Confidentiality is non-negotiable: A response to the new BBC allegations against the UK’s largest EAP
Client confidentiality is at the heart of counselling. It is the foundation of the counsellor-client relationship and without the trust that it enshrines, mental health support is dangerously undermined and ethically compromised.
Confidentiality helps to make counselling a safe experience, and offers the freedom for individuals to discuss issues, both personal and professional, certain that what they are disclosing is protected by confidentiality.
A new set of revelations from the BBC concerning disturbing breaches of confidentiality at a major EAP, as well as having unqualified individuals offering mental health guidance in professional settings, are practices that we at Wellbeing Partners would never engage in.
Lou Campbell, counselling psychotherapist and director of Wellbeing Partners says:
“We pride ourselves on offering high-quality, professional workplace counselling at Wellbeing Partners. Our counselling and wellbeing sessions are rooted in non-negotiable levels of confidentiality in line with the ethical framework of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. All our counsellors and mental health professionals are members of the BACP and adhere to its ethical framework, and every one of us has at least 10 years post-qualification experience”
Workplace Counselling from Wellbeing Partners: A Comprehensive and Timely Service
Wellbeing Partners’ comprehensive in-house workplace counselling service provides the fastest and most effective solution for supporting the individual mental health needs of your employees, in your workplace or online.
The biggest challenge to supporting employee mental health is the reality that existing structures are not coping, with organisations across the UK finding their EAP services unable to meet demand. Many private medical insurers having waiting lists of more than 3 months for accessing mental health services and the NHS is completely overwhelmed with millions of adults on waiting lists of 18 months or longer, even for acute mental health issues.
This perfect storm of growing mental health issues and a huge upsurge in burnout across society combined with a lack of provision from the usual mental health support services is leaving employees without the support they need.
Wellbeing Partners’ In-House Counselling services is an efficient, effective and compassionate response to these issues and the mental health requirements of your employees. Here are the main reasons why:
We are not an EAP: Wellbeing Partners In-House Workplace Counselling Service is pay-as-you-use service (not a subscription model) that allows great flexibility for organisations and fast access to mental health support for employees.
Our Service is Comprehensive: Our counsellors offer broad mental health support that goes beyond parameters set by EAPs, where employees can be turned away if their issues are deemed too small or too complex to meet the threshold for workplace mental health support. Our workplace counselling service covers all areas of mental health and wellbeing, including anxiety, depression, insomnia and disturbed sleep, emotional dysregulation, burnout, bereavement, interpersonal difficulties at work or home and more. We also offer counselling on specialist areas such as menopause-related mental health, neurodivergent-related mental health, senior leadership mental health, all in a safe and confidential environment.
Your Own Team of Mental Health Professionals: Your organisation will be assigned a small and dedicated team of fully qualified and highly experienced counsellors who get to know your staff and are accessible at any time they are needed. Sessions can be offered in-person in your workplace, or online via secure video platform.
New Trend, New Approach: Responding to the mental health crisis requires a dynamic approach. In house-counselling is the emergent trend in workplace mental health, one that we have been offering for many years with a large and growing list of workplace clients. Our in-house counselling service is refined, effective and offers dedicated one-to-one appointments with staff in-person or online to fit with their busy schedules.
Training and Experience: Wellbeing Partners are experts at providing mental health and wellbeing support in professional settings. This is because we source and employ experts in their fields. All our counsellors are BACP registered and with at least 10 years’ post-qualification experience. They also all have extensive experience of providing counselling and wellbeing coaching in professional settings and combine unrivalled training and experience that meets your needs.
Prevention, Performance and Confidence: Our broad approach to challenges in In-House Counselling means that smaller issues can be prevented from developing into crises and more complex issues. Our counselling services focus on creating the framework and confidence that people need to maintain their mental health once the sessions are concluded, reducing likelihood of later relapses. In-House Workplace Counselling is not a luxury, but an intelligent, supportive and economical response to mental health issues. It offers both short and long-term gains for individuals and organisations.
