Harting

‘Why I Became an EACC Commissioner’

| By Ian Quamina, PhD, CEAP

With the new CEAPR Refresh credential now in place, we switch gears in this column and—in conjunction with supporting upcoming nominations for the three new commissioners—ask busy EA professionals why they decided to become an Employee Assistance Certification Commission (EACC) commissioner. The EACC and JEA thank them for taking the time out of their busy schedules! Bryan Hutchinson kicks off the discussion.

Working with the commission has been both challenging and rewarding. It has been challenging because it has required broadening my awareness of EA issues and thinking through how the commission should be employing testing strategies.

Being a commissioner has also been rewarding because we create test content, work through issues that arise with the CEAP R exam, answer exam appeals, and we get to work with other EA professionals and hear what their EA world is like. It is fascinating to discover the diversity of the employee assistance profession.

Moving forward, the CEAP R Refresh is proving to be a very successful redesign. Ian Quamina and Sherry Courtemanche led the EACC through rethinking the CEAPR testing process. The CEAPR Refresh and all its challenges is a great example of how collaboration and EA expertise can improve the profession. I have thoroughly enjoyed the collaboration and collegiality of being a certification commissioner!

– Bryan Hutchinson, MAC, SAP, CEAP

I became an Employee Assistance Certification Commission (EACC) commissioner to educate EA professionals about the value of the CEAPR certificate, the only recognized credential of advanced practice in the employee assistance field. The credential assures consumers and employers that they are receiving services from a knowledgeable professional with a specific expertise in workplace and employee assistance practice.

EAP work is a distinct skill set, separate from private practice or agency-based work. The CEAPR credential demonstrates the knowledge of the existence of the dual client relationship, management consultation, crisis intervention and risk assessment skills; employee assistance professional ethics; critical incident support services; and the understanding of the impact of workplace culture, policies and procedures and employment law.

Now more important than ever, with the emergence and rapid growth of online mental health platforms that promote themselves as EAP providers, it is important to educate consumers about the value of the CEAPR. According to Chet Taranowski and Paul Tewksbury (2016), “failure to support certification and the requirements it represents may have an adverse effect on the integrity of the EAP field. This is a vital point since the CEAPrepresents the only ethically-informed and knowledge-based standard for EAP practice across the globe.”

– Henri Menco, LICSW, CEAP Sr. EAP Clinical Manager

Becoming involved with the EACC seemed a natural extension of the professional work in which I have been involved. I was fortunate when I first began working in the employee assistance field that my employer at that time emphasized the need to complete the requirements for my CEAPR. Completing the process helped me truly understand the unique skill sets required of employee assistance professionals. Learning about the history of EAPA and EASNA has helped me understand the nuances of providing services to companies and their employees.

As I have considered opportunities to become more involved in EAPA, my background in ethics education and working with certification programs fit well with the direction of the organization. I became trained and began teaching the Elevating Ethical Awareness course. This was a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the ethics of professionals and to work with professionals in various roles in EAP work. When the EACC announced openings for a commissioner that seemed like another way to become more involved in EAP work. With the changes to the certification process, I was even more intrigued with the role of commissioner.

A passionate supporter of certification for employee assistance professionals, I am honored to serve with great representatives on the EACC.

– Susan Meyerle, LIMHP, CEAP Owner – The Insight Program, P.C.

My EA career began over 25 years ago with a premier internal EAP at Motorola, Inc. Our director, Sheila Monaghan, encouraged involvement in EAPA at all levels, as well as the acquisition of the professional certification (CEAPR). At that time, I was affiliated with the Central Arizona chapter of EAPA, and eventually became involved at multiple levels of chapter leadership, culminating in a stint on the International EAPA Board.

Throughout those assignments, I had the opportunity to observe the extensive efforts by the EACC in maintaining the quality of the CEAPR exam, thus ensuring that our profession maintain relevance and value in contributing to workplace health and productivity.

When I was approached by the outgoing EACC Chair (my friend and colleague, Tim Lee) to be a part of EACC, I felt honored to participate in maintaining the quality of the certification and our profession. As the EACC worked on the CEAPR Refresh it further confirmed the commitment of this commission to our unique, impactful profession.

– Craig Mills, MC, LPC, CEAP

I decided to become a commissioner because if we want this profession to thrive, we need well-trained employee assistance professionals doing great work. The more competent and effective EA practitioners are, the better able they are to help employees and the more likely it is that companies will continue to find value and invest in offering high quality EA programs. I wanted to be part of strengthening the field by strengthening the CEAPR .

With all of the challenges of the past two years, companies are looking for the best ways to support their employees through mental health and substance use challenges. I believe there has never been a better time to be an EA professional. As a profession we need to be well educated and prepared to meet the demands of today’s workforce.

