2016 - Dr. Michelle Lafrance

Department of Psychology
Bsc (StFX), MA (York), PhD (UNB)

Psychology Professor Dr. Michelle Lafrance has developed an international reputation for excellence in research in women’s mental health and feminist and critical psychology. She holds a BSc from St. Francis Xavier University, an MA from York University, and a PhD from the University of New Brunswick. Even though still early in her career, she has published two books, both exceptionally well-reviewed in academic journals, nine articles in peer-reviewed journals, five book chapters, three invited encyclopedia entries, and has received the Canadian Psychological Association’s Certificate of Academic Excellence. She has been invited to present her research in several countries and was recently invited to be featured in the Feminist Voices Project, an initiative that highlights the scholarship of feminist psychologists from around the world. She is also an editorial board member for Feminism & Psychology, a leading journal in its field. Her research interests are rooted in critical, postmodern, and feminist approaches, exploring the social construction of distress and well-being. She has published in the areas of women’s experiences of depression, self-care, leisure, and sexuality, including critical explorations of the medicalization of women’s distress. Her co-edited book with Dr. Sue McKenzie-Mohr, Women Voicing Resistance: discursive and narrative explorations won the Association of Women in Psychology’s Distinguished Publication Award. Dr. Lafrance has received a number of internal and external grants, and has served as an external reviewer of numerous graduate theses in Canada and internationally. Eager to foster the development of her students as researchers, she is developing a new course in qualitative psychology. Her upcoming research project will explore individual’s experiences of providing informal care with the hope of informing policy and practice in New Brunswick.