EAP Counselling Services

An Employee Assistance Program, or EAP, helps employees find ways to deal with personal or work-related problems.

Mental wellbeing is equally important as physical health and employers are required to build psychologically healthy and safe workplaces under the WHS Act.

The provision of EAP services by employers originates from the idea (which is well supported by evidence) that a workforce with positive wellbeing has positive productivity, creativity, and engagement in their workplace. This is because trauma or personal issues like anxiety and depression can impact job performance, health, mental and emotional wellbeing.

Research has shown that every dollar invested in mental health in the workplace brings a multi-fold return.

Access to EAP is voluntary, and employees can expect a confidential psychological service where they can explore issues that are causing stress that may be impacting on their workplace performance.

Issues include:

• workplace relationships
• careers counselling
• motivation
• personal stress
• issues of addiction
• depression
• anxiety
• other issues.

An EAP counselling service tend to be short-term (usually three to four sessions), and may involve follow-up of employees in the future to ensure relapse prevention, or referrals to longer term counselling services (through Medicare funded programs) or specialist services where required.

An EAP service is helpful to those in managerial positions who may experience workplace issues related to management, where a consultation with a psychologist may be beneficial, including:

• consulting on how to appropriately manage difficult staff
• strategies to increase motivation of staff
• assistance with conflict resolution
• assistance with performance management of staff.

Employee Assistance Program services can be offered following a critical incident, where there is a risk of distress and trauma for a group of employees. For example, following the death or injury of a workmate, the retrenchment of staff, or a significant restructuring in the workplace.

Highly qualified: We are a team of highly trained and experienced clinical and registered psychologists with many years of experience in both private practice as well organisational settings to understand the full scope providing high quality EAP counselling services.

Affordable rates: Our rates are very competitive in the EAP market (see our schedule of fees) and we only charge on a session-to-session basis rather than a lock in contract with a minimum fee. We provide flexible contracts based on your business needs.

Excellent customer service: We have partnerships and excellent working relationships with government organisations as well as other NGOs and private organisation always aiming to provide not only the highest quality counselling services but excellent customer service with little waiting time for an appointment (usually within 24-48 hours for an initial appointment)

Experience in providing culturally diverse services: We are a commissioned partner with Sydney North Primary Health network since 2017 to provide culturally and linguistically diverse counselling services for clients from a Chinese cultural background.

Counselling in different languages: We offer counselling in a range of languages including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, Maltese, as well as Telugu.

Convenient Office locations: We cover 4 convenient locations that covers Sydney’s north, Sydney CBD, inner west and Sydney South. All located within short walking distance to train stations.

After hours service: We offer after-hours services until 8pm as well as Saturday sessions from 8am-6pm.

Even though employees may have access to EAP, very few engage with the service even though they know that it exists and costs them no out-of-pocket expenses. Poor EAP engagement tends to stem from fear of confidentiality breach.

While conversations with Human Resources are not strictly confidential, all EAP counselling services are.

The exceptions to this are:

• with consent by the client
• where there is a risk to the safety of the client or others
• to comply with statutory duties, or
• to comply with a court order or subpoena.

As mental health and wellbeing is critical in the workplace, we recommend reassuring staff that there is no requirement for employees to tell their office manager or HR manager that they are using the EAP. For example, employees may take personal or annual leave to attend EAP appointments. Doing this can encourage the participation of employee assistance services.