If you would like to learn more about our workplace counselling services, either complete the form below or click here – Employee Counselling
The use of workplace counselling is usually associated with helping the workforce manage stress, anxiety and feeling burnt out. And while these are common and important issues that require attention, this understanding of the role of workplace counselling can be limiting and means that important issues can be overlooked. One such issue – employee bereavement – is often not considered in the employee counselling provision and is perhaps even seen as taboo topic for workplace discussion.
Bereavement is something we will all face but the impact it has on our work is a topic that is often kept at arm’s length. A grave face and well-meaning phrases like “I’m sorry for your loss” or “if there is anything I can do…” are frequently the extent of the support offered at work, which can leave employees feeling unsupported.
More than half of employees have said they would leave their current role if they did not receive adequate support for a bereavement, and a third of line managers would welcome more support for bereaved colleagues[i]. It is clear that employees and workplaces benefit from ensuring that those suffering bereavement have access to professional bereavement counselling during a fragile and emotionally distressing time.
Bereavement can bleed into all aspects of life, not least our work. Grief is powerful and unpredictable. It can cause sleep deprivation, disassociation, flashbacks, and powerful emotions including sadness, anger, shock and guilt. It can change the way we work, affect our concentration, diminish engagement and efficacy, sometimes making even the simplest of tasks seem like insurmountable challenges. It can also impact how we relate to our colleagues and our clients, with issues around isolation, anger and fear affecting our interactions. Without professional support, grief can continue for prolonged periods, impacting the individual and the organisation.
Offering bereavement counselling for employees is an empathetic, intelligent and economical response to mental health issues that can accompany grief. Our Bereavement Counselling Team all have extensive post BACP Qualification experience of supporting people through bereavement in the working environment. These specialist counsellors create a professional and safe space where employees can open up about their feelings, offering concrete means for individuals to process their grief whilst also building frameworks that allow reengagement with their work.
Bereavement Counselling Services are available on a regular or ad hoc basis and if you would like further information, please us at [email protected] or complete the form below:
Senior leadership roles demand a steady and calm demeanour, providing guidance under immense pressure. While the financial and status rewards of these positions can be significant, the relentless demands often create dangerous levels of stress—a serious issue that leaders themselves frequently overlook.
C-Suite executives are expected to be paragons of leadership. They must make critical decisions that shape their organisations, manage diverse teams, and drive individuals to reach their potential, all while striving for their own professional goals. Despite these unceasing demands, the understandable instances of stress and burnout often remain hidden. Over half of leaders report experiencing burnout[i], and a staggering 75% have considered leaving their role due to stress[ii]. Yet, the topic of C-Suite mental health remains taboo, with many leaders reluctant to seek help or even acknowledge the need for it.
At Wellbeing Partners, we have been providing mental health and wellbeing support to senior leaders in many organisations for over a decade. Our experience indicates that the best way to address the mental health needs of those with significant responsibilities is through a specialist counselling and mental wellbeing support service tailored to their unique challenges, which include burnout, chronic stress, overwhelm, insomnia, personal life and parenting issues, anxiety, depression, alcohol and substance misuse, neurodivergence, and interpersonal difficulties.
We understand that Senior Leadership Counselling and mental wellbeing sessions must be directly accessible, offer a fast response, maintain complete confidentiality, and provide relatable and practical support. Our team of highly qualified counselling psychotherapists possesses extensive experience in supporting leaders and addressing the common mental health and wellbeing issues they face.
For senior leaders and their HR/People support team, recognising that confidential mental health support is not a luxury but a necessity is crucial. Making decisions that support businesses and teams is an everyday part of a senior leader’s role, but the immense pressure and responsibility can and does take its toll over time. All workplaces have a duty of care to the mental health and wellbeing of their leaders too.
To learn more about our Senior Leadership Counselling service and our short masterclass, “Mental Health for Leaders,” please contact us at [email protected] or complete the form below:
Supporting the Mental Health of Your Neurodivergent Employees with Specialist Workplace Counselling
One of the most important changes in understanding employee mental health has been the focus on understanding neurodiversity and how being neurodivergent can impact our mental health.
