What is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers confidential, professional counseling and consultation services.

Does the EAP cost me anything and who does it serve?
If your organization has contracted with One Feather Consulting, LLC. to serve as an EAP, counseling and consultation are FREE to all employees. It is also FREE to all members of the employee’s family that reside in the household. All employees are eligible for three sessions, per concern, per year. Employee’s family members are also eligible for three free sessions, per concern, per year.

Why should someone contact the EAP?
One Feather Consulting, LLC. as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a professional, confidential resource that can be used to address personal and workplace concerns and difficulties, and to solve concerns. Individuals contact the EAP for many reasons including marital or relationship problems, parenting issues, child or eldercare concerns, financial worries, or concerns about their own or someone else's mental health or substance use. Employees with workplace concerns such as job performance or conflicted relationships with other staff members can contact the EAP. Supervisors can contact the EAP when concerned about an employee's behavior at work.

What kinds of concerns can EAP help with?
We can help with any personal or work-related concerns that are affecting your
sense of well-being, your daily life or job performance.

These may include:
• Stress related emotional issues
• Relationship issues
• Family issues and Parent-Child concerns
• Divorce/ separation adjustment
• Alcohol and drug concerns
• Single Parenting
• Aging Parents
• Grief / loss issues

What services are available?
Assessment, Counseling, Information and Referral: When seeking a solution to a concern people often try to solve it themselves. Sometimes they confide in relatives or friends. A call to the EAP can be helpful when a concern persists, when the solutions generated don't seem to work, or when a new perspective or additional options are needed.

Under what circumstances will the EAP refer me to a counselor or agency?
You and the EAP counselor will determine whether the problem can be resolved within the scope of EAP services or whether a referral is helpful. Referrals include: private therapists, agencies, treatment centers or support groups.

Consultation: Supervisors play a key role in creating and maintaining healthy and productive employees and work groups. Supervisors consult with the EAP for assistance in managing employees with personal concerns or whose behaviors are causing poor work performance.
Workshops: The EAP offers organizations a wide training and educational workshops that are available to all employees.
In addition, programs can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a unit or department.

If I see an EAP counselor, where will they be located?
One Feather Consulting, LLC. works with human services providers throughout your area. A local EAP counselor / affiliate will be assigned to you, and together you will arrange a time to meet and discuss your concerns.

What hours is the EAP open for services?
Depending on the area where you live, the EAP offices usually keep normal business hours, plus some evenings and possible weekends.

Are EAP services confidential?
Counseling often involves disclosing sensitive personal information. This information is protected by state law and by professional ethics. Therefore, no acknowledgement of your status as a client or information about your counseling will be released to anyone unless you have given written permission, or as may be required by law. There are a few exceptions to this confidentiality policy for you to know about. These include: Abuse of Children, Imminent Harm to Self, and Imminent Harm to Others.

How are services accessed?
Employee Self-Referral: Employees who elect to use the service at their own initiative should contact the EAP directly. An EAP counselor will work with the staff member to assist in identifying the concern and its cause, resolving the concern, or when appropriate, securing other treatment or therapy services. The EAP counselor may refer the staff member to community-based resources for the treatment of concerns that are beyond the scope of EAP. Information given to the counselor is confidential.

Supervisory Referral: A supervisor can refer an employee to the EAP. Supervisors may detect a change in a staff member's on-the-job behavior that seems to suggest that the staff member is experiencing difficulty. Patterned absences and unusual mood swings may be symptomatic of some influences in the staff member's life that might benefit from the kind of attention available through the EAP. Since it is not the supervisor's job to attempt to diagnose any such concerns, a reasonable course of action might include a reminder to the staff member of the availability of the EAP and the accompanying suggestion of the value of participating in the program.

Condition of Employment Referral: A mandatory supervisory referral to EAP requires a staff member to participate in EAP as a condition of continued employment. This type of referral is made only in extreme cases of deteriorating job performance, where the individual's continued employment is brought into question.

How does One Feather Consulting, LLC. (and network affiliates) offer culturally sensitive EAP services? CLICK HERE.