Student Portrait – Kersmirne

Kersmirne completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the Université de Montréal. She has been an educator at the Direction de la protection de la jeunesse for over a year. Through her clinical experiences with children with behavioural problems, she has discovered an interest in accompanying children who have experienced trauma, specifically sexual abuse. She is interested in the role of attachment and the presence of internalized and externalized behaviours in children who have been sexually abused in order to be better equipped to intervene with the victims and their families. 

Kersmirne’s interest in Dr. Martine Hébert’s research work and her extensive involvement in the field of research led to her desire to become involved in her laboratory. This fall, she will begin her master’s degree in sexology research-intervention, clinical and developmental research profile under the direction of Dr. Martine Hébert. In the context of her master’s degree, she is interested in the mediating role of the child’s attachment to the mother in the relationship between the number of traumas experienced and the internalized and externalized behaviours of school-aged children who have been sexually abused. This initiative also aims to develop clinical interventions to better equip parents and caregivers working with this clientele, which is very important to Kersmirne.