
ARE YOU DEFINED
BY YOUR MISTAKES
OR BY HOW
YOU RESPOND
TO THEM?
VALERIE JENCKS, MS, LMFT, LCPC
SPEAKER, AUTHOR, STORYTELLER
RELATIONSHIP EXPERT & PSYCHOTHERAPIST
RESILIENT
LIVING
re·sil·ient:
able to withstand or recover from difficult conditions.
Teflon® is resilient.
Kevlar® is resilient.
What makes a person resilient?
When my kids were young, I wanted to teach them to embrace mistakes when they happened.
I wanted them to see failure as an opportunity to learn, and not as an indictment of their worth.
Why?
Because resilience develops when we learn how to find opportunity in spite of adversity!
Easier said than done!
When failure happens, we often create stories to explain our experience. Some of those stories become beliefs that we live by and might not serve us well. In my twenty-seven years as a psychotherapist, I have learned how sharing our stories of failure creates the opportunity to rewrite those unhealthy beliefs, freeing us to be our best most resilient selves.
~Valerie


ABOUT
SPEAKER | RELATIONSHIP EXPERT | HUMOROUS STORYTELLER
Having over 25 years of experience as a Marriage and Family Therapist and close to 30 years as a mom, Valerie brings an expert's perspective to conversations on life, relationships and mental health. Her brilliant use of comedy and storytelling invites listeners to welcome their own challenges and adversity as gifts of growth and strength.
Valerie has a down-to-earth style, bringing humor and professionalism to everything from motivational speaking and keynote delivery to event moderating and on-air interviews. In person, on radio or for television, Valerie's wisdom and upbeat attitude is a hit with every audience!
From college students to faculty, teens to parents, Republicans to Democrats, cats to dogs - Valerie's years of work with the most contentious clients fuels her humor and diplomacy with each crowd. Everyone walks away with a story and a SMILE.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
PAST APPEARANCES INCLUDE:
TEDxIIT | Anxiety and Depression Association of America | Sierra Tucson
Northern Illinois Employee Assistance Professionals Association | WCIU - Chicago
TLN-Total Living Network | Rosecrance | American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
The Family Institute at Northwestern University | Second City Training Center
Argonne National Laboratory | Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder
Zanies, Chicago & Rosemont | Illinois Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
Hazelden | Loyola University | WMAQ-TV - Chicago | the kates | Sage Publications
Adler University | International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals
Horizon Michigan Women's Conference | Piven Theatre | CRC Health Corporation
Timberline Knolls | American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
Western Positive Psychology Association | Knox College
Network of Independent Interventionists | The Daring Way Midwest Conference
