On March 8, 2022, International Women’s Day, the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS) pledged to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of individuals in the community (Medicine Hat & surrounding area) who lead, inspire, and motivate women and work to break the bias towards advancing gender equity. Each month the MHPS, in partnership with the Medicine Hat Police Association, selects a local individual(s) to highlight with the “Be The Change” award, and celebrate the achievements of these individuals who are catalysts for change in our community.

For the month of January, Leah Fischer was chosen as the recipient. Leah is a Registered Provisional Psychologist serving in Alberta. For the last 25 years, she has dedicated her time to helping individuals and families, most notably mothers and mothers-to-be, navigate difficult circumstances and issues to uncover their best life.

After completing her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology, Leah spent eight years facilitating rehabilitation with young offenders in Regina, SK. Following that, she began an 18-year career with a non-profit agency providing early intervention to young families. There she supported prenatal and postnatal knowledge attainment in attachment, child development, healthy families and eventually became the lead for the home-visitation team.

In 2016, Leah began her Masters in Counselling Psychology and focused her research on pre and post natal anxiety and depression. Today she remains passionate about women’s issues and provides support to women for miscarriages and infant loss.

Leah believes that ‘lived experience gives you passion and ability’ and draws from her own personal experience to support others. When raising her babies, Leah was living away from her extended family and found herself struggling to navigate motherhood without a support system. She recalls “feeling like she needed more”, an experience which fueled her passion to ensure that other new mothers were never left to feel alone.

Leah notes that despite research which confirms the significant challenges women face mental and physically as they enter motherhood, support systems are not as readily available to address these concerns as is commonplace for other illnesses such as heart disease. She also acknowledges the expectations often placed on woman to ‘bounce back’ after giving birth and exude a ‘Superwoman persona’ as being simply unrealistic. Women experiencing these changes need to know, ‘It is ok to not feel ok’ and when and where to seek out help.

Leah’s has a vision of creating a Women’s Institute of Health that would focus on assisting women in every stage of life. Doing so she feels would not only strengthen individual women, but also their families, their workforce and society as a whole. In the interim, Leah continues to offer her time to others through coaching, consultation, psychoeducation and psychotherapy.

Thank you Leah, for your passion and efforts to provide the utmost compassion, care and support to women in need throughout Medicine Hat and all of Alberta. We look forward to the day that your future visions come to fruition.

Upon receiving the award Leah shared the following message:

Thank you, Carissa and the MHPS. I am honored to represent women and be recognized among those that choose to make a difference. In the words of Maya Angelou, “I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.”

I have come from a long line of strong women that have demonstrated to me that adversity does not mean helplessness. Their struggles, and min, have shown me the depths of power of the female spirit. Women such as Joan of Arc, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Tina Turner, Malala Yousafzai or an unknown Grace O’Malley that is said to have fought off an attack from Turkish pirates the day after giving birth, have shown us all examples that we can be challenged and persevere.

At the time of our struggles, it may seem that we are alone but that is something we must not accept as truth. Our experiences are common to many other women. When we share our stories, we all gain experience, and we find our strength together. By using all of our adversities and being the change, you wish to see in the world, women can change the experiences of those that come after us. I hope to do that with my work in our community.