I used the Employee Assistance Program (EAP): what to expect

Last year, I went to therapy through the employee assistance program. I probably should’ve done it sooner but I didn’t know what to expect (and I had a few impressions about it that turned out to be wrong). In case my experience can help you decide whether EAP could be useful to you, or at least cut through some of the misconceptions / stigma about this service, I wrote this article to go over:

• Why I was hesitant about using EAP
• How I found the process of connecting to an independent external counselor through EAP
• What I found beneficial about therapy
• What my experience of the therapy process through EAP was like
• Tips for using EAP that I wish I knew beforehand

Overview

These days, lawyers (and our employers) are becoming much more mental-health aware, which is great. But I think there’s a lack of useful action / initiatives that are actually available. I mean, how many times have ‘mental health’ campaigns been spearheaded by a webinar during our lunches or free yoga?

I’ve seen the employee assistance program (EAP) been thrown in as a one-liner with no real explanation about what the process or experience would be like. You know the one – “Also, if you’re feeling unwell, feel free to contact the employee assistance program”.

Well, I gave it a go. At a high level, it had been a pretty crappy 2 years and I was feeling pretty lethargic and apathetic towards everything. Now, I think it’s fair to consider therapy since our current situation is like:

Why I was hesitant about using EAP

But I had concerns about using the service:

• Is it really anonymous or will they report to my employer who might then treat me differently?
• The main reasons for me feeling bad wasn’t really related to work – so is this service provided by my employer actually appropriate?
• It feels weird to go to therapy and I didn’t want to feel vulnerable by taking this step.
• I haven’t actually been breaking down or crying, just feeling very ‘meh’ and not really motivated to do anything – surely EAP is for more serious things?

Fortunately, I mentioned EAP to a close friend and they actually recommended using it because they had found it useful in the past. So I thought “fine, I’ll give them a call – it’s free anyway”.

Process of connecting to a counselor

Weirdly, there’s not that much info about what to expect when you call up the EAP service (or at least I couldn’t find anything when I googled it before I called). Here’s what I experienced when I called:

• The EAP representative who answered the phone (let’s just call her ‘Amy’ for the rest of this section) asked me a few questions such as:
  • Which organisation I was a part of – (concern #1 peaking already, but it turned out fine);
  • Whether I preferred a counselor through their telephone service, video call or face-to-face – this was a surprise because I thought it was purely a hotline service;
  • My best contact details (including preferred area to attend counselling since I chose face-to-face);
  • Whether I felt I was at immediate risk – in which case there’s a 24/7 service that they also provide;
  • A brief description of why I was calling in so they can connect me to the most appropriate counselor – sounds confronting but you can just give general categories without going into the details straight away (e.g. relationship issues, addiction, depression, family, money etc.)
• Amy said that she would look through the EAP network for an appropriate counselor in my preferred area and email through some options for me to confirm.
• The next day, Amy emailed me with the profile of a counselor and asked if I thought I could work with them. I looked through the profile and it all seemed like their experience lined up with what I was looking for so I confirmed.
• Amy called the counselor, passed on my details from our initial EAP call, and asked the counselor to contact me through my preferred contact method.
• In the next few days, the counselor emailed me and asked when I might be available for a meeting. Amy also checked up to see if the counselor had contacted me, and would have followed up with the counselor on my behalf if they didn’t reach out.
• I started seeing the counselor, and Amy followed up after the first session to see if everything was okay. If it wasn’t okay, I could be connected to a different counselor.

Overall, I didn’t have to do much besides the initial phone call. EAP was really proactive and it was nice to outsource this sort of stuff to something that felt like a personal concierge service.

What I found beneficial about therapy

So this was my first time using any therapy service (other than 5 minute meditation through free apps I guess…). Everyone’s experience talking to the actual counselor will be different, but here’s mine:

• It helped me untangle the jumble of thoughts and issues. I ended up with a clearer understanding about the things that were actually causing me problems and could better focus on solving them.
• It was good to have an independent and objective sounding board for issues and ideas. Growing up in an Asian household, it wasn’t really part of my culture to talk about feelings and mental health issues with family. It was nice to be able to ‘unload’ without worrying about how the other person would be affected.
• We identified some negative thought patterns that I didn’t realise I had. When little negative things build up over a long period of time, they can be hard to spot. So having somebody give a professional opinion on things I didn’t notice was helpful.
• It was also helpful to talk through certain relationship dynamics and find ways to set healthy boundaries.

My experience of therapy through EAP

Maybe it sounds like therapy could be helpful to you. Here’s what it’s like through the EAP program:

• It wasn’t limited to work-related issues – I didn’t even have to talk about work at all. It could be family, friends, addiction, money, or anything else that’s causing you to not feel 100% okay.
• It’s completely free – I was covered for 6 one-hour long sessions in person and could have extended or re-attended for any separate issues (this might vary between EAPs).
• They can accommodate during the workday or after work hours – I had most of my appointments after work.
• In my last session, my counselor scheduled a follow-up call for a few weeks later to check how I was going. If I needed more sessions for different issues, I could reconnect through EAP for free.
• There also wasn’t anything stopping me from engaging my counselor for further sessions if I felt like I could benefit from regularly scheduled therapy for longer periods (although this would be on a paid basis).

Oh, and when I finally decided to tell my supervising partner that I had used EAP a few weeks later – they had no idea. So yeah, there’s no secret report that gets sent to your employer about you.

Tips for using EAP

Overall, I found the process to be quite helpful as a mental health check and to walk through some immediate issues that were making me feel pretty crappy. Now that I’ve been through this process, here’s some quick tips / ways of thinking I wish I’d known:

• In the initial EAP call, I suggest asking for 2 or more counselor options. Since the counselors contact you first (instead of you calling them), it’s good to have a backup in case one of them doesn’t reach out for whatever reason.
• It’s better to attend therapy too early than too late – many of the people that my counselor saw had ‘empty tanks’ and it’s harder to build back up from that state. I’d suggest giving it a go before you hit your breaking point.
• It’s easier for me to think of therapy as part of physical health – like going to get an x-ray if my ankle hurts (just y’know – for the inside stuff).
• Ask around – I probably wouldn’t have used EAP or therapy if my friend hadn’t shared their experience. If it helps, some others in my personal network have also chipped in with their own stories after I first shared my experience:

Hopefully, you can consider EAP as a useful option if you’re not feeling 100%. If it sounds like an appropriate service for you, I’d definitely recommend giving it a go.