1. Emotional Hardiness and Optimism

This session introduces concepts for enhancing “a positive world view.”

Presenters will offer practical applications to increase self awareness and help  

minimize stress, tension, and negativity.

2.  Strategies for Change (Part 1 of 2)    

This session provides an initial framework for understanding change in a world

where change is unavoidable. The speaker will discuss well-defined stages of change

to help attendees become skilled at matching problem solving efforts to what they are trying to accomplish.

3.  Coaching For Change (Part 2 of 2)

Practical lifestyle coaching is conducted by the presenter. Content

includes suggestions for living a balanced life, how to shore up areas needing

improvement, and how to avoid making the same mistakes.

4. Teamwork

In this program, the audience contributes by identifying what

behaviors make successful teams; speaker helps attendees paint a vision for a

team-oriented workplace. Content is provided on solid “team concepts” known to be

effective in a range of settings.

5.  Anger – Loosening It’s Grip

This session provides an overview of anger, with discussion of symptoms,

causes, and methods to slow down over-reactions.  The attendee will leave the session 

with user-friendly tools for anger management.

6.  Lifestyle Issues Complicated By Alcohol and Drugs

Most everyone is affected by substance use in some way. Gaining knowledge is crucial

to our understanding of an important part of lifestyle issues.  This session takes a closer

look at risky drinking, learning the difference between risky drinking, alcohol or drug abuse, and addiction.

7.  .Appreciative Inquiry - Teaching Gratefulness

A concrete approach that helps attendees focus on what is good and what they

are grateful for, with objective to "improve one's quality of life."

 8.   Straight Talk For Successful Parenting

This program is geared for parents of school age children, emphasizing effective parenting

Techniques, and helping parents "keep their cool" when faced with behavior problems.

 9.   Communication: What Works and Doesn't Work

Most everyone can learn better ways to communicate. This session involves an

overview of effective communication techniques, with the objective that attendees 

go away with 1 new approach.

10.  Depression Awareness and Education

  Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Loss productivity due to depression

  exceeds 50 billion annually. Most of us know people who suffer from depression, and yet

  often don't see it in ourselves. This seminar is an overview of the condition, how to recognize

  it, and what can be done to improve one's emotional health.

11.  Dealing with Difficult People

 When personalities are too strong, we often have disruption to the social fabric of the

 Workplace. Negative interactions, personality conflicts or problems can often be a source of        

 work stress.  The purpose of this session is to educate attendees on the range of difficult 

 behaviors in the workplace with the goal of self exploration. If you are not part of the solution,   

you may be part of the problem.     

12.  Loss and Grief

This is an overview of the cycle of grief, what to expect, symptoms, and recovery.

13.  Being Mindful Of Others: What It Looks Like

In this program, participants are challenged to look beyond one's own world

view, providing interesting content and exercises that help attendees to think

more broadly and look at situations from varying perspectives.

14.  Creativity - Ordinary People With Mountains Of Ideas

This program will encourage attendees to awaken the creative spirit and

avoid "giving away" their personal power. 

15.  The Caregiver Journey:  Recognizing Compassion Fatigue

Twenty one million Americans are caring for a loved one. As part of the

natural transition, exhaustion, sadness, & resentment often become part

of the caregivers life. This program offers support, resources, and a frame of

reference for this difficult role.

16.  Rid Yourself of Anxiety and Other Self-Defeating Thoughts

This session provides an overview of anxiety symptoms.  Facilitator teaches basic

techniques for managing anxiety and other self defeating behaviors.

