Our Successes:

Reconciling Families

Bully-Proofing Schools

Preventing Elder Abuse

Crime Victim Assistance

Leadership Development

Individual & Family Counseling

Child & Adolescent Play Therapy

Helping Veterans with PTSD

Building Positive Work Cultures

Trauma Debriefing Groups (CISM)

Ministry Assistance Program (MAP)

Project S.A.V.E. Students Against Violence in Education

Getting help, not revenge!
How to access support & training
Don’t give away your power or take the bait!
It’s a Heart Problem not a Gun Problem–The power of Bystanders to Change Hearts Before the Guns Come to School!
Intervention behaviors that stop bullying in 11 seconds!
Caring and inclusive behaviors that don’t leave kids isolated as ‘easy targets’
What faculty, staff & parents can do—reinforcing the bullying intervention, caring and inclusive behaviors of students
‘Responsible Telling’ vs Tattling
How IA can support your school?

IA offers FREE 1hr talks to falculty & student bodies in schools. Schedule yours today by calling or by email.

Email iai@innovativealternatives.org

Victim Assistance Program: For 31 years Innovative Alternatives has offered custom tailored, individual and group counseling for any crime victim, crime witness or surviving family member of a crime victim. Innovative Alternatives provides up to 6 months of FREE services to address issues resulting from any crime perpetrated against the victim.

Help keep these services FREE to Crime Victims - Click Here to Donate

Family, Church & Workplace Mediation

Family Violence Prevention & Intervention: early intervention and prevention in cases of domestic aggression in families to prevent escalation to domestic violence or child abuse
Family Reconciliation Mediation: Assists couples or families with generational disputes, elder care &/or guardianship issues, to resolve issues, & design a plan in written agreement form to preserve healthy relationships
Divorce and Custody Mediation: Settling property, custody, visitation and support issues, redefining relationships to identify solutions and promote healthy spousal and parental relationships for sake of children, both during and following divorce

Help IA Save a Family - Click Here to Donate

Training, Consultation & Program Implementation Services

Workplace Intervention for Resolution of Conflict
- Conflict Survey & Workplace Culture Assessment
- Personnel Grievance Mediation: increasing workplace productivity
- Multi-Party Mediation Services of Team Conflicts
- Positive Work Culture—to assist work groups to create and maintain a positive work culture or to ‘reset’ one which has become negative and dysfunctional
- A variety of a la carte workshops and trainings applicable to the workplace

Help IA Develop Psycho-Educational courses fostering productivity in the workplace - Click Here to Donate

Ministry Assistance Program

Accomplishing goals for ministry takes many resources. Time, energy, money. How would having an extra 3 to 8 hours per week impact your ministry, church, family, or your spiritual, physical, and emotional health?

MAP is a program that handles emergency calls, walk-in needs, counseling, mediation, and training WITHOUT your having to hire a new employee or train teams of volunteers.

Church staff members have access to confidential mediation or counseling for themselves and family—in order to provide ministry to the ministers.

Email: iai@innovativealternatives.org for more info

Conflict resolution workshop information

#BeTheSolution

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Find a Therapist or Mediator

Click to Meet Our Staff

Resolve virtually any conflict or dispute through the process of mediation. Because mediation is non-adversarial, it allows for all parties involved to achieve a ‘win-win’ outcome. Mediation is an effective way of resolving disputes without the need to go to court, and the style of mediation IA mediators are trained in will contribute to stabilizing the crisis, and can lead to reconciliation and preservation of both families and work cultures.

Private Professional Counseling

Get Help & Get Happy!

Convenient & Affordable · Talk with a Therapist Now · Discreet Counseling services are available to help anyone achieve behavioral goals, improve mental health & wellness, and accomplish career goals…

Bridge the gaps and allow both leadership and employees to bring company culture to life! Our interactive and engaging workshops & conferences address workplace topics such as Employee Engagement, Workplace Culture, Internal Communications, Team Building, Leadership Development, Avoiding Burn-Out, and other specialty topics such as collaborative approaches to Elder Abuse, Boundaries, Attachment Styles of Parenting, and many more. IA has training sites in multiple locations, or we can bring our trainers to your preferred training location.

Check Back for 2024 Schedule

Look Forward to seeing you in 2024

Looking for a new career path? Want to increase your influence and authority in your current industry? This is THE Course you need to set you up for success!

In this training, participants are taught philosophy and process of mediation, as well as the dynamics that make mediation the optimum choice for crisis stabilization of conflict in work, family, faith and community issues. Pastors & ministry leaders, business owners & managers, mental health providers & case managers, as well as attorneys, will learn valuable skills for resolving solution-focused relational issues. Even if you never perform an
‘official’ mediation, you will benefit personally in a family, leadership positions of any kind and all ministry endeavors!

Join Us, and learn more than you expect!

Cost: $1000/person ($850 with Student ID)

Provided in the cost of training:
All course materials, continental breakfast, and snacks

Upcoming 5 day course;
TBD
8:30am – 5:30pm

Continuing education credits are available for:
LPC, Social Work, LMFT and MCLE*

*To earn MCLE credit you must register 20 days prior to class

Where: United Way Bay Area Service Center 1300 Bay Area Boulevard Houston, TX 77058

Trainer: Sharon Bayus.

