Services  
Employee Assistance Program  

Employee Assistance Program services are provided through CONCERN's Greater Berk and Lehigh Valley offices.

What is an Employee Assistance Program?

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a professional, confidential service that assists employees and their immediate family members in identifying and resovling personal problems that may be affecting them either at work or in their personal lives. Proactive by design, an EAP is a short-term, prevention-based service which provides assessment, brief therapy, and/or referrals for on-going treatment.

The EAP is designed to assist organizations in addressing the difficulties employees encounter that impact their well-being and may ultimately affect their job performance. Treatment focuses on assisting employees to achieve problem resolution and maximize their full potential at work. Many organizations that utilize an EAP have come to appreciate the value of this service.

The EAP program can benefit an organization by:

• Maintaining productive, loyal, and competent employees on the job, thus
  reducing the costs associated with turnover
• Improving workplace morale and collaboration
• Increasing productivity or reducing absenteeism, tardiness, and accidents on the job
• Decreasing disciplinary problems and grievances

Organizations that effectively utilize the EAP experience results in superior productivity, performance, and profitability.

The EAP program can increase workplace productivity by significantly reducing some of the common issues employees encounter, such as:

• Grief and loss
• Depression and anxiety
• Substance abuse
• Low self-esteem
• Relationship difficulties
• Co-worker conflict
• Managing adjustment to change
• Family or child issues
• Marital problems
• Domestic violence and abuse

These are the most commonly asked questions concerning EAP programs.

What is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?

The EAP provides employees and covered family members with help in dealing with and solving personal problems which affect their well-being or their ability to perform their jobs.

Why should the Company care about an employee’s personal problem?

If an employee’s personal problem affects job performance, then it becomes a concern to the company. If an employee is consistently late or repeatedly absent or does not follow company rules and regulations, then the employee’s work performance and productivity suffer.

Organizations have an investment in the employees who make up the Company. The EAP has the potential to help individual employees maintain top performance levels. This, in turn, helps the company to stay competitive and profitable.

How does an employee obtain assistance through the EAP?

CONCERN, a human services organization with office in Fleetwood, Wyomissing and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, provides the EAP service for small and large organizations. CONCERN’s EAP main office is located at 22-24 North Franklin Street in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania.

What happens after an employee calls the EAP?

An EAP professional will talk with the employee about the reason he or she called CONCERN. If the employee simply asks

for information, then the EAP professional can supply the information. If the employee wants to begin counseling services for him or her self or another family member that is covered by the employee’s insurance, then some basic information is obtained by the EAP professional. If the matter is urgent in nature, an appointment is established immediately. Typically, the employee can expect to see the therapist within a few days from the day of the call. Unless it is an emergency, the appointment should be scheduled at a time other than the employee’s work shift.

What services does the EAP provide?

CONCERN’s EAP professionals are Master’s level clinicians who are qualified to provide:

• Individual therapy
• Family therapy
• Marital therapy
• Group therapy

CONCERN also has psychiatrists on staff to provide evaluations as needed.

CONCERN provides assistance to employees 24-hours a day/seven days a week to provide immediate help for crisis management purposes.

What is the purpose of making an appointment with an EAP professional?

First, through one or two meetings, the EAP professional helps the employee to identify the problem. If it is decided that short term counseling could help the employee, the EAP provides this counseling at CONCERN. If the EAP professional believes that another provider or service is more appropriate to assist the employee, then the EAP professional informs the employee of this and assists them with obtaining this service.

How much does the EAP cost?

The EAP services are free of charge to the employee. The organization pays for the EAP services for the employees. If the employee exhausts all of the sessions he or she has covered by the organization and continues to require additional treatment, the therapist will talk with the employee about his or her options. Depending on the employee’s insurance, he or she may need to transfer to another provider to continue with his or her treatment.

What about confidentiality?

Any and all information shared with an EAP professional is confidential. CONCERN therapists are bound by laws and a code of ethics governing confidentiality. This will be clearly reviewed with the employee during his or her first appointment. CONCERN therapists cannot communicate with anyone without the employee’s written request or otherwise required by law.

Click here for a printable Employee Assistance Program brochure

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