INTRODUCTION

The Counseling and Consulting Offices of Paul G. Tobin, Ph.D., P.C. and Ann E Benjamin, M.Ed., Inc., is an association of independent, Edmond based, licensed mental health professionals.  We provide a variety of counseling and consulting services, including Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Services.  We are prepared to address the comprehensive EAP service needs. The professionals involved in our offices bring a combined history of more than sixty years of professional mental health service delivery to families.  Additionally, various businesses have utilized our EAP services, including current contracts for such services with city governments and local hospitals.  It is from these experiences that we view our offices as readily qualified to address the specific EAP service needs of your organization.   As the term Employee Assistance Program refers to a formal, structured mental health services delivery system provided and paid for by the employer.  The EAP system of services is intended to include a worksite-promoted program designed to assist in the identification and resolution of productivity problems associated with employees impaired by personal concerns including: health, marital, family, financial, alcohol, drugs, legal, emotional, stress or other personal concerns which may adversely effect employee job performance.

Our offices were established in April of 1990 and have provided such EAP services in the private sector over the past eight years.  Services for the EMH will be coordinated through joint efforts between our offices and the EMH’s Human Resources Division. Our offices currently work closely with a wide variety of networks for addressing the categorical problem areas listed in this RFP, (i.e.; AA, Al Anon, Calm Waters, Edmond Family Services, Valley Hope Alcohol Treatment Hospital, various private health \physician offices, youth services and youth crisis shelters, juvenile authorities and courts, various public and private school systems, etc.)   Additionally, our offices are involved with a wide variety of health care and managed-care organizations.    Additionally, we maintain and provide a referral list of locally based alternative mental health providers for follow-up counseling services

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Our EAP includes counseling services designed to help the employers and their employees identify and cope with such problems as listed above.  These services are designed to address the employers' management resource needs, by providing advice; guidance and training, as requested on a variety of employees related issues.  Such training is often scheduled through HR staff for accessibility to the hours of services for supervisors, managers and other supervisory personnel.  Such training commonly includes topics of how the EAP works, how to recognize and document work performance problems appropriate for referral to the EAP, and a specific inclusion of identification of substance abuse related behaviors.  Other training can be coordinated with HR staff for orientations of new employees regarding the EAP services, (To include distribution of promotional literature and other available teaching aids.)    The program additionally functions as an employee resource, providing brief counseling and referral for individual personal problems.   The basic components of our EAP include the following:

·        Procedures for case handling that defines program parameters, confidentiality and how employee/client contact is made.

·        Accountability to ensure the program:

•  Is consistent with labor and management policies,
• Defines roles,
• Supports sound employee practice, 
• Provides for evaluation,
• Identification of treatment resources, with an emphasis on appropriates referral for employees 
• Effective and cost efficient services.  Such service component shall include an informed familiarity with the EMH’s current employee benefits and managed care sources for mental health care.   
• Communication to assist in the visibility and understanding of the EAP at all employee levels. 
• Availability of 24-hour, 7-Days per week access by telephone, or face to face if deemed professionally necessary, with licensed counselors experienced in crisis intervention and management. 
• Regularly scheduled appointments for non-crisis related interventions are available during usual office hours.  (Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:OO PM, with two additional evenings until 8:00 PM. 
• Confidentiality in record keeping and counseling. 
•  Specific knowledge and training in assessment of substance abuse and other mental health treatment needs, along with supportive guidance and referral  in areas of financial, legal and other problem issues that may adversely impact an employees work performance.

The Scope of Services for the following areas has been integrated in the above programs services description: Comprehensive Services; Sources of Assistance; Supervisor Training; and Orientation Sessions.    

·        Utilization reporting can be provided to employers on a regularly scheduled basis.  Such reporting includes statistical usage data, to evaluate the program’s utilization rate.  Reporting commonly includes statistical information on the frequency and types of usage, such as general presenting problem types, and the nature of such referrals, (ex; self or management generated), along with nature of the participants relationship to the employer, (ex; employee, spouse, or dependent).  All employee information will be managed with strict confidentiality.  Reporting of all self-referred employees and their family member shall include frequencies and types of presenting concerns, however, no personally identifying records are disclosed.  In the cases of management \ supervisor referred employees, only the Human Resource Director or designee in his \ her absence shall be informed of personal records.  In such cases the EAP provider uses professional judgement as to the type of confidential information to be disclosed.

