Employee Assistance Program

One of the first steps that you can take when you are looking into therapy or are trying to improve your mental health and need resources is trying the employee assistance program. Many workplaces offer services like this to their employees. They will often provide therapy services over the phone and can get you referred for other services if you need them as well. They are great for helping you navigate work/life balance, family stress, marital struggles, etc.

My EAP Story

I first called the Employee Assistance Program when my ex-husband had a crisis moment and left our home. I needed to talk to someone about it. They were able to give me strategies to try to improve our communication and relationship. Unfortunately, in my situation these strategies didn’t work. They made things worse. I took a break from having sessions (to avoid running out of the allotted amount). I wanted to save my sessions for when I had to leave. It was obvious that he was not going to do anything to meet my needs by the deadline I gave him.

The second time I called the Employee Assistance Program was after I ran away. They were able to give me some tools to work through some of the small components of my immediate trauma of being assaulted and having to run away from home. Running away hadn’t been my intention. I was hoping to have a conversation, but things just didn’t go that way.

Advantages of Employee Assistance

There are many advantages of the Employee Assistance Program.

1. It is often provided by your employer (a certain number of sessions per year for free)
2. This is anonymous, so your employer will not be aware that you have used this service
3. This is over the phone, so it can be done anywhere
4. You do not have to search for available therapists, especially for short term issues
5. They can also provide you connections with other therapists if you will be in need of more sessions

If this is something provided by your employer and you find yourself in need of mental health resources I highly encourage you to give them a call. It is a benefit provided to you that you have every right to take advantage of. Plus, it can be a very helpful means of gaining strategies and tools.