The connection of neurodivergence and mental health issues has traditionally been underestimated, misunderstood and even ignored, especially in the workplace. Whilst neurodiversites such as autism and ADHD are not mental health issues, they are highly significant risk factors for mental health issues, particularly anxiety disorders and depressive disorder.
50% of adults with ADHD and 47% of adults with autism will experience a co-occurring anxiety disorder whilst 70% of adults with ADHDand 40% of adults with autism will also have a co-diagnosis of depression. Because of these vulnerabilities, it is essential that qualified mental health support is provided by organisations to support neurodivergent mental health. Unfortunately, for many organisations, their EAPs are unable to offer such specialist support, leaving many employees to struggle with mental health issues that undermine happiness, confidence, productivity and impact their ability to engage in the workplace.
What is urgently required is neurodivergent employee counselling. At Wellbeing Partners we provide specialist neurodivergent counselling services on an ad hoc or regular basis, depending on the needs of your business.
What differentiates us from other services and EAPS is that these employee counselling sessions are neurodivergent specific, led by qualified counsellors with years of experience in both supporting neurodivergent mental health but also providing counselling support within professional settings. Our team of counsellors are highly experienced in supporting areas especially relevant to neurodivergent mental health including:
burnout
anxiety
depression
insomnia
interpersonal difficulties
communication difficulties
related health issues
Providing all staff members the support of named, fully qualified professionals, ensures a guarantee of quality care to employees. High quality specialist counselling support services ensure that all staff can be guided through all manner of workplace challenges, and properly supported with any mental health issues, by a known, trusted and experienced professional, in a guaranteed time frame.
Growth in specialist employee counselling service highlights shift away from EAP services
This year has seen the rapid growth in uptake of the in-house employee counselling services provided by Wellbeing Partners as companies organisations across the UK look for effective and sustainable approaches to supporting employee mental health.
This growth of workplace counselling reflects not only the acceptance of the need for organisations to support mental health at work, but also the realities that we face as employees and organisations in an uncertain world.
The past few years have been challenging to say the least. The background uncertainty created by living through a pandemic, global insecurity as well as financial and environmental problems adds to the pressures of our personal and professional lives and the ongoing sense of flux has impacted not only the way we work, but our ability carry out our work effectively.
Here in the UK, the NHS mental health provision is experiencing unprecedented demand, with record requests for mental health services. Additionally, EAPs that were not created to cope with such levels of demand, are struggling and often failing to provide the necessary support for employee mental health issues. The inability of EAPs to cope has a knock-on effect, further burdening an already overstretched mental health service, and leaving employees with nowhere to turn for help.
A new approach is required, one that puts the needs of employee mental health at its core. At Wellbeing Partners we believe that utilising our Workplace Counselling services is an efficient, effective and compassionate response to these issues and the workplace mental health demands of your team. Here are the main reasons why.
We are not an EAP: Wellbeing Partners are excellently positioned to offer the support that is needed and are set up to cope with demand in a way the EAPs are not. We are a dedicated service that has the skills, experience and personnel to realise what solution best fits the challenges faced by organisations. Our Employee Counselling is a non-subscription, pay-as-you-use service that allows a greater flexibility for organisations and quicker access to mental health support for employees.
New Trend, New Approach: Responding to the mental health crisis requires a dynamic approach. Employee counselling is the emergent trend in workplace mental health, one that we have been using for many years with our clients. Our workplace counselling service is refined, effective and offers dedicated one-to-one appointments with staff in house or online to fit with their busy schedules.
Training and Experience: Wellbeing Partners are experts at providing workplace mental health and wellbeing support. This is because we source and employee experts in their fields. All our counsellors are BACP certified and, crucially, have at least 10 years’ experience in the field. They also all have extensive experience of providing employee counselling in professional settings and combine unrivalled training and experience that meets your needs.
