About Youness Robert-Tahiri
Hello! I recently graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology Research from the University of Toronto. I’m passionate about youth mental health and how humour can be used to support resilience after adversity.
My Summer 1 research project explored the relationship between childhood adversity, aggression, and self-regulation — deepening my understanding of the psychological impacts of early trauma.
In Summer 2, I led a Leadership-in-Action project at SOS Children’s Villages in Cape Town, where I designed and facilitated a comedy-based mental health program for teens.
That experience led me to found HaHaHelps — an organization that uses improv comedy to support youth mental health through accessible, community-led workshops. I'm currently piloting the full program in South Africa, with plans to expand to more communities globally.
Please feel free to connect :)
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/younessrobert-tahiri
Email: youness@hahahelps.org
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Intro Content
LiA Project Outline: A Comedy-Based Psychosocial Intervention for Teenagers Experiencing Adversity
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Recent Comments
Inspiring Robert - thank you for not only doing but documenting and encouraging others.
Katherine
Thank you for your kind words, Katherine!
P.S. it's Youness ;)
Oh my goodness... I'm emotional just reminiscing. Was truly the pleasure of my life to work with you on this project Youness. Thank you! Roasted Cacao NIBS <3
JANEEE!! Thank you so much for being supportive of this since day 1 - the kids still know the dances you taught them to this day :) (I forgot to tell you this but some of your dance kids even started teaching your choreo to new kids who arrived at SOS after you left)
This is so wonderfully put Youness! The work you are doing is so amazing, and I hope that this marks the start of more long-term and sustainable scholar-community relationships.
Thank you Shoshana! Big fan of what you're doing in Malawi :)
So inspiring Youness!! Cheering for you and the work you are doing.
Thanks for your support, as always, Neha! :)
Beautifully written, Vivian - I'm a huge SOS fan, so it's great to see another scholar serving those communities :)
Such an important project, Aliyah. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to 1) witness what you did, and 2) process it enough to write about it here. I hope you're taking care of yourself, and that you realize how brave you were to engage with this type of work.
Thank you for being part of the project, Asaph! You were fantastic, and the kids absolutely loved you. Your program shed light on an urgent need in the centre (i.e., computer literacy) that may have been overlooked without your observations. Thank you for everything that you did for the kids at SOS.
Ahahaha this was a 10/10 read, Felicia :) It was also a nice trip down memory lane. Thanks for being so adaptable in that first week! Little did you know then, your first week set the stage for all the kids asking me everyday "IS IT READING WITH FELICIA TODAY?". They absolutely loved your programme.