Sharon Bayus is the President, CEO and founder of Innovative Alternatives, Inc. She holds an M.A. in General Clinical Psychology and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She is member of numerous mediation, psychological, and community associations; and the recipient of numerous academic and community awards, including The Award of Excellence in Psychology from the Houston Psychological Association. Sharon is a frequent speaker and trainer throughout the state of Texas on mental health topics as well as conflict resolution and mediation. Sharon is a founding Board member and past President of the College of Texas Mediators and a founding Board member and past Treasurer of the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association. She holds the credential of ‘Distinguished Mediator’ from TMCA.

For more info contact Jon Denman at:

iai@innovativealternatives.org

713-222-2525.

Check back for 2024 Schedule

Look forward to seeing you in 2024!

Menu:
Steak, Ribs or Parmesan Chicken, Mashed or Baked Sweet Potatoes, Chopped Greens Side Salad and Honey-Wheat Bread and Butter

Event Details:
Date: TBD
Time: Noon – 2:00 pm
Venue: United Way Bay Area
Address: 1300 Bay Area Blvd A, Houston, TX 77058

Agenda:
Check-in, Lunch, and Networking
Introduction by Sharon Bayus, MA, LPC-S, TMCA Distinguished Mediator, President & CEO of Innovative Alternatives
Presentation
Q&A Session
Door Prizes & more Networking!

Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to gain insights, network with like-minded professionals, and enjoy a catered lunch by Longhorn Steakhouse.

Note: Limited seating, early registration is recommended to SAVE YOUR SEAT.

For a limited time…Bonus to all attendees: sign up for a future training or mediation service of IA on the day of luncheon and get $25 off!

We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information contact: Jon Denman at jdenman@innovativealternatives.org for any inquiries.

We can help take care of yourself and your loved ones.

Many people are struggling with anxiety, depression, and family conflict as we face the aftereffects of the pandemic together. Most of us were often in close quarters, with worries for jobs, finances and supplies to weather an unknown period of time. Some of you may, unfortunately, experienced grief and loss as a result of the pandemic as well.

If you feel the need to speak to a counselor, Innovative Alternatives, Inc. is offering remote sessions via phone or video conference. We have free services for people in 13 counties around Houston, if you have experienced any kind of abuse or violent crime at any time in your life–because the COVID-19 crisis can trigger any past trauma issues. Counties eligible for free services to survivors of crime are: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker, Waller, Wharton.

IA also serves any Texas resident using insurance or an income-based sliding scale payment schedule.

Call us at 713-222-2525 to set a phone or video conference appointment. Faith-based services and play therapy are available upon request.

Zoom out to view multiple locations

Innovative Alternatives, Inc.

1335 Regents Park Dr #240, Houston, TX 77058

713-222-2525

Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center

Barker-Ripley Neighborhood Center
6500 Rookin
Houston, TX 77074
(713)-273-3701

Community Family Centers

Community Family Centers
7524 Avenue E
Houston, TX 77012
(713) 923-2316

Cleveland-Ripley Neighborhood Center

Cleveland-Ripley Neighborhood Center
720 Fairmont Parkway
Pasadena, TX 77504
(713)-944-9186

Project Joy and Hope & Bayshore Towers

Project Joy and Hope & Bayshore Towers
3215 Tulip Street
Pasadena, TX 77504
(832) 779-9499

Lighthouse Christian Ministries

Lighthouse Christian Ministries
800 Grand Avenue
Bacliff, TX 77518
(281) 339-3033

Santa Fe Strong Resiliency Center

13217 FM 1764, Santa Fe, TX 77510

The Summit

1838 E Sam Houston Pkwy So, Pasadena, Texas 77503

Community School

1838 E Sam Houston Pkwy So, Pasadena, Texas 77503

Moody Methodist

2803 53rd Street
Galveston, TX

William F. Barnett Elementary

Santa Fe Junior High

Kubacak Elementary

Roy J Wollam Elementary

Contact Us

Thank You to Our Generous Sponsors

Legacy of Leadership

Golf Classic benefiting

Santa Fe Resiliency Center

Thank you to our generous partners!

“Our family went on a spring break trip to Southern California. My daughter was targeted by a human trafficking ring on the plane ride to Los Angeles. They began the luring process while we were in California. She even vanished at one point on the trip, right off Hollywood Blvd. Later, investigators theorize she was lured away and drugged.

We are still not sure how she escaped, she is still unwilling to talk about it. It wasn’t until we returned back home to Texas that I discovered that she was a potential victim of human trafficking. The human traffickers had put a young “French model” on the job of luring her. I spent countless hours researching and investigating on my own to try to compile enough evidence to present to my daughter. I needed to show her that the French guy was not who he said he was. I made several calls to human trafficking hotlines and human trafficking nonprofit groups. None offered any real support. Law enforcement wasn’t much help at that point either. The FBI even told me it just sounded as if I didn’t approve of my daughter’s new boyfriend!

I went to my regular counseling session at Innovative Alternatives and relayed my current dilemma concerning my daughter to my counselor, Sharon Bayus. She and the office staff sprang into action immediately and offered more help and support than I had received from the countless “help lines” I had contacted in the days prior.

Together, we were able to convince my daughter she was in danger and saved her from becoming a victim. I do not know that my daughter would still be with us today had Innovative Alternatives not stepped up and helped. I am so grateful for everyone who helped. These people truly have a passion to make a difference and change lives. When my daughter gets ready to talk about what happened to her, IA also has a ‘Victim Assistance Counseling Program’ that will provide free services to her to help her heal emotionally from whatever she has been through, but at least it is not the nightmare it could have become!”

B.T.

Mother & IA Client