The upcoming generation is much savvier around proactively managing their mental health and expects their companies to support them in their mental wellness journey. A strong CEAPR credential is the best way to prepare the next generation of EA professionals to meet those expectations.

– David Nix, MA, LPC, MAC, CEAP

Becoming an EACC commissioner was something I considered doing after years of attending EAPA conferences and speaking with past commissioners, I believed that serving in this capacity would be the next step in my EA career. However, I had to wait until the vacancy for an International Commissioner was available.

After a few years passed, I finally got the opportunity in 2019 to apply to the EACC with the hopes of being selected as the international commissioner. At that time, I believed (and still do) that having the representation of a CEAP who resides and works in employee assistance outside of North America was important. From my own experience, the role of the international commissioner is one that offers the perspective and experience of their respective cultural approaches, but it also validates and supports the EA work that we all do.

Additionally, I enjoyed having the opportunity to work along with my fellow commissioners to refresh the CEAPR exam, so the CEAPR credential is more accessible and equally sustainable professionally. I can confidently state that serving as a commissioner over the last three years has been a tremendous privilege and I encourage all EAPA members, especially my international counterparts, to apply to serve in the future.

Adult ADHD

Effective Job Strategies

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=254UtlLrQgA&feature=emb_title

Individuals with adult ADHD or who know someone who has this disorder will benefit from the useful job search strategies at this video from Scott Shapiro, MD, a leading expert on adult ADHD. Books

The History of Employee Assistance Programs in the United States

https://amzn.to/2Z2KLMe Written by Dale Masi, PhD, and sponsored by the Employee Assistance Research Foundation, this book is a long overdue exposition of all the major innovations and evolution of the EAP field. It is an essential guide for purchasers, providers, and students of EAP.

Books

Leading Workplace Addiction

https://drjnarine.wordpress.com/ John Narine, DBA, CEAP, shares eight strategies to help business leaders provide compassion, encouragement, and practical guidance for employees who are struggling with substance abuse. With a powerful testimony and lessons learned from personal experience, along with excellent research, Narine’s work serves as an impactful book of wisdom, knowledge, and teaching for business leaders. Books

You are the Sheriff of ME Town

https://www.metown.com Julia Bain, CEAP, and retired EAP manager for the city of Albuquerque, takes readers on a journey of empowerment in which they have all the power as the sheriff of “Me Town.” James Porter, CEO of StressStop notes, “With practical steps for how to achieve this end, many, many people’s lives could be turned around by taking her straight-shooting advice to heart.”

Coronavirus

Johns Hopkins: Resource Center

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

Johns Hopkins, experts in global public health, infectious disease, and emergency preparedness have been at the forefront of the international response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Post-COVID

Predictive Index

https://bit.ly/2RykkgK

In its latest report, find out what’s causing executive teams to struggle in a remote post-COVID world – and what they’re doing to build dream teams.

Mental Health

Fresh Hope

https://freshhope.us

Fresh Hope is based upon six tenets/principles seen as a foundation for living well in spite of a mental health diagnosis. The tenets/principles are for both the person who has a diagnosis as well as for the loved ones of those who have a diagnosis.

Mental Health

Psych Central

https://psychcentral.com/ Founded by mental health expert John Grohol, Psych Central is a leading site on mental health with links about numerous mental health conditions and scores of articles ranging from the pandemic to seniors, the latest stories and trends, and more. Technology

Appmkr

https://www.appmakr.com/ Everybody is downloading apps these days, but maybe you’d like to create your own app. Doing so is neither complicated nor costly. Learn more at this site.

Technology

One Mind PsyberGuide

https://onemindpsyberguide.org There are so many apps out there these days! But which ones are effective? Apps and digital health resources are reviewed at this site, which includes its criteria for determining its ratings. Understanding and managing mental health are among other useful links.

Workplace Wellness

CancerCareers.org

https://www.cancercareers.org/

Who isn’t affected by cancer today? This site, formerly known as Cancer and Careers, helps patients, survivors, healthcare professionals, and employers navigate the practical and legal issues common after a cancer diagnosis.

Mental Health

The Best Mental Health Apps of 2021

https://www.verywellmind.com/best-mental-healthapps-4692902 Looking for mental health services can be intimidating, especially in a technology-driven world that offers so many options. Look no further than this list.

The Hidden Worker: Part II

Considering Diverse Employee Needs during COVID-19

| By Bryan McNutt, PhD, LMFT, CEAP

While virtually everyone has been affected in some way, shape, or form by the coronavirus pandemic, diverse employees have been especially hard hit. Part I of this series identified these workers and discussed their challenges and stressors, especially considering COVID-19. The conclusion will explore approaches EAPs can use to foster more sensitivity and advocacy for the workplace needs of diverse-identified employees.

