La Crosse Vet Center
Contact us to learn more about substance abuse counseling and/or assistance with local resources. We also have a licensed substance abuse counselor available to meet your needs.
If you're interested in receiving support and supporting others struggling with substance abuse, our virtual Reliable Recovery group may be what you are looking for. We use approaches such as Seeking Safety and SMART Recovery. Contact our office to schedule a meeting to discuss the group in detail.
We provide marriage, couples, and family counseling to help meet your goals.
Our counselors offer evidence-based methods, including these:
- Gottman
- Solution-Focused
- Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy
- Structural Family Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy
We present Vet Center services to units stationed and/or training at Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin, as well as National Guard and Reserve units located in central and northwestern Wisconsin.
We provide educational presentations and build supportive networks with local organizations, such as these:
- Local police departments
- Colleges and universities
- Wisconsin Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee
Please call us if you'd like to learn more.
We provide bereavement counseling to families and loved ones who have lost someone while serving on active duty and to family members of Veterans who were receiving services at the time of their death. We can help you get connected to local burial and survivor resources.
We provide individual, marriage, family, and group counseling, in-person or virtually.
Our counselors are trained and/or certified in the following:
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Our group options include:
- Vietnam-era
- Persian Gulf
- Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)
- Female Veterans
- Spouses
- Military sexual trauma
Contact us for male and female individual services and current groups focusing on military sexual trauma.
Women Empowering Women is a group that helps female Veterans process their traumatic experiences and build supportive networks with other female survivors.
We understand each Veteran and service member has experienced different traumas and these different experiences require unique treatment goals. We're here to assist you in a supportive and non-judgmental environment. We offer a safe and non-clinical place to receive services, resources, and referrals.
Our counselors are licensed and certified in a variety of evidence-based methods, including these:
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
We can assist you in locating and connecting with local resources regarding benefits you have earned from your time in service. This includes:
- Learning about VA education benefits
- Filing a military-related disability claim
- Enrolling in the VA health care system
We also provide suicide prevention educational briefings to National Guard and Reserve units throughout central northwestern Wisconsin.
We understand that the transition from military to civilian life can be challenging. We offer a variety of ways to assist you in that process such as:
- How to get VA medical benefits and register for care
- Where to go to file claims and other forms
- Understanding your VA education benefits
- Learning about housing and home loans
- Learning about VA burial benefits
We can also connect you to your local County Veterans Service Office.
How we're different than a clinic (FAQs)
How we’re different than a clinic
What are Vet Centers?
Vet Centers are small, non-medical, counseling centers conveniently located in your community. They’re staffed by highly trained counselors and team members dedicated to seeing you through the challenges that come with managing life during and after the military.
Whether you come in for one-on-one counseling or to participate in a group session, at Vet Centers you can form social connections, try new things, and build a support system with people who understand you and want to help you succeed.
Who is eligible to receive services at Vet Centers?
Vet Center services are available to you at no cost, regardless of discharge character, and without you needing to be enrolled in VA health care or having a service-connected disability. If you’re a Veteran or service member, including members of the National Guard and Reserve, you can access our services if you:
- Served on active military duty in any combat theater or area of hostility
- Experienced military sexual trauma (regardless of gender or service era)
- Provided mortuary services or direct emergent medical care to treat the casualties of war while serving on active military duty
- Performed as a member of an unmanned aerial vehicle crew that provided direct support to operations in a combat theater or area of hostility
- Accessed care at a Vet Center prior to January 2, 2013, as a Vietnam-Era Veteran
- Served on active military duty in response to a national emergency or major disaster declared by the president, or under orders of the governor or chief executive of a state in response to a disaster or civil disorder in that state.
- Are a current or former member of the Coast Guard who participated in a drug interdiction operation, regardless of the location.
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Are a current member of the Reserve Components assigned to a military command in a drilling status, including active Reserves, who has a behavioral health condition or psychological trauma related to military service that adversely effects quality of life or adjustment to civilian life.
We encourage you to contact us, even if you’re unsure if you meet these criteria. If we can’t help you, we’ll find someone who will.
Our services are also available to family members when their participation would support the growth and goals of the Veteran or active-duty service member. If you consider them family, so do we. We also offer bereavement services to family members of Veterans who were receiving Vet Center services at the time of the Veteran’s death, and to the families of service members who died while serving on active duty.
Do I have to be enrolled in VA health care to access Vet Center services?
No. You don’t have to be enrolled in VA health care or have a service-connected disability.
What about my privacy?
Safe and confidential. Our records can’t be accessed by other VA offices, the DoD, military units, or other community networks and providers without your permission or unless required to avert a life-threatening situation. Here, you can be as open as you want—there’s absolutely no judgment.