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La Crosse Vet Center

We offer confidential help for Veterans, service members, and their families at no cost in a non-medical setting. Our services include counseling for needs such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the psychological effects of military sexual trauma (MST). We can also connect you with more support in VA and your community.

Locations and contact information

Main Location

910 2nd Avenue North
Onalaska, WI 54650

Direct line

Hours

  • Mon. 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • Tue. 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • Wed. 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • Thu. 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • Fri. 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • Sat. Closed
  • Sun. Closed
Building exterior

Other locations

Vet Centers are community based to be more accessible in areas where you live.

View more La Crosse Vet Center locations

We also have non-traditional hours that change periodically given our community’s needs. Please call us to find out more.

Need help after hours?

Our call center is available 24/7. Call us anytime at 877-927-8387.

Prepare for your visit

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  • First-time visitor? Stop by during our office hours and let's discuss how we can help.
  • Many of our services are available on a walk-in basis.
  • Please call 608-782-4403 to schedule an appointment with one of our counselors. 
  • Non-traditional hours are available. 

There's free parking available on 3 sides of our building. Accessible parking is available near the front entrance. There's no reserved parking, so feel free to park in any available space.

You don’t need to be registered for care at VA, rated for a service-connected disability, or receiving any other form of VA benefits. On your first visit, we’ll check for one or more of the following:

  • Discharge documents (such as a DD214)
  • Receipt of certain awards
  • Deployment orders
  • Other documents that show qualifying military service

Request your military service records online

If you don’t have these documents on hand, come in and we can work with you to establish your eligibility and answer any questions you might have.

We're located on the La Crosse MTU route. 

Plan your trip with Municipal Transit (MTU)

In the spotlight at La Crosse Vet Center

Counseling services

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We offer couples and family counseling to support you as you work toward meeting your goals.

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

If someone close to you has died or you’re adjusting to a difficult life change, we’re here to support you.

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. 

If you’re struggling with issues like PTSD, depression, grief, anger, or trauma, we offer counseling and other support. We’ll work with you to help you achieve your personal goals.

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

If you experienced sexual assault or harassment during military service, we can help you get the counseling you need. Any Veteran or service member, including members of the National Guard and Reserve forces, who experienced military sexual trauma is eligible to receive counseling. This applies to people of all genders from any service era.

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. 

If you have symptoms of PTSD after a traumatic event, we can help. We offer assessment and support through private counseling and group therapy. We can also refer you to VA or community counseling for treatment and therapy resources.

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)

If you’re returning from military service, we’ll help you transition to civilian life. We can connect you with educational and career counseling, mental health services, and other programs and benefits that will support your transition.

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

Referral services

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We can help you overcome substance use problems, from unhealthy alcohol use to life-threatening addiction. We'll connect you to services for your specific needs.

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.  

Call our Veterans Crisis Line at 988 and press 1 to get support anytime day or night. This service is private, free, and available 24/7. Our Vet Center can also connect you with ongoing counseling and services.

We also provide suicide prevention educational briefings to National Guard and Reserve units throughout central northwestern Wisconsin. 

We can help connect you to VA and community resources that will support you in achieving your goals.

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.

Other services

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We provide private organizations and community agencies education on our Veteran community and military culture. Together, we build referral networks to expand support for Veterans, service members, and their families.

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.

How we’re different than a clinic

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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.

You may be eligible for Vet Center services no matter your discharge status or eligibility for VA health care. And we encourage you to contact us, even if you’re not sure if you’re eligible. If we can’t help you, we’ll find someone who can. 

If you’re a Veteran or service member (including National Guard and Reserves), you’re eligible if you meet any of these service requirements: 

  • You served on active duty in any combat theater or area of hostility, or 
  • You provided mortuary services or direct emergency medical care to treat the casualties of war while on active duty, or 
  • You were a member of an unmanned aerial vehicle crew that provided direct support to operations in a combat theater or area of hostility, or 
  • You served on active 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, or  
  • You’re a current or former member of the Coast Guard who participated in a drug interdiction operation, or 
  • You’re a current member of the Reserve Component assigned to a military command in a drill status, including active Reserves, and you need to address a behavioral health condition or psychological trauma that is related to your military service

If you’re a Veteran or service member (including National Guard and Reserves), you’re also eligible for Vet Center services if any of these descriptions is true for you: 

  • You’re a Vietnam Era Veteran who used Vet Center services before January 2, 2013, or 
  • You experienced military sexual trauma (no matter your gender or service era), or 
  • You currently use any covered VA educational assistance benefits

What are the covered educational assistance benefits?

They're benefits from any of these programs

Remember: You don’t need to be enrolled in VA health care to be eligible for Vet Center services. You don’t need to have a service-connected disability. And you can have any character of discharge.

You can use our counseling and other support services when your participation would support the growth and goals of the Veteran or service member in your family. If the Veteran or service member considers you family, so do we.  

You can also use our bereavement services if any of these descriptions is true for your family: 

  • The Veteran or service member died while serving on active duty, or

  • The Veteran was using Vet Center services at the time of their death, or

  • The Veteran or service member died by suicide 

No. You don’t have to be enrolled in VA health care or have a service-connected disability.

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.