About Youness Robert-Tahiri
Hello! I am a senior undergraduate student in the Psychology Research program at the University of Toronto. I am passionate about children's mental health and the many ways that youth can overcome adversity. I am especially interested in developing interventions that promote resilience for survivors of childhood adversity. I balance this emotionally heavy passion with a deep appreciation of the world of comedy. This entails performing comedic improvisations at various venues in the city. As such, I am also fascinated by the relationship between comedy and mental health.
My Summer 1 research project explored the relationship between childhood adversity, childhood aggression, and childhood self-regulation.
My Summer 2 Leadership-in-Action project involved me independently developing and implementing a comedy-based psychosocial intervention for teenagers experiencing adversity at SOS Children's Villages in Cape Town, South Africa.
Please feel free to reach out to connect :)
Recent Comments
Hi Youness, this looks amazing! I have emailed you regarding arranging a meeting to discuss this further - looking forward to hearing more about it!
Thanks, Helen! Just sent you an email—looking forward to chatting! :)
This sounds like a fantastic initiative! I’ve just sent you an email and look forward to the opportunity to connect and discuss it further. :)
Thanks, Amanda! I just replied to your email—looking forward to our conversation! :)
This sounds like an amazing opportunity. I am already pursuing another project (geographically not too far from this opportunity, though). All the best with finding the right people to take part in it! :)
Thanks so much, Cothney! That’s amazing to hear—wishing you all the best with your project as well. Sounds like you’re working on something great! :)
Hi Youness, sounds great! I’ve sent you an email, looking forward to chatting to you about this.
Hi Tia, thanks for reaching out! I just replied to your email—looking forward to our chat! :)
So proud of you, Neha!!
This is such a great initiative, Amy! I had an extremely fulfilling time completing my LiA project out of SOS Children's Villages in Cape Town, South Africa last summer; if any scholars reading this have any questions regarding my experience there, please feel free to reach out.
As you know, dear Youness, the wonderful thing about improv is that we always say, «Yes, and…», acknowledging and accepting what has gone before (never refusing a proposal), and building on it, taking a step forward and creating a springboard for the next line in the scene. What you describe in your report as the ‘irony’ of using improvisation skills to rescue your show is a testament both to the power of improv as a performance art but also to the transferability of the skills you master and teach so enthusiastically. Young people who can improvise on stage will go away with so many useful competences for their future lives: positivity and respect, flexibility and resilience, trust and courage. By the way, I have used Emotional Quadrants in improv myself. While reading your report, I began in the ‘curious’ quadrant, walked through ‘amused’ and ‘impressed’, and finished the journey ‘deeply moved’. Thank you for sharing your experience, and for your support for SOS Children’s Villages.
Wow, thank you so much for your supportive words, Marc! If there was an ideal takeaway that I wanted readers to have from my report, it is exactly what you described. I am so grateful to connect with open-minded individuals like yourself who understand the possibility of using comedy to support child development.
This is so interesting, Bennett! I was in Cape Town for my project, but I was in your area near the end. Great job!