Footsteps Counseling

10/19/2026

💜 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESOURCES IN THE ABERDEEN COMMUNITY 💜

As we continue recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we want to make sure our community knows that help, support, and resources are available.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or s*xual assault, you do not have to navigate it alone.

🟣 SAFE HARBOR
24-Hour Help Line:
📞 605-226-1212
📞 888-290-2935

📍 2005 S. Merton St.
Aberdeen, SD 57401

Safe Harbor provides support and resources to victims of s*xual assault and domestic abuse throughout Northeast South Dakota.

Services include:

Emergency shelter

Safety planning

Monitored child visits

Protection orders

Support groups

Accompaniment during medical appointments and legal hearings

Additional referrals and community resources

🌐 Website: https://safeharborsd.org/

🟣 BROWN COUNTY CRIME VICTIM ASSISTANCE
📞 605-626-7130

📍 22 Court St., Suite 2
Aberdeen, SD 57401

Located within the Brown County State Attorney's Office, Crime Victim Assistance supports victims as they navigate the criminal justice system from arrest through prosecution.

They can assist with:

Understanding court dates and the criminal justice process

Understanding criminal charges

Applying for South Dakota Crime Victim's Compensation

Communicating needs, wishes, and restitution requests

Connecting victims with counseling and other community services

Referrals for food, shelter, legal services, and other assistance

Connecting victims with Safe Harbor and additional resources

Accompaniment and support throughout the process

💜 YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Reaching out for help can be difficult, but asking for support is a strength—not a weakness.

If you don't need these resources yourself, consider saving and sharing this post. Someone in our community may need this information today, tomorrow, or someday in the future.

Let's continue building an Aberdeen community where survivors are believed, supported, and connected to the resources they need.

🟣 Know the resources. Share the resources. Be the support.

10/19/2026

Lauren provides compassionate, culturally inclusive mental health care for children, adolescents, and adults. She supports individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, grief and loss, mood disorders, ADHD, anger, and alcohol or substance use concerns. Please contact our office to get scheduled with Lauren today! Call 605-725-2155 to get your appointment scheduled.

Counseling and therapy in Aberdeen, South Dakota for Individuals, couples, family and group therapy. Footsteps offers Court ordered groups like anger management, domestic violence and MRT.

10/19/2026

Lauren provides compassionate, culturally inclusive mental health care for children, adolescents, and adults. She supports individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, grief and loss, mood disorders, and alcohol or substance use concerns. Please contact our office to get scheduled with Lauren today!

10/18/2026

BREAKING THE STIGMA AROUND ASKING FOR HELP

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.

For someone experiencing domestic violence, reaching out can take an incredible amount of courage.

They may worry about:

What people will think
Whether they will be believed
Being blamed or judged
Losing their home or financial stability
What will happen to their children
What the abusive person might do if they find out
Whether things will actually get better

These fears are real.

That's why we need to create a community where asking for help is met with compassion instead of judgment.

If someone tells you they are experiencing abuse, you don't need to have all the answers.

You can simply say:

💜 “I believe you.”
💜 “This is not your fault.”
💜 “You don't deserve this.”
💜 “You don't have to go through this alone.”
💜 “How can I support you?”

And if you are the person who needs help:

You are not weak.
You are not a burden.
You are not to blame.
And you don't have to figure everything out at once.

Taking the first step can simply mean telling one safe person what you're going through.

🟣 Let's break the stigma. Let's replace judgment with compassion. Let's make it safer to ask for help.

10/17/2026

Who does domestic violence affect?

Domestic violence affects more than the person experiencing the abuse.

It can affect:

💜 Survivors — physically, emotionally, financially, and socially.

💜 Children — even when they are not directly abused, witnessing or living around violence can have lasting effects.

💜 Family members — parents, siblings, grandparents, and other loved ones may experience fear, stress, or helplessness.

💜 Friends and coworkers — they may notice changes, worry about someone they care about, or struggle with how to help.

💜 Pets — animals can be used to intimidate, control, or hurt survivors, and may also experience abuse themselves.

💜 Communities — domestic violence affects schools, workplaces, healthcare systems, shelters, courts, and other community resources.

Domestic violence doesn't happen in isolation. Its effects can reach far beyond the walls of the home.

Children may struggle with fear or anxiety. Loved ones may feel helpless. Survivors may face financial, emotional, physical, and social consequences long after an abusive incident.

And yet, support can make a difference.

Listening without judgment. Believing survivors. Helping someone access resources. Checking in. Creating safe spaces. Speaking up about abuse.

We all have a role in creating communities where violence is not normalized, survivors are supported, and everyone deserves to feel safe. 💜

Domestic violence affects us all. Ending it takes all of us.

10/16/2026

💜 WHY LEAVING ISN'T ALWAYS SIMPLE 💜

One of the most common questions people ask about domestic violence is:

“Why don't they just leave?”

The reality is that leaving an abusive relationship can be complicated, and sometimes leaving can increase a survivor's risk of harm.

There may be many barriers, including:

• Fear of retaliation or further violence
• Financial dependence or lack of access to money
• Having children and concerns about their safety
• Housing or transportation challenges
• Isolation from family and friends
• Threats involving children, pets, or loved ones
• Immigration or legal concerns
• Fear of losing employment or financial stability
• Emotional attachment, hope that things will change, or years of manipulation
• Lack of access to safe resources or support

A survivor may also be planning to leave but may not be able to do so immediately.

💜 Leaving is a process, not a single moment.

Instead of asking, “Why don't you leave?” consider asking:

“How can I support you?”
“What would help you feel safer?”
“I'm here when you're ready.”

Support without judgment can help someone feel less alone.

We don't always know what someone is facing behind closed doors. Let's choose compassion over judgment.

10/16/2026

NATIONAL BOSS’S DAY

On October 16, National Boss's Day, also known as National Boss Day or Bosses Day, recognizes the hardworking boss overseeing the workplace. Employees across the United States show appreciation and thankfulness to their bosses. They remember their boss's kindness and fairness throughout the year, too.

National Boss's Day is celebrated during the 16th of October. However, if October 16th falls on a weekend, then this day is celebrated on the closest working day.


Many leaders carry heavy loads. They oversee many employees and guide their careers, too. While their position holds them responsible for a department, business, or organization and leading it to success, their list of responsibilities is multifaceted.

Some bosses have bosses themselves. Depending on the size of an organization, those bosses also answer to someone else. In fact, everyone has a boss of some kind. If your boss is the owner, they still answer to the taxman, the customers, and their merchants. Keeping a business running smoothly with outstanding employees requires balance. These bosses know how to put their best employees forward and lead with the confidence that we look up to.

HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL BOSS'S DAY

We can celebrate our bosses in numerous ways.

Give your boss the day off with a game of golf.
Host a potluck with your boss's favorite foods.
Have everyone in the office sign a card of appreciation.
Invite customers or clients to share memories of your boss.
Create a timeline of your boss's accomplishments.

10/15/2026

NATIONAL GROUCH DAY

Attention, all you grumblers, moaners, and professional complainers! October 15th is National Grouch Day, the one day of the year you can be your truest, most miserable self without anyone telling you to "turn that frown upside down." So go ahead, let out that groan you've been holding in. Today, misery loves company, and we're all invited to the pity party.


For the uninitiated (and frankly, overly cheerful), a grouch is a master of the complaint, a connoisseur of cantankerousness. They find joy (a word they would despise) only when their coffee is cold, the WiFi is slow, and everyone else is just as unhappy as they are.

A true grouch communicates through a unique dialect of backhanded compliments ("That's the least ugly sweater I've ever seen you wear") and withering scowls. They are fluent in sighs, eye-rolls, and the fine art of finding the single dark cloud in an otherwise sunny sky. Noise, silence, cheerfulness, sadness—it all makes a grouch generally, and delightfully, unpleasant.

Sometimes grumps give backhanded compliments. "Your house looked horrible until you painted it." Other times they don't give them at all. Noise, silence, general activity makes a grouch generally unpleasant.

