Budgets, schedules, productivity standards, deadlines, meetings, reports, and of course managing your employees can all add to a manager’s stress. Because we understand how difficult it is to be a manager in today’s economy the Employee Assistance Program provides double the benefit to managers/supervisors.

As an employee, you have access to the EAP for personal counseling for issues related to work, home, or self. The service is not a part of your health insurance and there is no cost to you. The EAP is confidential and not a part of the EPIC medical record system. As a supervisor/manager, you can also access the EAP for consultation on management issues, management skill building and Formal Supervisory Referrals of employees.

Most supervisors report that the most stressful part of their job is dealing with employees. Improving your skills in delegating, leadership, teamwork, conducting performance appraisals and limit setting can help increase your effectiveness as a manager and lower your stress. A Formal Supervisor Referral allows you to refer an employee with productivity issues to the EAP for assessment and treatment recommendations. Part of your job, as a manager is to recognize troubled employees, take advantage of our professional staff to help the employee remedy the problem. This can be a valuable tool to salvage a struggling employee, increase productivity and lower your stress.

Please take this opportunity to review the information on this site and/or call us if you have any questions or need any further information.

A full service EAP program which emphasizes assessment, counseling/referral, employee education, management development, consultation critical incident stress debriefings (CISD), Fitness for Duty assessments, and substance abuse assessments. Our goal is to be a resource tool to assist individuals and employers with troubled employee issues.

As a client you have the right to confidentiality of the information you share with your counselor within all Federal and State mandates. If you would like a more complete and thorough explanation of your rights please see the Informed Consent Form.

In short, no. We do not provide court ordered counseling and will not willingly release records to a court or court official such as a probation or parole officer. We define “court ordered” as any case that requires correspondence or some form of verification of attendance to the court system. If St. Elizabeth EAP is the gatekeeper on your mental health benefit, you may be seen to seek a referral through your insurance for the needed counseling. Please note however, that insurance companies rarely cover any type of court ordered counseling even if authorized by the Gatekeeper. People often may not be familiar with mental health providers in the area. As such, we are glad to help assess the need that exists and make a referral to a community provider with whom we know would be a good match for the presenting issues.

Formal supervisory referrals are based on job performance issues. These are referrals made by your supervisor, other members of management or someone in the department of Human Resources. Sometimes your employer may make your participation in counseling through the EAP mandatory. If so you will be expected to attend and follow recommendations. When you are seen on a formal supervisory referral, your counselor will be required to maintain contact with the referring supervisor, and inform him/her of your attendance and compliance. Your counselor will never reveal personal information discussed in session to your supervisor without your written consent. Supervisory suggestions are simply that. A supervisor may suggest you attend the EAP, but in these cases, participation is strictly up to you. Lastly, a self-referral is when you decide for yourself that you would like to attend counseling at the EAP. Keep in mind, approximately 95% of all people who seek services through St. Elizabeth EAP are seen based on self-referral.

We highly recommend you make alternative childcare arrangements. We do not have staff to watch your children while you are in session, and we do not have a child care or child recreation area for them. If you bring them in session, we find it often hampers our ability to maintain a focused and productive session.

If you miss a scheduled appointment, it will still be counted as one of your free sessions unless you call and cancel it at least 24 hours in advance. In addition, if you simply do not keep an appointment, it is very important that you call and reschedule it as soon as possible. If you fail to reschedule in a timely manner your case may be closed. Once your case is closed you would be required to complete all intake paperwork again to reopen the chart.

Absolutely nothing. Your EAP benefit is just that. It is a benefit that your employer purchases for you. On the downside, this also means there is no way to continue beyond your allotted free sessions. We do not accept insurance or self-pay of any type.

Your company will never be told you attended the EAP, unless you are a formal supervisory referral. As a formal referral we are required to let your employer know about your attendance and compliance, but we still will not release information about what you said. The only circumstances under which information would be released back to your employer is if you signed a release stating you wanted us to release specific information to them. The only information your company receives is a quarterly report that lets them know the benefit they are purchasing is actually being used. They do not receive any information that would identify any specific individual.

You can expect your initial visit to take approximately an hour and a half. You will be expected to complete some paperwork. This will take approximately 30 minutes which can be downloaded and filled out at home and brought in with you to the first session or you can come to the office approximately 30 minutes prior to your first appointment to complete the necessary paperwork. When your counselor sees you, he/she will review the consent to treat form with you and explain your rights and benefits in detail. Once the formalities are out of the way, you and your counselor will discuss the specific issues that have brought you to counseling.

Dependents and anyone living in your household. Our philosophy is that anyone living in an employee’s household has an impact on their life.

Almost 90% of individuals who come to the EAP will use their free sessions. On occasion, we will make a referral beyond the EAP because we feel an individual is unlikely to benefit from counseling in the short time period permitted, or because someone presents with an issue that requires specialized care, i.e. individuals that require medication.

There are five counselors available to you, two males and three females. All counselors hold a minimum of a Masters Degree or Ph.D. in psychology, social work or counseling.

We encourage direct feedback anytime you have a question or concerns with your counselor. You may also contact the Director, Tina LeGris to discuss your concerns. Every effort will be made to address your concerns and accommodate your needs.

There are a wide variety of available appointment times. Our schedule is Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. (last appointment at 6 p.m.) and Friday 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (last appointment at 4:30 p.m.).

In cases of an emergency, there is a counselor on call 24 hours a day. If you are in crisis and call the EAP after hours, the answering service will page the counselor on call (no specific counselor will be paged). The counselor on call will contact you within 10-15 minutes.