June 25, 2021

A growing counseling business is expanding into a new building in south-central Sioux Falls.

Encompass Mental Health was founded seven years ago by marriage and family therapist Emily Learing.

It’s currently operating out of an office suite at 5000 S. Minnesota Ave.

The new standalone building will be 6,500 square feet at 1110 E. 77th St.

Encompass’ typical patient groups include children younger than 10, teens and adult women. One of its main services is play therapy, where toys and games are used to help children work through trauma and anxiety.

Learing’s husband, Adam, has a background in technology and had previously started a few small businesses. He joined Encompass in 2017 as its business manager, and the couple were the sole employees. There now are eight therapists and two administrators

“We’re excited to be able to expand our offerings, be able to bring in more therapists and have a building that can really give them all the tools they need to be successful,” Adam Learing said.

The new building will include 10 play therapy suites decorated and equipped for kids, as well as a subwing dedicated to adult therapy with more standard counseling rooms.

“It’s a custom-built building for that type of therapy, so we’re hopeful that that’ll help us,” Learing said. “Not only to fulfill more needs for customers, but also attract better talent because we can provide them the full suite of services that they’re looking for from a therapy perspective.”

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted Encompass on all levels, he added. Most of their services had to move to virtual settings, which made working with children a challenge.

“(When) you’re trying to do a virtual session with a 5-year-old, that’s pretty difficult,” he said.

The pandemic also has led to new issues that Encompass’s therapists are seeing in their patients. For kids, Learing said the past year has been a period of instability.

“Going from out of school to in flux — not knowing if they’re going to go to school or not — to being at home and now back in, it’s a lot of transitions for kids,” he said. “Having to deal with those issues has been a big driver for us.”

Encompass hasn’t broken ground on the new building yet but hopes to move in by April 2022.