Employee Assistance Program

The initial assessment is conducted by a fully licensed, master’s level counselor during one or more meetings. Your counselor will gather appropriate demographic, social, psychological, medical and work history from you. The counselor will then recommend short-term counseling at the EAP, refer you to other providers for additional evaluation, or connect you with ongoing counseling.

Every MSU employee - faculty, staff, retiree, graduate student assistant - is eligible for six sessions of EAP counseling, at no cost. You may use your 6 EAP sessions to address a specific problem or concern you are experiencing. Counselors provide a confidential space for reflection on issues that are important to you. Short term counseling can help you consider effective solutions that are in line with your personal values.

Some concerns will require a referral to a community provider who accepts your insurance. The EAP is familiar with a wide network of local services, resource, and providers, and will work with you to find what you need. The decision to accept the recommendation remains with you.

The children of MSU employees are eligible for EAP services while they are eligible for benefits.

Ages 0-10

• Parenting Consultation on child development, parenting, socialization, and other child focused issues
• Helping parents get connected with helpful/appropriate mental health and family resources in our local community

Ages 11-13

• Schedule initial appointment with parents to help evaluate how best to proceed with counseling services.
• Short-term counseling (1-6 sessions), if determined appropriate by counselor, or providing recommendations for parents.
• Helping children identify their own strengths, gifts, and coping resources
• Assisting children with loss, trauma, transitions, worries, anger, sadness, fear, or behavioral issues
• Helping parents get connected with helpful/appropriate mental health and family resources in our local community
• Parenting support and education

 Ages 14-18

• Short term counseling (1 - 6 sessions)
• Assisting teenagers with stress and other emotions and finding positive solution to the challenges they are currently experiencing
• Helping parents get connected with helpful/appropriate mental health and family resources in our local community
• Parenting support and education

 Ages 19-26

• Short term counseling (1 - 6 sessions) for young adults still enrolled on their parents' insurance policy
• Assisting young adults to move through daily living challenges and critical events in their lives
• Assisting young adults with transition to independent living, exploring healthy relationships, considering alcohol and other drug use
• Helping young adults and parents get connected with helpful/appropriate mental health and family resources in our local community
• Parenting support and education

EAP counselors understand the role of the parent changes as children grow and develop. Effective parenting skills and approaches must shift and change over time. AT time, parents may feel lost, confused, or overwhelmed with a particular stage their child is in. EAP counselors can help sort out new ways of approaching your child, while providing a safe, judgement-free place to explore your own reactions and feelings about your child.

EAP counselors can help you work through a specific life event, improve the general health of your relationship, or explore an issue together. EAP counselors will assist you in determining if couples counseling or individual counseling is the preferred treatment.

Emotional wellness defines the internal resources an individual draws upon as they move through their day to day life. As we learn to access our emotional wellbeing, we are able to respond to everyday and exceptional life events with greater effectiveness and less stress and upset.

EAP counselors are available to provide phone consultations to employees in need of specific information regarding campus or community resources. If you need information, but don’t feel like you need to come in for a session, this option might work for you.

• EAP counselors are available for consultation with supervisors, managers, and executive leadership, assisting with concerns related to any emotional, mental health, or substance abuse issues being experienced by an employee. The focus of these consultations is placed on:

  • Accurate assessment of the employee situation

  • How to best support the specific employee

  • How to facilitate a healthy team response to employee behavior

  • How to support the supervisor or manager in their own emotional health as it relates to issues of secondary trauma, concern about an employee, or working through how an employee issue may be triggering other issues for the supervisor

Several EAP counselors are trained to provide Prolonged Exposure for Primary Care (PE-PC), an evidence-based, trauma-informed treatment that focuses on decreasing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

EAP counselors specialize in helping individuals reduce their perceived stress level and shift their personal experience of current life circumstances. This can help gain a deeper perspective from which to make decisions about relationships, work, and life. This may be especially important when current circumstances are challenging or impacted by systems or structures you don’t have control over.