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Employee Assistance Programs have been shown to assist businesses to build robust, attractive workplaces, with higher morale, increased productivity and good retention rates. Research has also indicated that personal stress increases absenteeism, worker conflict, and accident rates. When effectively promoted by management, EAPs can pro-actively address personal and relational issues before they become problematic.
All of the following
Work: relationships with co-workers, dealing with traumatic incidents, work stress, change management, performance issues
Family: domestic violence, separation /divorce, substance abuse, concerns about children, work-life balance
Personal: stress management, anxiety and depression, grief and loss, abuse, self-esteem, assertiveness
By providing your workers with access to professional and confidential advice in these three areas, you show them they are cared for and valued. This reduces the load on management, increases worker focus and creates a caring work culture. Effective EAP programs also meet the specific needs of each business, and are dovetailed to complement existing HR/OH&S policies and procedures in a streamlined, efficient manner.
I have 10 years experience working in the counselling field, working in Private Practice in the Blue Mountains and Nepean districts, and for several non-government counselling agencies. I have also been in a management role in a leading not-for profit counselling organisation in Penrith. This role included involvement in provision of EAPs, and has familiarised me with the OH&S and HR requirements for such a service.
My counselling experience includes working with individuals (most issues), couples, children and families. I have extensive experience in working with adults impacted by trauma, and am trained in Critical Incident Debriefing. As well, I have a Masters in Adult Education, and am able to deliver educational services around interpersonal and social/emotional issues that impact on the workplace, including work/life balance and burn-out. I am an experienced group facilitator and educator, having provided training to pastors, telephone counsellors and volunteers who work with the dying.
I am a clinical member of the Counsellors and Psychotherapist’s Association of NSW (CMCAPA) and am listed on the National Register of Psychotherapists and Counsellors (PACFA Register No: 21406), the highest accolade for a counsellor in Australia.
My professional rooms are located near Penrith station, and near Richmond station. I am available Mon-Sat during office hours and Mon, Wed and Thurs evenings. I am happy to provide references from senior clinicians who have high profiles in the Sydney area, including a senior Manager of Relationships Australia, and the Senior Manager of LifeCare Counselling and Family Services.
Workplaces are communities. They can be attractive, safe places to work, or they can drain, demean and stress people so that they are less effective, and less happy. My commitment is to the mental health and well-being of clients: that is, the employer, and the community they are wishing to create, and the workers themselves. At all times I am mindful that people are whole people: mind, body and soul. Thoughts, behaviours and feelings are necessary parts of being richly human.
Brief, supportive interventions can result in workers feeling heard, and understood. After an assessment is made in a safe and respectful manner, I work with the employee to clarify what their needs are, then empower them to make new choices and widen perspectives, or if needed, to access local resources for further support or information. I am also available to the employer, if required, to promote pro-active mental health interventions.
My role as an EAP provider is to work closely with the employer to create systems and procedures which are user-friendly, cost-effective, and appropriate to that specific context. At all levels of my engagement with staff I will exhibit mutual respect, transparency and accountability.
All interventions need to be based on current best practice, and to meet all the ethical and professional conduct requirements set out in the national guidelines. These would include confidentiality, compulsory mandatory reporting when appropriate, and stringent record-keeping procedures.
I am able to provide these at the time that we enter into a contract. All policies and procedures meet the national standards expected of a counselling provider.
It is important that we negotiate the pathways that best meet YOUR business needs. However, I am able to offer a range of approaches that are commonly used and maintain confidentiality for your workers, and that are efficient and timely.
Part of the package is usually a negotiated process for educating staff about the advantages of using EAPs. In particular, line management need to be educated about the appropriateness of the use of such services, and how to avoid discriminatory comments or responses to those accessing this service.
EAPs and their overall place in the business needs to be spelt out to all levels of the workplace, so that they are part of the “culture of work”. Emotional, family and personal issues are all part of a healthy workplace, and need to be actively promoted as a useful, normal and responsible choice.
All records are securely locked away, and all conversations remain confidential between the counsellor and the client. At no time can the counsellor disclose to another party any matters discussed in a counselling session. This is a legal obligation for all counsellors.
Clients will be invited to fill in an anonymous evaluation form to give the EAP provider immediate feedback. This will then be presented in a summarised, non-identifiable way to the business as part of regular reporting procedures. These pathways, and the format of reports, will be mutually agreed-upon at the time we enter into an EAP agreement.
The cost of the service is to be negotiated when an enquiry is made. This will differ according to the number of sessions that will be offered to employees, and the level of paperwork and reporting you require. The rates for Jewel Jones Counselling will be highly competitive, and cost-effective in terms of the returns to your business efficiency.
Most businesses make available to each employee between 4 and 6 sessions per year as part of their salary/wages package. Of course, most employees do not access the service, and many only access it once. The important thing is that they are offered a safety net for their individual, family and work issues which may benefit from a brief, effective intervention with a skilled counsellor.
It is most efficient if correspondence, reports and trouble-shooting are all directed to one person in your business. That way, our interactions will be effective and timely. Of course, I make a commitment to respond promptly to requests for sessions, or for any other matter.
I am the business.
What you see is what you get.
My name is everything to my business. It is personal for me.
My ethics, my values, my life story, my triumphs and my mistakes have shaped me and thus the business. Who I am is the foundation of what I offer. Warmth, being approachable, creative and scholarly all shape my work. So do my skills, training and experience. That makes me very accountable.
I am nearby.
I have connections with workers and referral sources that I trust in the Lower Mountains, Nepean and Hawkesbury regions.
It is simple for me to meet with management. We will be forming a relationship, building mutual trust and forging new paths together.
I am available.
Monday to Saturday.
Three evenings per week.
It is me who you call; it is me who the clients see. No surprises. It is always the experienced, grounded, skilled therapist. Not the junior member of the team. Not the intern who is learning and practising on you or your employees.
I am cost-effective.
I have low overheads.
Policies and procedures will be integrated with your existing systems.
We will negotiate specifically what you need. I do not have limits set on me from above, so I can be flexible, listening and responding to your evolving business needs.
Call now for friendly, confidential, and professional advice.