Title: Social Worker, Counselor
Location: Calgary, AB United States

After spending 20 years in the child care field working with children with special needs, Patricia Corbett decided to transition to working in counseling services. For the past 12 years, she has been privileged to work with an agency providing service to families where the parent(s) has a developmental disability. Visits take place in-home or in-community. Pat has a role of long-term, in-home support. She is grateful for the experience she has had (and continues to have) in learning about and being one part of the journey walked by these individuals in both happy and tough times. She has had the opportunity to witness day-to-day resilience (individual and family) and believes that long-term involvement helps individuals to access and utilize their own strengths and resources.

Ms. Corbett prepared for this career by receiving master’s degrees in social work and counseling. She also has a Bachelor of Education in childhood education and an education diploma in applied psychology, psychoeducational skills and guidance. Incidentally, both of her sons have autism, so she is very passionate about disabilities and helping make people’s lives more successful despite their challenges.

As a woman in today’s world, Ms. Corbett attributes her success to her passion for her work and her ability to listen to others. However, she also credits the individuals she works with. She considers it a great privilege and inspiration to be invited into someone’s home, so she does everything she can to help both the individuals and their families succeed. In correlation with her career path, she is a member of the Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association, the Alberta College of Social Workers, NAIDD and the Disability Action Hall.

Outside of her work, Ms. Corbett is an adjunct facilitator at Columbia College. Looking to the future, she expects that she will continue to learn more about topics in her field, especially prevention, function support and catalysts, international classification and functioning capacity. She is also working with her son Nathan to create an inspirational photo book called “Sky’s the Limit.”

Contact Patricia Corbett: