Life Skills teaches the skills that a person would have learned had they grown up in a balanced, healthy home with two perfect parents. Of course, no one is perfect, so some things get missed. It's like a self-parenting class which develops skills that will enable each individual to rebuild their life, improve their self-image, improve relationships and where applicable, to even offer hope of reconciliation and restoration. These skills help participants learn to rebuild their lives and improve their self image. Are you ready to live life to it's fullest potential?

PHYSICAL ABUSE:Any touch not given in love, respect or dignity. EMOTIONAL ABUSE: Any communication, admonition, reprimand or reproof that does not uplift, edify, or bring conflict resolution. Domestic abuse can range from a look to a gunshot. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU ARE, ABUSE IS NEVER OKAY! Anger is amoral, It is neither right nor wrong. The emotion of anger is not the problem, but how we mishandle it. Anger is an emotional reaction to certain kinds of stress-producing situations and is always the secondary emotion. More basic emotions underlie it. Basic emotion examples are: hurt, resentment, disappointment, frustration, helplessness, anxiey or fear. Are you aware that there are 19 forms of abuse? Abuse is not just physical. All forms of abuse are devastating and destroy the individuals and the relationships. Some forms of abuse are so subtle that people accepts them as a part of their every day life.

Phase 1 is 30 weeks long. Each class meets once a week for 3 hours. You can miss up to 3 classes BUT YOU MUST do a makeup class in order to complete the course. Makeups are double your regular class fee.

You can still join up until the second week after the start date of any phase 1 course ONLY if the class is not full.

See the questions below . . . . . It's not all about anger. It is about the expectations we learned as a child that we carry into adulthood. When it comes to domestic abuse, did you know that it involves not only physical abuse, but sexual, emotional, verbal, silence, religious, and even rejection? There are more than 20 forms of abuse. Some forms of abuse are so subtle that people accept them as OK and normal. All forms of this issue are devestating and destroy the individual and their relationships. Can you say "Yes" to one or more of the following statements? There is blaming, cursing, hostile humor or name calling in the heat of an argument I see a dual personality in my friend/partner/myself - nice and cruel. I make excuses for my friend/partner or my own negative behavior. There was abuse and/or rejection in my family while growing up. If the other person would just change, I would be better. I can't express my own opinion. It is not safe. I have trouble communicating. I have unrealistic expectations for myself and others. I tend to be perfectionistic. My life choices just don't seem to be working out for me. Either I or my partner needs to be in control of everything all the time. I feel angry, on edge, anxious, depressed, trapped, fearful and/or suicidal. I find myself yelling at the others, especially those I love. I have been a victim of verbal, sexual, and/or physical abuse. I struggle with feelin rejected and lonely. I continue to pick the same kind of partner and it fails every time. My partner/friend seems to tune me out and never really communicates with me. I have gone to a lot of couseling in the past and still struggle with understanding the root issues of my behavior. If you answered "YES" to one of more of the above statements, then LIFE SKILLS IS FOR YOU!

The course is charged on a sliding scale based on annual income. The class fees range from $30 to $90 per week. Please contact the office at 928-202-8687 for pricing.

An intake appointment is approximately 45 minutes long and is the official meeting needed to start a class. There is a non-refundable $55 processing and material fee due at the appointment. The purpose is to meet with a Life Skills facilitator. We will explain in further detail class details, pay structure, commitment level and most of all to help you feel comfortable with the choice you are making. Please note: You CANNOT complete your intake appointment over the phone - it's a mandatory in person appointment.

No, men and women meet separately in a group atmosphere. Life Skills focuses on the individual, in order to assist with their issues and needs.

Life Skills works by restarting the maturing process. In closed, gender separate classes, each person has the ability to express him or herself in a safe, supportive environment where they learn to apply the skills that are taught in the "Learning to Live . . . Learning to Love" curriculum. A group dynamic allows each person to safely share personal experiences with others who have similar backgrounds. For many, these classes are the first time they have been able to receive encouragement, instead of condemnation for certain areas of their lives.

Many people call us with questions about what to do in specific situations: usually at a crisis point in their lives. If the crisis is domestic abuse, our first and foremost concern is that the individual and children are safe. Life Skills works by teaching individuals how to see options (at least 3 options for every situation) and to make decisions for themselves and for their own lives. In Life Skills, we call it moving from the age of directive to the age of decision.