It seems that a grouch may be happy (although they would never admit it) only when others are unhappy and grouchy. It is then that they feel most comfortable with having others share in their grumpy, cantankerous, surly world with them.

National Grouch Day would be a good time to send a grouch e-card and then ask a friend, whether they be a grouch or not, to come on over, sit back, share some popcorn, relax and watch the movie Grumpy Old Men!

HOW TO MISERABLY CELEBRATE NATIONAL GROUCH DAY
If you're ready to ruin the day, here are some perfectly awful ways to "celebrate."

1. Practice your most disappointed-looking frown in the mirror.
2. Give a backhanded compliment to an annoyingly cheerful coworker.
3. Watch Grumpy Old Men and take detailed notes on technique.
4. Complain about the weather, regardless of what the weather is.
5. Demand to speak to the manager... about the perfectly acceptable quality of your service.
6. Share your most irritating pet peeve using
. Don't hold back.

May your toast land butter-side down, and may your remote be just out of reach.
We hope the jelly from your sardine sandwich makes your keyboard sticky!

10/15/2026

YWCA WEEK WITHOUT VIOLENCE

The annual Week Without Violence with the YWCA aims to end violence against women and girls. The global movement observance takes place each year during the third week of October.


Every human has a right to safety. This is why violence is a violation of that basic human right. Unfortunately, violence against women and girls is prevalent. An estimated 35 percent of women throughout the world have been victims of violence at some point in their life. Some evidence suggests the number is much higher. Up to 70 percent of women may have experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner. Men who witnessed their fathers using violence against their mothers are more likely to do the same to their partner.

Women who experience violence against them have higher rates of depression. Sadly, some women do not survive violent acts against them. Throughout the world, 137 women are killed every day by a member of their own family. In 2017, more than 30,000 women were killed intentionally by their current or former intimate partner.

Violence comes in various forms. These include forced s*x, ge***al mutilation, bullying, cyber-harassment, s*xual harassment, and psychological violence.

Less than 40 percent of women who experience violence seek help. Much needs to be done to end gender-based violence. Boys must be raised to know that violence against women is never okay. Men must be held accountable for their actions. Ensuring that women get the help they need is vitally important. Whole communities can work together to end violence against women. Communities with access to education, jobs, housing, health care, and affordable childcare have lower rates of violence against women.

HOW TO OBSERVE
The World Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization that has a presence in over 120 countries. Some of the YWCA Week Without Violence events include podcasts by survivors of domestic violence, a Capitol Hill call-in day, live YouTube videos, and engaging Twitter chats.

6 Ways to Support YWCA Week

commit to supporting friends or family members who are in abusive relationships

volunteer at your local domestic violence shelter

ask about anti-violence policies at work and at school

teach your children to treat others with respect

let children know they are the ones who decide who touches them and where

lead by example and don’t be violent or abusive yourself

Spread awareness by sharing on social media.

10/15/2026

💜 HOW ABUSE CAN ESCALATE 💜

Abuse can begin with behaviors that may seem small or easy to dismiss. Over time, those behaviors can become more frequent, more controlling, or more dangerous.

Not every situation follows the same pattern, but recognizing changes can be important.

🚩 Escalation may involve:

• Increasing jealousy or possessiveness
• More frequent monitoring of phones, locations, or activities
• Growing isolation from friends and family
• Increasing control over money, transportation, or daily decisions
• More frequent insults, threats, or intimidation
• Destroying property or using violence during conflicts
• Increasing restrictions on a person's independence
• Threats toward a partner, children, pets, family members, or themselves
• Abuse becoming more frequent or severe over time

An abusive person may also apologize, promise to change, or temporarily behave differently after an incident. A promise to change does not erase a pattern of abuse.

💜 Recognizing escalation isn't about blaming someone for staying. It's about understanding that abuse can change over time and that safety and support matter.

If you are concerned about your own safety or someone else's, consider talking with a domestic violence advocate about creating a personalized safety plan.

You deserve safety. You deserve support. You deserve a life free from abuse.