Florence Khoriaty, stage name Florence K, has always thrived on music and writing. She has led a successful career as a pianist and singer for over twenty years and has received numerous artistic distinctions, including two Félix Awards (ADISQ) and multiple Juno Award nominations for one or another of her ten albums. In 2015 her book Buena Vida, the story of her own depression, became a bestseller highlighting society’s need to talk openly about mental health. This was followed by Nueva Vida: Dancing with Bipolar Disorder (Libre Expression, 2021).
Florence K is currently a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology and research at UQAM, where she is interested in the links between mood variability, creativity and well-being among performing artists. She conducts her research under the supervision of Arielle Bonneville-Roussy, Ph.D, and Pier-Luc de Chantal, Ph.D. She is also a lecturer in psychopathology at Université Téluq. Throughout the course of her studies, she has received the Great Graduate Award from TÉLUQ University, an Honorary Graduate Award from the Communication Department of the University of Montreal, a research grant from the Fonds de recherche du Québec, a perseverance scholarship and an engagement scholarship from the University of Montreal, along with an excellence scholarship from the University of Quebec Funds. She is the recent recipient of the ACFAS New Generation of Researchers Award and a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
She dedicates a significant portion of her time to the destigmatization of mental health and ease of accessibility to psychological care. Her conferences are highly sought after in community, educational, corporate, and health sectors. Florence also hosts the weekly radio show C’est Formidable! on CBC Radio and CBC Music and has a weekly psychology segment on the show Dessine-moi un matin on Ici Radio-Canada Première. Her new album, Brésil mon amour, is a tribute to Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Jobim.