How long have you been trying your solutions to resolve whatever is going on in your life and how is the progress? In many cases, a lack of progress is not because of a lack of effort - the effort has usually been extreme. The lack of progress is because of inadequate tools or skills - because most of us were never taught the skills or tools to deal with life's every day relationship issues.

Before beginning classes you must have an intake appoinment with your facilitator. The intake appointment takes approximately 45 minutes where you will fill out an information packet and go over financial information with our office staff. The first step is to click here for the official sign up page. You can also call the office at 928-202-8687 should you have any questions before signing up.

"Learning to Live, Learning to Love" is a curriculum developed by Dr. Paul Hegstrom to help individuals recognize the extent of their dysfunctional issues. If they are/become teachable and apply what they learn, they will see great results by the end of the class. If anger is not an issue for us, we can still recognize that the source of our deepest pain and expectations is usually found in childhood. Becoming aware of where we are "stuck" emotionally frees us to "grow up" as we change our thinking. This is called "renewing of the mind" (Anakainosis). Finally, as we describe what healthy looks like, it gives individuals new hope and goals as they learn to make good choices and to use the tools received throughout the program.

Mostly the person attending class benefits because we focus on the individual's issues. We can't change anyone but ourselves. When we become more aware of our part of the problems we are having, we an learn how to change our behavior. In turn others feel more respected and responsive to our communication and they benefit too.

Many people have benefited from Life Skills because they simply want to fine tune their relationship(s). Because Life Skills deals with the "big picture," we give tools and teach principles often not taught in the family of origin or in school. Many people finish the program stating that they wish they had this material at the beginning of their relationship . . . it would have been so much easier. Others say that every high school student should have this material before graduating so they can have a better start on life. There is always room for improvement on oneself and relationships. Some people who finished raising their children want to learn how to refresh their relationships or re-connect with the love of their life. Life Skills tends to be for nearly anyone who want to grow.

The Life Skills program is successful when the tools are applied. "If you're teachable, it's fixable." Life Skills is different because it is more than anger management. It helps bring understanding and answers, a lot of the "why" questions people have about their behavior. Whatever your issues, if you apply yourself and work hard you can see dramatic changes in your life over time. Please visit our testimonial page by clicking here to see a few videos of those who have greatly benefited.

Dr. Paul Hegstrom began searching for deeper answers as to why he had such built-up issues. He spent well over 20,000 hours in research and 36,000 hours facilitating groups while continuing to develop a curriculum that would offer hope and help to individuals, including families involved in domestic violence. The program also helps others to understand some of the "why" questions for their reactive behaviors. Out of Paul's life and testimony, Life Skills International was founded in 1985.

The curriculum will help any individual gain life-changing skills in a variety of topics including: Developing Trust Anger Management Childhood Wounds Boundaries Co-dependency Understanding and help with drepression and anxiety Defining Domestic Violence and Abuse Conflict Resolution Love and Family Bonding Guilt and Shame Communications Identify and break cycles of: abuse negative thoughts feelings behaviors. Understanding the effects of the past The curriculum was originally formulated to address the concerns of anger and people involved in difficult relationships, however, it has proven to bring enrichment to any relationship, whether anger and dysfunction are present or not.

Our goal is to help individuals recognize healthy when they see it. Most of us believe that what we learned as a child is what we should pass on to our families because that is how "love" was expressed to us. Dysfunctional families pass on dysfunctions. Healthy families continue to grow and encourage each other.

Dr. Paul Hegstrom is the founder of Life Skills International. The organization grew out of Paul's personal battle with dysfunctional behavior. He spent the first forty years of his life not understanding the driving force that caused him to self-destruct again and again. He could not communicate or identify his feelings. He knew something was wrong, but lived his life in denial. Over $20,000 was spent on counseling where he was given "labels," but never got to the root of his problems, and this only added to his anger and frustration. Paul not only found peace with God and himself, but the wife he had divorced after nearly 17 years of marriage, became his bride again and they have now been succesfully married the second time longer that the first. There are countless other testimonies just like this throughout the country from past and current students and their families.

In order to officially sign up for a class you need to schedule your intake appointment. Please fill out the official sign up form by clicking here. Or call 928-202-8687. A separate sign up form needs to be filled out for each family member starting the course. Then we will schedule your in person intake appointment.