You may be asking who I am...
Valerie M. Sipos, M.C., CCC
…born in The Pas, Manitoba and raised in Canada’s North, the Indigenous worldview is something that I hold close and continues to guide me in everything I do. Third in a line of nine children and socialized in small, isolated communities, I learned at a very young age the value of simple basic truths. Aligned with cultural teachings, I define myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and attend to each of these parts of myself daily. When life gets complicated, as it often does, I have learned to simplify by returning to these core values.
At the age of 16, I moved from the north with my family to southern Alberta and completed my high school in Lethbridge, Alberta. I married, had, and raised two beautiful children before studying at the post-secondary level.
I was granted a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Psychology by the University of Lethbridge, the first in my family to do so. After relocating to Calgary and changing careers mid-stream, I began employment with Mount Royal University early in 2003. I embraced the chance to share my learning and worked as a life coach to Indigenous students, on their own journey pursuing an undergraduate degree. Along with my life experience, I brought with me a strong background in large corporations and strengths in HR functioning and project management. I loved the opportunity that Mount Royal offered me to work with Indigenous peoples from a diverse range of backgrounds each rich with their own belief systems and cultures. My personal theory for therapeutic change began to develop, which led to my embarking on a graduate degree in counselling where I continued to see it evolve. I left Mount Royal to work for Hull Services for the next eight years leaning into a program that serves to influence Indigenous families in their pursuit of healing from intergenerational trauma. I am excited to move on to the next chapter of my counselling career in private practice.
I make my home in Calgary’s SE and consider family and community to be a priority. I am grandmother to four beautiful granddaughters and two grandsons who are the loves of my life. The mountains and some great hiking and snow shoeing are only a short drive away. I love music and live theatre and enjoy living in Calgary for its rich offerings of both.
