Dr. Sidlauskas was born in Lithuania and completed all of her education there until she had finished her undergraduate studies at the University of Kaunas (M.A. Philosophy 1936).  She then went to Milan, Italy as a scholarship student, to begin her Ph.D. programme in Psychology at Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. In June 1939, with just her Ph.D. thesis to complete, she returned to Lithuania and was immediately caught up in the chaos that preceded the beginning of World War II.  There were no jobs in her field so by then fluent in Italian, she was hired by the Italian Embassy in Kaunas, which was then the capital of Lithuania.

In 1940 Lithuania was occupied by the U.S.S.R. and the round up of Lithuanian intellectuals, which continued almost unabated until the 1970’s, made it very dangerous for her to remain in her homeland.  With the help of the Italian ambassador she was able to escape Lithuania in August 1940 and return to Italy.  She did not set foot on her native soil again or see any members of her family until 1970.

In 1943 she was awarded her Ph.D. in Child Psychology in Milan.  She remained in Italy, teaching at the university, until 1948 when she emigrated to Canada as a ‘Displaced Person’. She worked in Montreal as a domestic for two years, spent one year as an Honorary Fellow at the University of Minnesota, and in 1951 accepted a full time teaching position at the University of Ottawa, School of Psychology.

In 1955 she founded the Child Guidance Centre which later became the Child Study Centre.  She remained on the academic staff of the university until her retirement in 1979. She was the Director of the Child Study Centre as well as Professor of Child Psychology teaching M.A. and Ph.D. students, and for a period of time in the 1970’s, she was also Chairman of the Department of Child Psychology.

After her retirement from the University of Ottawa in 1979 she was the Clinical Director of the ‘Canadian Association of Learning Through Listening’ in Aurora, Ontario and also Consultant Psychologist to Toronto Montessori Schools and the North York Board of Education.

In 1981 Dr. Sidlauskas founded Venta Preparatory School. She was the Principal until 1993.  She remains very much involved in the operation of the school as Psychologist and she also sits on the school’s Board of Directors.