Employee Assistance Program
- Healing the wounds
Alice is employed in a caring role at a home for the elderly. She experienced conflict with her supervisor and later went on sick leave as the result of this. After reporting it to her manager, she was encouraged to seek assistance via the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Alice presented as angry and anxious, as the result of incidents in the workplace, and reported that conflict had been present for some time. The first session was spent gaining an understanding of what had occurred, and establishing that Alice needed resolution in the workplace to ensure she could return to work safely.
Alice signed a consent form that allowed the APM Psychologist to liaise with her manager and discuss ways to resolve the conflict via mediation. All parties were willing for this to occur, and so mediation was carried out between Alice and her supervisor.
In addition to this, Alice was provided with some strategies on ways to resolve her anxiety before it got to such high levels.
As a result of intervention provided by EAP, Alice returned safely to her full time role, and communication with her supervisor improved dramatically. This also ensured that the chances of a recurrence of a similar situation would be minimal, and created a much improved working environment for all staff in that area.
Employee Assistance Program
- Antarctica assistance
Steven self-referred to the APM Employee Assistance Program (EAP) while he was employed in Antarctica for a six month contract as an electrician. He acknowledged that he needed assistance when his relationship ended while he was away.
Steven was going through a normal grief reaction as the result of his loss, however was also suffering the effect of his remote location and a lack of support. He was considering leaving on the next boat out which left three weeks after he first called APM.
Four telephone sessions of one hour duration each were carried out with Steven by an APM Psychologist. The Psychologist provided him with education about the normality of his emotions, and encouraged him to develop more appropriate support networks where he was.
Steven improved steadily over the four week period, and came to understand that his relationship was over, and was then able to move on and enjoy his surroundings again. This displays the benefits of utilising the EAP for both the client and the employer.
The client was able to reassess his situation and develop good coping strategies, and the employer retained a valuable employee and did not have to endure the time and costs associated with recruiting someone else into that role.
Employee Assistance Program
- Hospital harmony
A local hospital requested an introductory seminar for staff that would inform them of how to use the EAP they had negated with APM. The hospital also requested that the seminar touch on the topic of grief in the workplace as this appeared to be the predominant issue affecting their staff.
The seminar incorporated this topic in addition to some basic education on communication skills and stress management.
Staff at the seminar expressed a lot of interest in these areas, and requested additional training that would help them to develop enhanced communication skills. The employer has expressed support for further training in the hope it will decrease the amount of conflict that has previously occurred in the busy and demanding hospital environment.
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