Has anyone here used an employee assistance program?

[Cairycat]

So I'm having trouble with my job, and in a meeting with some of the head honchos over me (a most civilized beatdown ...), using the employee assistance program was suggested to me. Basically this is four counseling sessions offered through a local hospital, paid for by the employer to help an employee sort out issues.

Since I'm planning to leave this employer in the next few months, I'm wondering if their claims of confidentiality are to be believed.

Also with just four sessions, you'd really need to know what you were trying to accomplish, wouldn't you? At the moment, I wish I could have some help with my flattened self-esteem, and/or some career counseling to figure out what I might do better at.

I would be grateful to hear your experiences and opinions with this. Thanks much.

[csziggy]

1. I used it through my husband's employer's coverage

For grief counseling, though it worked out to be more for helping me deal with some family members.

It works pretty much the same as getting help through insurance. HIPPA (or whatever the acronym is) should keep them from sharing any information with your employer.

They referred me to a licensed counselor, I'd go in and talk to her, the employer never had any involvement. The only hassle/complication was that she used the wrong code when sending in paperwork - I'm not sure she got paid. There was one code for the employee assistance program and a different one for going through the regular insurance.

I was supposed to get six sessions, but I think I got seven - the first was to get to know the counselor and describe my problem. At the end of that session, she asked if I thought she was the right person for me to talk to. Then we had the additional sessions. After the other six we discussed if I needed more help - if I did, she would work through the insurance provided by my husband's employer.

Four sessions had pretty much covered what I needed, the other two let me talk about other family dynamics and how the family had gotten to where we were.

It's worth a try for you - but get a list of the counselors they recommend and check them out before you go. One of the ones they recommended had some odd reviews to say the least. I tried calling their office just to sound them out, but they never returned a message. The one I went to was really nice and we hit it off great.

Go for the best qualifications you can, too. My nice lady was a full doctor of psychiatry so I felt she could help me a lot and she did.

[Cairycat]

2. Thank you, csziggy

thanks for sharing your experience and your suggestion to check out qualifications - I'll keep that in mind.

[progree]

3. I wouldn't expect it to remain entirely private

I've had some experience with that about 20 years ago. Was having issues with management and they suggested a "skills assessment" and had me meet up with an internal Human Resources counselor who tried to sell me on a certain outside company doing the "skills assessment". Made it sound like a great thing for me. I got him to admit that he and the company management would get a summary of the findings.

[OriginalGeek]

4. HIPPA isn't 20 years old yet

so maybe it's different now. I know my company takes privacy very seriously - they use a third party to get covered people in touch with whoever they need (lots of different kinds of counseling and more). Names aren't even involved between company and 3rd party - just between user and counselor.

OP - my wife used the EAP though my company and got free help from a psychologist for problems she was having. Worked out well for her - (and me, by extension).

[Cairycat]

7. Thanks for telling me about your experience

Reading before signing anything, and asking questions, sounds like a good idea.

[dilby]

5. I have used it, its confidential.

Basically your work will put you in touch with the company who manages their employee assistance program. You call them up and they will put you in touch with a counselor. You call the counselor and setup your meetings. On day one with your counselor you will have to sign some paper work stating what they are allowed to share with the employee assistance program, in my case it was did I show up for the sessions. I also had to sign paper work for the employee assistance program that would allow them to notify my employer when my counseling was complete.

So at the end of 6 weeks my counselor sent a letter to the assistance program company stating I had attended 6 sessions and we were done. I got a confirmation call from the company that I was done and that they were sending a letter to my employer that it was done. My employer got a letter that I had completed the counseling and that is it. The only people who know what was said at my sessions is me and my counselor.

[Cairycat]

9. Thank you, dilby

I appreciate hearing about your experience and how the program worked.

[adamwalkner]

6. Has anyone here used an employee assistance program?

So if you really want to know my thinking about has anyone here used an Employee Assistance Program, then i will tell you that no not at all. I was just listen about it form some of my friends, but did not take any special interest in this Employee Assistance Program. I think it is not any useful thing to use, Because some of my friends already used this and they told me that it is really a Time as well as Money wasting Task.

[Cairycat]

8. Thanks for your reply

I wanted to hear the bad as well as the good. Appreciate it.

