Employee Assistance Program
Gryphon Psychology

CALL 1800 056 076
www.gryphonpsych.com.au

What is an EAP?

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is an employee benefit program paid for by your employer that seeks to assist employees in addressing personal or work related concerns through counselling and support services.
The program is a proactive and early intervention support service that aims to assist employees to address concerns that may directly or indirectly affect their performance at work and/or their general emotional wellbeing.
EAP counselling is short term and solution focused in nature, confidential and focuses on the encouragement of effective self management strategies and practices.

Who can access the service?

The service is available to employees and is also offered to an employee’s partner and any dependent children.
What are the usage rates of EAP’s?
Typically between 4-6% of the workforce during any one year will consult an EAP.

Sessions

A counselling session will usually last for 50 minutes. Under your EAP you have a limited number of sessions available to you, which your clinician will advise you of in the first session.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is of the highest importance under the EAP program. Staff are bound by legal and ethical obligations and for this reason, no personal identifying information can be shared with your employer or any other party without your consent.
The only time confidence may be broken is when a “duty of care” legally overrides the “duty of confidentiality” held by the counselor.
Specifically, confidentiality may be overridden;

• where failure to disclose information would place you or another person at serious risk of harm;
• where the information you have given is subpoenaed (officially requested) by a court of law;
• you provide prior approval to discuss your personal information with another party.

Availability and Counselling Options

EAP counselling can be facilitated either face to face, via telephone or online via Skype.
Emergency telephone counselling is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.

There are also monthly onsite Face to Face check in sessions with a Gryphon Psychology Clinician, see the upcoming events section for the details.

Booking Appointments

Initial bookings can be made via our main administration line 1800 056 076. Subsequent appointments can be made via this phone line or in person via your treating clinician. You can also make an appointment via our website or through our free App “Gryphon Psychology”.

Cancellations

If for some reason you need to cancel or postpone the appointment, giving us at least 24 hour’s notice is highly appreciated. If you do not attend or cancel your appointment within 24 hours, this session may be deducted from your session entitlement quota.

Record Keeping

Your counsellor will take notes of the sessions for the purpose of assisting in the process and for reference for future sessions. These notes are stored securely in our records system and are not accessible to anyone outside Gryphon Psychology.

What are the counsellors’ qualifications?

Gryphon Psychology clinicians are required
to be qualified at higher education level with extensive practical experience. Our clinicians are either a member of Australian Psychological Society (APS) or Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and have fulfilled registration requirements with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

Choosing another counsellor

Successful support in counselling is dependent on the therapeutic relationship built between the client and the treating clinician. From time to time, particular clients may feel they lack rapport with a particular counsellor. It is the client’s right to request another counsellor if they feel they aren’t getting the support they are expecting. This can be done by phoning the usual Gryphon Psychology phone line and requesting to be booked in with an alternative counsellor.

What if I use up my EAP session entitlement but still require more counselling?

If further assistance is required approval for additional sessions may be obtained from your employer. This is highly dependent on the nature of the problem and its effect on you as an employee.
Alternatively there are other options of continuing counselling by:

• Continuing counselling as a private client of the service, whereby you would personally pay for the subsequent sessions (private health rebates may apply depending on your health fund).
• Requesting a Mental Health Care Plan through your General Practitioner. A MHCP entitles you to access counselling that is subsided partially by Medicare (gap fees apply).
• Requesting referral to another public/ private health care service

Feedback

We welcome feedback of the EAP service at any time. You can provide feedback by completing the “EAP feedback form” and emailing this to
admin@gryphonpsych.com.au or providing this in a sealed envelope in person to your clinician.
Alternatively, you can provide feedback via the contact tab on our website.

Copy of psychological file

If at any time you require a copy of your psychological file, you are requested to complete the form “Request for copy of psychological file” and submit this to Administration.

Where else can I go for after-hours support?

Lifeline – 13 11 14
Beyond Blue – 1300 224 636
1800 Respect (for those affected by sexual assault, domestic violence or family violence) – 1800 737 732
Mensline – 1300 789 978
Local hospital or police service