Director

Dr Sébastien Normand, Ph.D., C.Psych. is Professor in the Department of Psychoeducation and Psychology and Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Program on Children's Mental Health (PRISME) at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO). He is also a regular researcher with the Institut du savoir Montfort, the Groupe de recherche sur l'inadaptation psychosociale chez l'enfant (GRIP) and the Groupe de neurosciences sociales, cognitives et cliniques de l'UQO. He is a clinical professor at the University of Ottawa School of Psychology and a part-time pediatric psychologist at Hôpital Montfort. His research interests focus on (1) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), (2) children's friendships, (3) behavioural interventions focusing on friendships, (4) parenting skills training programs and (5) parental involvement in the management of ADHD.

Career path and key influences

Professor Normand obtained his bachelor's degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal (offered by extension at UQO) in 2005 and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Barry H. Schneider, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Ottawa and an internationally renowned expert in the field of developmental psychopathology and children's friendships. Professor Schneider's contributions to the field of children's friendships are rich, ranging from the theoretical roots underlying the friendship construct, the importance of friendship in children's adjustment, the methods for observing dyadic friendship interactions in youth, the friendship challenges experienced by children with developmental difficulties, the cultural implications in friendship, and the therapeutic techniques for facilitating friendship among children. In his doctoral thesis (and subsequent studies), Dr. Normand used measures developed by Professor Schneider and his Italian colleagues (see Fonzi et al., 1997) to observe individual differences in the dyadic interactions of children with and without Attention/Deficit- Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Dr. Normand completed his pediatric psychology residency in 2011 at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, including a clinical research rotation under the supervision of Dr. Rosemary Tannock, a renowned expert in the field of attention and learning disorders.

Université du Québec en Outaouais (2011-...)

Dr. Normand began his career as a Professor of Clinical Child Psychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in September 2011. He was awarded tenure and the rank of associate professor on May 1, 2015. Dr. Normand was promoted to full professor on May 1, 2024. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles published in highly regarded journals, and frequently presents his work at international conferences in the field of developmental psychopathology. His work is financially supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Fonds de recherche québécois sur la société et la culture (FRQSC) and the Institut du savoir Montfort.

He is UQO's University Delegate to the CIHR, a regular member of the CIHR College of Reviewers, and a member of the Research Committee of the Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA). He is an ad hoc reviewer for various scientific journals (e.g., Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (IF=5.9), Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (IF=4.2), Plos One (IF=3.7), and Psychological Assessment (IF=3.6) and Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology (IF=2.5).

He teaches the following courses at the bachelor's level in psychology (Developmental Psychology) and at the doctoral level in clinical psychology (Psychological Assessment of Children and Adolescents, Group Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy). Professor Normand is a member of UQO's Doctoral Program Committee (D.Ps.) in Clinical Psychology.