Employee Assistance Program (EAP):  Onsite Crisis Responder

 

I serve as a grief counselor (contractor) with Concern Employee Assistance Program which is located at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. In this role I support employees onsite at large tech companies as well as several medical, legal, accounting, and construction firms after a tragic death.

I utilize my organizational crisis intervention skills which I gained from my experience at PG&E, including organizing crisis support for all of the employees and managers impacted by the San Bruno explosion in 2010.

The helping framework which I use is based on principles of Psychological First Aid. These are evidence-based strategies which have been used in disasters. One of main objectives of Psychological First Aid is to establish a basic human connection in a compassionate manner; offering immediate comfort to distraught individuals.

More information on Psychological First Aid you can find here.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Experience

 

I am an Employee Assistance Specialist-Clinical (EAS-C).
After serving as the internal manager of the employee assistance program (EAP) for PG&E for 20 years, I retired from the position to start private practice. My experience of working with distressed employees, supervisors, and managers provides me quick assessment tools for pinpointing workplace concerns such as conflict with co-workers and bosses.

I learned to navigate a large corporation of 22,000 employees with 3 different unions; approximately 70% of the workforce was unionized. The employee demographics included about 65% male employees with an average age of 48. PG&E was ranked as one of the best places to work for workplace equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees. I worked with both LGBT employees and managers throughout my career at PG&E.