Volunteers of America’s LifeMarks provides outpatient counseling, mediation, and crisis intervention services to individuals, groups, and families. A sliding fee scale is available thanks to the support of United Way.

Counseling Services

Volunteers of America LifeMarks’ professional staff counsels individuals, couples, and families on issues involving problems in living, depression and anxiety, grief and loss, challenging behaviors, and crisis situations. They offer help with alcohol and drug addictions as well as physical, sexual and emotional abuse issues. Parenting and relationship counseling are also available.

Psychiatric Services

Volunteers of America outpatient program provides psychiatric services to our participants, the community, and surrounding region.

Mediation

Mediation helps families make difficult and complex decisions. An impartial and neutral third party hears each person’s concerns. In a non-adversarial way, mediation resolves emotionally charged situations. LifeMarks offers parent and child, divorce, and child custody/visitation mediation.

Custody Evaluations

An evaluation is a process of evaluating parents and children to determine a custody/visitation arrangement.

Assessment

These services include psychological assessment and chemical dependency assessment through testing and evaluation. Home studies and custody/visitation evaluations are also available.

Career Planning

Career planning involves the client in four to ten hours of personal and professional exploration. The session will assess personality, skills, interests, values, goals, and ability to handle difficult situations. Clients can research career options, work environments, geographic locations, and salary ranges. They can learn resume writing, interview techniques, educational options, networking, and informational interviewing.

Groups

Anger Management

This is a therapeutic group to help adolescents deal with emotional issues, including addressing feelings and appropriate behaviors.

Sexual Assault Group for Female Youth

Volunteers of America’s support group for adolescent females ages 12 to 18 is available for those who have experienced sexual trauma. This group provides a safe, confidential environment that facilitates the healing process. The group runs for ten weeks, approximately three times a year, and is facilitated by Volunteers of America, Dakotas’ outpatient staff. It meets for one and one-half hours weekly. As Volunteers of America, Dakotas holds confidentiality in the highest regard, we close this group to new members after session two. Within the ten-week period, the therapist guides participating individuals through activities and discussion. These activities will enhance self-esteem, self-exploration, and feeling identification. The group will also provide opportunity for the following:                                       

• Support and encouragement in breaking the silence of their trauma. 
• Receiving and giving valuable response. 
• Assertiveness education. 
• Education on healthy and unhealthy relationships.
• Strategies to increase the ability to handle difficult situations. 
• Educational presentations on sexually transmitted diseases and other health related issues.

Telephone	Fax
(605) 332-6128	(605) 335-3121