Dr. Mark Vande Braak,
PH.D, FT, MT-BC
Grief, Loss & Trauma

Support & Education

Dr. Vande Braak is a Thanatologist and helps people who have suffered traumatic loss and complicated or prolonged grief. This happens through individual Support & Education, provided currently by TeleHealth through Lutheran Family Services, at Okoboji Wellness Clinic. He has 30+ years of mental healthcare experience in Thanatology (death and loss) and Music Therapy. 
TeleHealth Appointments are by phone/mobile device from anywhere in the United States.

Dr. Mark believes grief and loss actually deal with - if people are feeling “stuck” or just “stuck in life”. How do we understand what we’ve been through? If you’re asking yourself “should I do this?”

If there’s a question, or if you’re feeling like you’re struggling with a specific loss in your life – it could be a death, a loss of a home, or a loss of a job – those are indicators saying “maybe I should reach out and do something.”

Dr. Mark strives to see people 3-4 times, at the most. If he can give them the tools and opportunity to practice those tools, and to hold them accountable, then they really don’t need to see him long term.

An Educator at heart, Dr. Mark believes there’s a large misinterpretation of what grief work is. Many times people want to medicalize it. He comes from an entirely different angle; about teaching how to process the grief, not run away from it. That’s the same way with any type of loss, trauma, or whatever else may be going on in your life. Presently in our society, people are taught to get a quick fix and get over it. Dr. Mark has a slightly different process, that includes helping people process and understand how the grief has been impacted.

Dr. Mark has worked in behavioral health, at a women’s center – working with those dealing with miscarriage, still birth, limb loss, & cancer. He then worked at a detox facility, that the community had set up. Instead of people going to jail after an alcohol incident, they went there to sort things out. He also ran a clinic for grief, and has also helped start and work at an addiction center. At the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, he worked with the residency program, training them on grief. He is also a music therapist, originally.

In addition to working with individuals, Dr. Mark serves people experiencing loss through virtual and in-person groups. Topics addressed include supporting parents following the loss of a child due to illness, suicide, trauma, miscarriage or stillbirth; and spouses or families of those suffering traumatic brain injuries or life-changing illnesses, such as ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's or other Dementias.

A lifelong Christian and Lutheran, Dr. Mark prefers picking up a pizza as his go-to for his wife and himself, and he also enjoys brewing coffee at home, with a combination of French Vanilla coffee and chocolate mix.