Info-Santé 24h)
(450) 445-4452 or 811
Tel-Aide (24h)
(514) 935-1101
Tel-Jeune
1-800-263-2266
Suicide Action Montreal (24h)
1-866-277-3553 (toll-free) or (514) 723-4000
Crisis Center/ Centre de crise l’ACCÈS
(450) 679-8689
Montreal Sexual Assault Centre (24h)
(514) 934-4505
Faculty & Staff Resources
- The Anxious Student
- The Depressed Student
- The Physically Aggressive Student
- The Suicidal Student
- The Verbally Aggressive Student
- The Violent Student