EAPs as Facilitators of Organizational Self-Reflection

Addressing systemic inequities, cultural biases, and various forms of stigma, prejudice, and discrimination within the workplace is a tall order. In addition, EA professionals are faced with the challenging task of supporting both individual employees and the needs of leadership.

This is particularly difficult to navigate when attempting to support diverse employees who experience minority stress within an organization, due to the inherent culture of an organization that may implicitly perpetuate harmful biases against diverse employees. Biases cannot change unless they are first identified, thought about, and then talked about. Increasing opportunities to encourage self-reflection is critical to reducing implicit minority stress in the workplace.

As employers and leaders are faced with the challenge of considering how to respond to the needs and concerns of diverse employees within their organizations, EAPs can play a key role. EA consultants can facilitate selfreflection among leadership and management about how an organization’s cultural beliefs, attitudes, values, and decisions may indirectly overlook, ignore, or minimize the unique needs and concerns of diverse employees.

Promoting Psychological Safety: A Key Role of EAPs in Supporting Diverse Employees

There is one key area of organizational life that EAPs can promote as a means for supporting the unique needs of diverse employees: Psychological Safety. EA professionals can create the greatest leverage for influencing support for diverse employees by providing management consultation and leadership coaching. Helping leaders and managers apply the principles of Psychological Safety in the workplace can be a critical foundation for working against detrimental organizational cultures and interpersonal biases that fuel minority stress and harms diverse employees.

Psychological Safety is a perspective of organizational theory and group dynamics in the workplace that has gained a lot of traction in business literature and organizational development models throughout the past decade. It is derived from several different value-based components that shape interpersonal relations within a workplace culture. These include valuing:

• Diversity; • Mutual respect; • Shared decision-making; • Collective trust; encouraging a • Sense of belonging; and prioritizing • Fairness and equity.

Biases cannot change unless they are first identified, thought about, and then talked about.

These factors all contribute to a foundation that benefits diverse employees, whose perspectives and input are often not included at the decision-making table, or who tend to be overlooked, unheard, misunderstood, and disregarded. Psychological Safety inherently values diversity and inclusion, and as a result, it fundamentally supports the needs of diverse employees.

Basic Assumptions of Psychological Safety

1). People are constantly managing interpersonal and emotional risk at work, consciously and unconsciously. This can inhibit the open sharing of ideas, questions, and concerns. A fundamental dimension of Psychological Safety in the workplace is how safety and threat are experienced on the interpersonal level of interaction and communication. Within a work context, this is often displayed by how emotional risks are taken, how diverse perspectives are valued and shared, and how concerns are expressed and responded to by leadership. When we consider the experiences of diverse employees, they experience not only basic workplace challenges but also the additional daily challenges of navigating the threats of minority stress.

2). Psychological safety describes a climate where people feel safe enough to take interpersonal risks by speaking up and sharing concerns, questions, or ideas. This is not only critical for supporting team efforts of problem-solving, mitigating costly errors, and promoting innovation, but it can also hold in check interpersonal bias, stigma, and prejudice. Since diverse employees tend to feel marginalized in the workplace, they often do not feel emotionally safe enough to speak up, especially if their opinions differ from the group norm.

3). Leaders of teams, departments, units, or other groups within organizations play an important role in developing psychological safety. We know that the shaping of an organization’s culture is often promoted and reinforced implicitly through the behavior, communication, and policy development of leaders and managers. Leaders and managers are critical gateways for influencing the shape and purpose of a work culture that operates from a position of Psychological Safety.

Diversity and inclusion function best when Psychological Safety has been established. Research has also revealed that the lack of Psychological Safety results in low levels of recruitment and retention, decreased staff engagement and performance, and poor business and financial outcomes (Edmondson, 2019).

For organizations, this means that having diverse representation among their employees is not enough. It is critical to foster a culture of work that demonstrates a willingness to listen to differing thought processes, perspectives, and opinions. If people do not feel safe voicing their opinions without fear of negative consequences to themselves, their status, or their career, then the effort of promoting diversity may be a greater disservice to the organization and the individual. As a result, promoting diversity and inclusion may cynically become examples of tokenism. The continued presence of minority stress in the workplace can undermine efforts of equitable and diverse representation. Unless the application of Psychological Safety is integrated within an organization’s cultural values of diversity and inclusion, then minority stress factors will remain, which can result in diverse employees who dread coming to work. If this persists, they will eventually move on from the organization.

Team Relationship Outcomes of Psychological Safety

There are four main team-based approaches that can help reinforce the experience of Psychological Safety in the workplace, which can also help promote a sense of trust, engagement, and belonging for diverse employees. Using management consultation interventions, EA professionals can facilitate opportunities for supervisors and leaders to nurture the following team-based qualities which, in turn, provide a more supportive and inclusive work environment for diverse-identified employees: