Workplace Counselling / Psychotherapy

[mindworx]

Hi All,

I have recently setup a counselling / psychotherapy agency.

We have some individual clients. However, we are looking into offering more workplace counselling to help with employee mental health... I am aware that a lot of large companies offer their employees counselling through "employee assistance programs'... But, I'm not sure many small / medium businesses do?

Do you think there is a gap to offer these services to small / medium businesses?

Thanks,
Andy

Mindworx Counselling

 

[IanSuth]

Hi All,

I have recently setup a counselling / psychotherapy agency.

We have some individual clients. However, we are looking into offering more workplace counselling to help with employee mental health... I am aware that a lot of large companies offer their employees counselling through "employee assistance programs'... But, I'm not sure many small / medium businesses do?

Do you think there is a gap to offer these services to small / medium businesses?

Thanks,
Andy

Mindworx Counselling

@SmartClinic Think you are best placed to comment on this

 

[Ozzy]

Do you think there is a gap to offer these services to small / medium businesses?

I don't know whether there is a gap or not, so just adding my personal perspective based on experience in my own business.

Pre-pandemic mental health support as an employer wasn't really on my radar at all. We had previously private healthcare as a benefit, but that was what it was in that it wasn't taken out with any consideration as to whether mental health was in the list of services offered.

During the pandemic I did become acutely aware of the mental impact on my team during that time, I could see their state of mental wellbeing decline during catchup calls and generally just working with the team all remotely. So we took out a mental health support service with helpline for the team and their household (spouse, kids, etc, all included) and have kept it in place since.

Whether there is a gap, I don't know, but based on my own personal experience an SME owner I'm more aware of it now than I was.

 

[Porky]

Hi Andy

Really wish you well with your business

At the current time i think small businesses are under so much pressure financially, having battled through covid and now in this economic squeeze, even if they thought it might benefit some of their staff they probably wont want to take on the additional cost implications at the moment. Hopefully market conditions per sae will improve later but as i see it currently SMEs are being hit specifically hard.

Larger coy's have more capacity to indulge in these sort of staff benefits to recruit talent so i would be focusing on trying to get in with the bigger players but i have no specific experience of your sector so could be talking out my hat.

Sorry i cant support further but good luck to you, tough times.

 

[numbersrule]

Hi Andy

It seems to me that the improved employer awareness of the need to take care of our mental health, which came about partly as a result of Covid, is more about maintaining well being for employees by encouraging good personal self-management than it is about helping people to recover from problems.

I hope you don't mind but I took a quick look at your website.
You have a lot of counsellors, but I can't see much in their descriptions about advice on maintaining well being by self-management. It all seems to be about dealing with problems and dealing with stress.

Please understand, I am not a qualified psychotherapist, but I suspect if you want to exploit a gap in the market, and I agree, you may have identified a gap, you may need to change some of your resumes so they focus on what Employers may be looking for.

You might want to test the water with some Employers and ask them if they need help with maintaining mental well being. You could use the catch phrase ' Mind Worx and We Want to Keep it that way. Employers like to think they have a healthy and well maintained workforce. So if you start by telling them that you might get their attention.

On the other hand if you offer them counselling to deal with all the problems their workforce have to contend with you might put them off.

Maybe change the term for some resumes from counsellor to well being specialist. Workplace well being not workplace counselling. You don't want to sell the idea of Employers coming to you when they have a problem. Sell the idea of prevention is better than cure.

Make your counsellor descriptions compatible with what your For Employers tab is offering. Not sure mention of career issues is enough.

I'd be surprised if your counsellors weren't already sufficiently qualified to be able to say that they can help with maintaining well being.

Please note I am a Ground Investigator not a therapist.

____________________________________

On a completely different subject, I presume you are aware that there is an enormous demand for counselling for recovering gambling addicts and in particular, how to stay away from gambling via long term accountability sessions.
I am sure you are aware you would need counsellors with the right training and gambling experience of their own.

 

[danawhite]

Tell me, what do you think about the connection between the body and mind when it comes to illnesses?

