Employee assistance programs offer confidential help to employees, helping you navigate life’s challenges as they come. EAP programs offer community resources, counseling and coaching sessions, legal help, therapy and more, all in the interest of helping workers and employers alike overcome difficult situations.

The goal of any employee assistance program – including our own services at Mazzitti & Sullivan EAP – is to provide more than just counseling for workplace stress. In fact, the majority of people who use EAP services use them for issues entirely unrelated to the office.

From career counseling to elder care, EAPs commonly address a wide range of employee concerns. Below, we’ve outlined 5 of the biggest pain points that employee assistance programs help you mitigate.

Mood disorders

Employee assistance programs can help you address mood disorders, mental health disorders typified by symptoms like mood swings, manic episodes and other effects to one’s emotional state. Mood disorders include bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety, and in general refer to a wide range of mental health challenges characterized by frequent, often self-destructive changes in mood.

Counseling offered through employee assistance programs can help individuals with all sorts of mood disorders. Not only will professionally incensed counselors help employees with mood disorders properly understand the challenges they face, but EAPs also help employees connect with proper medication providers in their location, alongside other local treatment modalities.

Counselors associated with employee assistance programs regularly help employees identify and seek help for mood disorders, as your first step toward achieving control over mental health challenges.

Grief and loss

Employees experiencing feelings of grief and loss can always benefit from therapy through their employee assistance program. Licensed EAP therapists help employees work through their own thoughts and feelings, where the alternative is often that same employee burying their feelings or processing emotions in an unhealthy, even destructive manner.

Grief and loss are inevitable, unfortunate parts of life. At some time or another, we will all experience grief and loss, sometimes for prolonged periods of time. And whether we lose a parent, grandparent, sibling or pet, there is no strict template for how long grief and loss linger. That’s why counseling offered through employee assistance programs is so vital from day one: grief and loss therapy can help you properly identify and understand what you’re feeling, during a time when powerful emotions threaten to override reason.

Grief and loss counseling help you properly process denial, anger, depression and periods of acceptance, allowing you to accept reality and adjust to life’s differences at your own pace, with the help of licensed EAP counselors.

Marriage and family issues

No family is perfect. Each family has unique issues, sometimes personal, other times involving several or all members of the family. Employee assistance programs help you work through those family and marital issues, offering marriage and family counseling that helps you reach the heart of any challenges.

Families are meant to stand the test of time. When families face conflict, members often feel shame or frustration even in admitting to the difficulty they are facing. That’s one of the reasons why marriage and family counseling through your employee assistance program is so valuable: it helps to reframe your struggles, aligning you alongside your entire family on one team against any issues life throws your way.

When issues are shared between spouses, marital counseling through your EAP can help resolve pain points and restore a sense of familial balance.

Domestic violence

No matter the employee, everyone deserves to live a life free of domestic violence. Employee assistance programs make it a priority to offer resources and personal support to anyone experiencing domestic violence in their relationship.

Counseling can help you definitively identify warning signs in your partnership, and can also help you become more observant of your partner’s behaviors as you work to assess risks and develop a safety plan. In addition, you’ll be offered a safe, confidential avenue where you can express your thoughts and feelings regarding domestic violence in a nonjudgmental setting. And perhaps most importantly, your counselor can connect you with resources in your area that can help you pursue freedom and distance from aggressors.

Addictions

Substance use issues can easily compromise self-confidence and productivity. And alongside the many other negative health effects that drug and alcohol use can impose, substance use challenges fuel destructive behavior patterns that can be very difficult to break. Fortunately, substance use therapy and counseling through your employee assistance program can help you restore your sense of personal freedom, helping you distance yourself from destructive substance use habits

No matter your addiction, counseling can help you identify any underlying trauma or disorders which could be contributing to the challenges you’re facing. Counselors can also help you comprehend and manage any triggers that consistently contribute to substance use habits. And perhaps most importantly, counselors through your EAP can help you establish a firm vision of the changes you want to see in your own life.

Pursue freedom from life’s challenges through employee assistance programs

Whether it’s a chemical dependency or a mood disorder, financial issues or time management challenges, employee assistance programs help you address many of life’s pain points. At Mazzitti & Sullivan EAP, we offer holistic benefits that your entire family can use, whether the issues are workplace-related or entirely separate. If you’re interested in putting free, confidential EAP services to use, call 800-543-5080 or use our streamlined contact portal, to put proven EAP benefits to use for your business.