[dilby]

14. Did your friends have to pay for it?

The employee assistance program at my work is paid by my employer and i would not say it was a waste of time for me. I had access to a mental health professional and even though in the beginning I thought it was a waste of time, after it was over I felt it was worth it. Plus my employer paid me for the time I attended so it was not a financial burden to attend.

[alarimer]

10. It is confidential; you don't go through HR at all.

It's a separate provider, similar to an insurance company. Call the number, they will set it up.

[Cairycat]

12. Thanks for letting me know about your experience. n/t

[Sweet Freedom]

11. I used EAP for a counselor and an attorney

Totally separate businesses from the employer and nothing I discussed was ever shared with my company. And I used the services of both even after I left the company, so they were competent as well.

[Cairycat]

13. Good to know

that it was confidential and competent. Thanks for your reply.

[Fla Dem]

15. Have never been, but if you're now comfortable with the confidentiality issue based on the responses

here, which were all excellent, why not give it a try. You have little to lose and hopefully lots to gain. Been in your same situation where the constant lack of appreciation and diminution of your job performance can easily destroy your sense of self worth. Don't let it get to you. A change in jobs may just be the right step to take. It was for me and in the next career path was quite successful. It actually took being "beatdown" to get me to pick myself up. Good luck in whatever path you take.

[Cairycat]

16. Thanks for your kind words, Fla Dem

I know I'll come through this okay but it's great to hear from others who've been in this position.

[progree]

17. Lots of people asserting it was/is private and confidential, but how can one know that for sure?

Because they told you that, and of course they would never lie, because this is America and all that. Land of the Free, Home of the Brave?

I'm just gobsmacked in a progressive forum where all we hear is corporations suck this and corporations suck that and corporations are donating to Hillary and corporations are donating to Warren and they are shipping jobs overseas and funding climate change deniers and other liars and armies of lobbyists, and screwing us every which way and that way, suddenly people trust their wonderful, wonderful corporation to never lie or mislead in this thread. (Reminds me of polls where only 20% approve of Congress, but more than 80% approve of their own Congressperson). Makes me weepy with joy. God Bless America and Ronald Reagan! I want to shout from the rooftops, as I pin some more American flags to my SUV.

As I said in number 3, in my case they admitted it wasn't going to be confidential. If they steer you to a specific firm / institution for your evaluation, and it is as a result of having problems with management, then it is almost certainly not going to be totally confidential in my opinion. That's not my assertion, but my opinion.

[Cairycat]

18. Well, it is through a hospital so I think HIPPA applies

Nor would it take major leaps of logic to figure out that I might seek other opportunities. You're right, it might not be wise to put absolute trust in a corporation (or school district, in my case). I'm just trying to figure out if what I might gain from using the program would be worth any possible risk.

[progree]

19. Companies / institutions never break laws or find loopholes or other ways around them? nm

[progree]

20. I remember thinking the state's whistle-blower law would protect me. Yeah, right. nm

[cwydro]

22. I would be very careful about believing in confidentiality promised by corporations.

I worked for a "hotline" where workers could call to complain about working conditions etc. They were told it was confidential.

The reports went right back to their companies, and they were often fired.

[Major Nikon]

21. Be very careful what you sign

If you sign a release of information, the program can share all your information with your employer. Just remember that the program gets paid by your employer, not you. As such they work for your employer, not you.

[Sienna86]

24. Familiar with EAP

Every release is different. You may not need to sign one. If you do sign one, it may just require that HR is notified that you came to an appointment. If you are meeting with a licensed mental health professional, their strict ethical and licensing requirements do not allow them to release information you disclose without your permission.

I encourage you to try it. If a release is part of the program, just read it and be aware of what you are signing.

[Major Nikon]

25. The release may also allow that professional to share all information with your employer

That's why it's very important that you fully understand what you are signing, because it may not be so clear to a person signing a lot of forms at once. It's also important to note the mental health professional is effectively getting paid by the employer, and as such their interests tend to lie more with whomever is paying the bills and less with the patient.

[cwydro]

23. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

protects your personal health information (PHI).

HIPAA won't protect you from retaliation from bosses etc.

Be very careful.