Many healthcare professionals need to talk to someone after a stressful or traumatic workplace experience. A fundamental part of being employed in the Ontario healthcare system is having access to an employee assistance program (EAP). But some healthcare workers may not even know about it. Access to the program is granted along with the rest of your medical benefits, and can be a valuable resource for everything from general employee wellness to relieving the stress of a traumatic experience.
What is an EAP?
An EAP is a confidential, short term counselling service for employees with personal problems that may affect their work performance. Often these programs are administered by outside organizations contracted by your employer.
Who would I be talking to?
The quality of the counselling will vary based on the organization contracted by your employer. Generally it will be a person with formal education in social work, psychology or counselling, often holding a bachelors or master’s degree. I’m worried this will damage my professional prospects. Just how confidential is it? Not all EAPs are created equally, and there can be a lot of variation in quality between different hospitals. Check to see if your EAP provider is part of the Canadian Employee Assistance Program Association. The CEAPA requires all members to administer their EAPs on the basis of “neutrality, confidentiality, and not being part of the disciplinary process” of your employer.
Sounds amazing…. so what’s the catch?
EAPs are a short-term, generalized service, meant to be a stopgap at best to help you deal with a wide array of mental health issues, and your benefits will only cover a limited number of EAP sessions. EAP counsellors often don’t have the specialized training needed to identify and properly treat the extraordinary traumatic experiences nurses or paramedics may sustain in the workplace. If you find that your EAP did not effectively