Accessibility of Mental Health Support: Our Workplace Counselling offers a broad service that sees no problem as too big or too small. EAPs find that because of demands placed on them they have to turn people away. Sometimes this is because their requests are deemed too small to meet the threshold for mental health support, or conversely, they are too big or complicated for the support they can offer. At Wellbeing Partners we welcome all employee mental health problems, offering a forum and safe environment for people to work through their challenges.
Prevention, Performance and Confidence: Our broad approach to challenges through our Workplace Counselling means that smaller issues can be dealt with before they develop into crises. It means bigger problems get the timely support required to help people overcome them. It increases people’s ability to engage in the workplace, to perform, whilst also receiving much needed support. Our counselling also focuses on creating the framework and confidence that people need to maintain their mental health once the sessions are concluded, reducing likelihood of later relapses.
Employee Counselling is not a luxury, but an intelligent, supportive and economical response to mental health issues. It offers both short and long-term gains for individuals and organisations. You may find it useful to introduce regular employee counselling sessions for employees, each led by a multi-qualified specialist. Alternatively urgent employee mental health sessions can be booked on a case-by-case basis, providing a cost-effective, high-quality alternative to the more familiar EAP approach.
In-house Employee Counselling Service from Wellbeing Partners
Wellbeing Partners’ in-house employee counselling service provides the fastest and most effective solution for supporting the individual mental health needs of your employees, in your workplace or online.
Companies and organisations across the UK are finding their EAP services unable to cope with demand, many private medical insurers with waiting lists of more than 3 months for accessing mental health services, and an NHS completely overwhelmed with millions of adults on waiting lists of 18 months or longer, even for acute mental health issues.
This perfect storm of growing mental health issues and burnout across society combined with a lack of provision from the usual mental health support services is leaving employees without the support they need.
Wellbeing Partners’ In-House Counselling services is an efficient, effective and compassionate response to these issues and the mental health requirements of your employees. Here are the main reasons why:
We are not an EAP: Wellbeing Partners In-House Employee Counselling Service is pay-as-you-use service (not a subscription model) that allows great flexibility for organisations and fast access to mental health support for employees.
Your Own Team of Mental Health Professionals: Your organisation will be assigned a small and dedicated team of fully qualified and highly experienced counsellors who get to know your staff and are accessible at any time they are needed. Sessions can be offered in-person in your workplace, or online via secure video platform.
New Trend, New Approach: Responding to the mental health crisis requires a dynamic approach. In house-counselling is the emergent trend in workplace mental health, one that we have been offering for many years with a large and growing list of workplace clients. Our in-house counselling service is refined, effective and offers dedicated one-to-one appointments with staff in-person or online to fit with their busy schedules.
Training and Experience: Wellbeing Partners are experts at providing mental health and wellbeing support in professional settings. This is because we source and employ experts in their fields. All our counsellors are BACP registered and with at least 10 years’ post-qualification experience. They also all have extensive experience of providing counselling and wellbeing coaching in professional settings and combine unrivalled training and experience that meets your needs.
Accessibility: Our In-House Counselling offers a broad service that sees no mental health issue as too big or too small. EAPs are increasingly turning employees away if their issues are deemed too small to meet the threshold for mental health support, or conversely, they are too complex for the support they can offer. At Wellbeing Partners we support all your employees no matter what their issue, offering a forum and safe environment for people to work through their challenges.
Prevention, Performance and Confidence: Our broad approach to challenges in In-House Counselling means that smaller issues can be prevented from developing into crises and more complex issues receive the timely support they deserve. Our counselling services focus on creating the framework and confidence that people need to maintain their mental health once the sessions are concluded, reducing likelihood of later relapses. In-House Employee Counselling is not a luxury, but an intelligent, supportive and economical response to mental health issues. It offers both short and long-term gains for individuals and organisations.
A key aspect of the new UK government's Plan to Make Work Pay legislation is its focus on improving support for women navigating peri-menopause and menopause within the workplace environment. While mental and physical health...
At Wellbeing Partners, we are excited to introduce our latest service offering: Neurodiversity Training for Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs). This comprehensive 2-hour training is live and interactive for a group of up to 20 of your employees....
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