All  EAP counseling and assessment services will be provided in the following manner: 

EAP services are commonly offered to all full-time employees, (and others as deemed eligible by employers' HR departments) and their immediate family members, (Immediate family is defined in the Health Benefit Plan Document).  As stated above there are two general types of EAP referrals.

The “Self-initiated” referral is activated by the employee, or family member, contacting the offices of the EAP provider.  He \ she shall receive three (3) counseling \ consultation sessions, that are free of charge to the employee.  Such sessions are generally evaluative in nature, with the goal in mind to assist the employee to address personal issues that are currently, or could eventually, negatively effect their work performance.  In the case of family members using these services, the consultation is similarly intended to assist the family to enhance their general well-being which may otherwise negatively effect the employee, (ex; a troubled teenager, marital conflicts, substance abuse problems per employee and their immediate family members, per presenting concern, per year.  (Ex; An employee, etc.).  It should be noted that the three (3) sessions are whose child is experiencing adjustment problems could be seen with his or her spouse and their child for a total of one to three initial sessions.  Such sessions would be focused toward understanding \ assessing the presenting concerns and referral for follow-up services to address such presenting concerns.  In such a case the family would not receive nine sessions {three per family member} to work through the full counseling related problem.  Such counseling needs should be addressed utilizing personal health benefits or other EAP counselor referred resources.  EAP is primarily used to assess and refer, with some cases being able to stabilize their needs within the limited three-session intervention period. However, if during that same twelve month period the employee or another family member, other than the initially presented child, were in need of EAP assistance they could obtain such assistance by requesting EAP help as stated above.)        

The “Employer initiated” referral is activated by the supervisor \ manager initially identifying a performance problem.  The supervisor shall recommend an EAP referral to the employee.  After the employee has agreed to accept the referral, the supervisor will contact the Human Resources (HR) Department to initiate the referral.  Use of the employers' Human Resources Department Behavior/incident Documentation Form for reporting supervisor concerns is suggested. The HR representative will then become the employers' primary contact person involved between the employee and the EAP provider.  Through clear communication between the supervisor and the employee regarding the nature of the referral, (performance problem), the HR staff will communicate the reason(s) for the referral to the EAP provider.  The employee shall sign a release of information form enabling the EAP provider and HR staff to communicate regarding the progress of the intervention and follow-up recommendations.  Monitoring job performance is important after an EAP referral has been made.  Both the manager \ supervisor and the HR staff should have clearly defined performance goals for the employee. Such goals shall be clearly communicated to the employee and the EAP provider.  Similarly, the EAP provider shall follow-up with the HR staff within a sixty-day period to evaluate the employee’s work performance progress.  (Consultation and training regarding such supervisor interventions will be routinely available through combined efforts of the HR Department staff and the EPA provider.) 

It is expected that all counseling /consultation / treatment services provided beyond the scope of three (3) EAP sessions will be the responsibility of the employee, (i.e.; inpatient substance abuse treatment, other additional outpatient mental health counseling, etc.).  The EAP provider, in conjunction with the HR Department will assist in the referral for such additional services.  A list of local inpatient and outpatient treatment services, along with a clear working knowledge of the employee’s general health benefits and insurance providers will be made available to the employee.  The EAP provider will provide networking with such alternative resources.

·        Technical assistance needs shall be addressed on a per request basis.  It is the intention of this provider to attend to such needs in a timely manner and with routine consultative additional cost. Such items may include developing and maintaining up to date policies and procedures under which the program shall operate, providing professional consultation in developing plans for implementing EAP services, which the employer desires and the EAP provider can reasonably furnish, consulting with EMH officials in dealing with unusual or complex matters that involve the EAP.  However, if the nature of such needs requires significant efforts outside the general intent of this contract then the provider retains the right to negotiate for additional fees.