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Dr. Karima Lacène, C.Psych.

Dr. Karima Lacène provides psychological services, including assessment and individual therapy, to children, adolescents and adults. She works with clients experiencing a wide range of challenges including anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship issues, grief, adjustment to life stressors, self esteem and stress management. She also provides psycho-educational assessments for children, adolescents and adults, including testing for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Learning Disabilities. Her therapeutic approach is both integrative and holistic. She provides a nurturing, accepting and client-centered atmosphere, and draws upon Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Existential/Humanistic, Mindfulness and Solution Focused Approaches to therapy. Dr. Lacène will tailor her approach to meet the needs of each client.


Dr. Lacène received her Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology and School Psychology, and her M.Ed. in Counselling Psychology from the University of Alberta, Edmonton. This program is accredited by the Canadian Psychological Association. She completed her B.A. Highest Honours in Psychology at Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario.


Dr. Lacène has over 20 years experience working with children, adolescents and adults in educational and private practice settings. Dr. Lacène was employed at the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL), Ottawa, Ontario between 2003 and 2018. She has managed a large and diverse caseload of students with disabilities including: Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, medical and mental health challenges.


Prior to her work at Algonquin College, Dr. Lacène was employed as a School Psychologist with the Edmonton Public School Board. She supported and assessed students who were referred for psycho-educational assessments and counselling. Dr. Lacène has a lot of experience communicating with school personnel, and facilitated supports and services for children, adolescents and adults with attention, learning and emotional difficulties.


Dr. Lacène is a member of national, provincial and local professional associations. She keeps up to date on current developments in the field by regularly attending workshops, conferences, self-study, and regular consultation with peers. Her research interests include: Fostering resilience, strengths based counselling and assessment, and positive psychology. In 2019, Dr. Lacène was the keynote speaker for the Resilience conference hosted by the Ontario Psychological Association.

Psychologist Expertise

Areas of specific interest to Dr. Lacene include:

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Anxiety

29 Jul, 2022
Anxiety has been frequently described as feelings of fright, flight or freeze. This means that people experiencing anxiety have both the mental and the physical, visceral feelings of wanting to escape the situation, fight what is challenging or simply cannot move in any direction to deal with what is troubling them.
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Depression

03 Jul, 2022
Depression is a state of low mood in which people feel helpless, hopeless, worthless, lethargic and unable to enjoy the things that used to give them pleasure. People who are depressed are often irritable or pessimistic. Their low mood goes beyond having “the blues” or being sad. Even people who are grieving usually do not sink into depression. People diagnosed with a Major Depressive Disorder cannot just “pull up their socks” to get better. They require professional help. Psychologists use a variety of scientifically based psychotherapeutic approaches to help people recover from depression.
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Emotionally Focused Therapy

25 Jun, 2022
Couples and families often go through experiences that can challenge the stability of the relationships, leading to feelings of anger, fear, betrayal, and lack of trust. In these instances, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) can be beneficial to provide guidance on how to improve the relationships. EFT can also be helpful for individuals who are experiencing depression or the effects of trauma, such as individuals who are struggling to cope with their own illness or the illness of their child.

Grief & Bereavement Counselling

17 Jun, 2022
Grief is the emotional response to the loss of someone, something or some place of emotional significance to the person. Grief is a normal emotion which has impact on people’s physical, mental, behavioural and social states. People who are grieving usually experience fatigue and find that everything takes more effort.

Learning Disabilities

05 Jun, 2022
Learning disabilities cause a child to experience difficulty achieving academically to the level that would be expected given the child’s general intellectual ability. There are different types of learning disabilities which affect achievement in different ways and which require different forms of intervention.Psychologists can assist parents in planning for their child’s education by providing a psychoeducational assessment. These assessments provide clarification as to the nature of the child’s disability and provide recommendations for interventions which can help the child to achieve their academic potential. Such assessments also help parents to be aware of the type of post-secondary educational programs in which their child is likely to achieve success in future.

Life Transitions

03 Jun, 2022
A life transition can be any change or adjustment that impacts your life in a significant way. We all experience transitions throughout our lives — big and small, planned and unplanned, easy and difficult.

Parenting Issues

20 May, 2022
Children are affected by parental separation and divorce in different ways. Research has indicated that children react in different ways at different ages and that other factors than parental separation alone influence the degree to which a child’s adjustment can be affected by parental separation and divorce.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

16 May, 2022
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can follow the experiencing or witnessing of a severe trauma involving the actual or threat of death or serious injury to the self or others. The traumatized person has typically reacted to the trauma with intense fear, helplessness or horror. Alternatively, an accumulation of less intensely damaging situations (‘small ‘t’ traumas’) can over time also lead to PTSD.
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Self-Esteem Issues

06 May, 2022
Self-esteem refers to the perception of oneself (values, abilities, self-worth, etc.). It impacts one’s relationships, mental health, and achievement. For instance, negative self-regard can lead to mood disturbances, anxiety, and loneliness; It can increase the likelihood of conflict in relationships and increase vulnerability to substance abuse. On the other hand, individuals with positive self-views are generally more likely to maintain positive relationships, maintain a positive outlook on life, and achieve success.
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Stress Management

24 Apr, 2022
It is important to look at the effect or impact that stress and anxiety has on your work and home life. A professional therapist – psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker or counsellor can assist in the stress management process.

Contact

To reach Dr. Karima Lacène directly, please phone 613-230-4709 ext. 188.

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