 

[fisicx]

Tell me, what do you think about the connection between the body and mind when it comes to illnesses?

There are well documented correlations between the two. Not sure there is anything to discuss here.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I think there is a market in large companies
People take this stuff seriously these days and while small firms may not have the budget larger business may see it as an advantage to look after their staff

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I would like you to take the opportunity to visit our counselling / psychotherapy agency.

That would really go down well with many employees

Is it really the employers responsibility to look after mental health

Yes old Fashioned view i know but realistic.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Is it really the employers responsibility to look after mental health

Is it really the employers responsibility to look after their own investment

 

[Waddy]

The reason bigger companies offer this service in house is because it lowers their insurance premiums.

If you've got thousands of employees you can create bespoke cover, so it's a calculation. If they can save a million quid by not having mental well-being as part of their cover and it costs them half a million quid to provide the service themselves or outsource it, then that's the option they'll go for.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Is it really the employers responsibility to look after mental health

Yes old Fashioned view i know but realistic.

Not in our world but these modern day avocado latte drinking in touch with themselves types need a lot of mothering

 

[skaracay]

You can support the employees of small companies as a group. I know that these courses should be private.
Maybe it would be more cost-effective this way. I don't know if people can express themselves more easily in a group, it depends on your experience.

 

[fisicx]

You can support the employees of small companies as a group. I know that these courses should be private.
Maybe it would be more cost-effective this way. I don't know if people can express themselves more easily in a group, it depends on your experience.

Who would you expect to pay for the counselling? Would you as a business owner stump up the cash?

 

[skaracay]

Of course, business owners should pay.

 

[numbersrule]

Is it really the employers responsibility to look after mental health.

If you think about it, Employers are legally required to look after their Empioyees via Health & Safety Legislation.

It is well known in the Construction Industry that accidents are more likely to happen when individuals are not functioning at their best. An example of this is, there are more accidents when workers are cold and wet.

I stand to be corrected, but I am not aware of Regulations (yet) which require mental well being to be maintained for construction workers, but I suspect such Regulations may arrive in the not too distant future.

 

[numbersrule]

You can support the employees of small companies as a group. I know that these courses should be private.
Maybe it would be more cost-effective this way. I don't know if people can express themselves more easily in a group, it depends on your experience.

Referring to my earlier post about Mindworx offering Workplace Wellbeing as opposed to Workplace Counselling, I believe workers would be far more willing to participate in Group Sessions for Workplace Wellbeing.

The onus on the individual in such sessions would be to talk positively about how they maintain their well being rather than 'owning up to problems'.

The idea would be for individuals to contribute to elevating each other, rather than inviting judgement.

Individuals with problems often have good contributions to make to solving others' problems. ie they wouldn't necessarily have to stay silent while the mentally healthy droned on about how great it is to be well maintained. All groups of all kinds are capable of generating great interactions.

 

[Fagin2021]

Referring to my earlier post about Mindworx offering Workplace Wellbeing as opposed to Workplace Counselling, I believe workers would be far more willing to participate in Group Sessions for Workplace Wellbeing.

The onus on the individual in such sessions would be to talk positively about how they maintain their well being rather than 'owning up to problems'.

The idea would be for individuals to contribute to elevating each other, rather than inviting judgement.

Individuals with problems often have good contributions to make to solving others' problems. ie they wouldn't necessarily have to stay silent while the mentally healthy droned on about how great it is to be well maintained. All groups of all kinds are capable of generating great interactions.

Here's an idea. Instead of 'droning on', 'elevating each other' or 'generating interactions' how about doing some work ?

 

[numbersrule]

Tell me, what do you think about the connection between the body and mind when it comes to illnesses?

fisicx didn't want your query to take over the thread, so sorry fisicx but I can't resist this one!


I believe there is definitely a connection between the body and the mind. And it works both ways.

Just like all our minds together form a global communal consciousness which responds to the body Earth ? itself.

When the health of the Earth deteriorates then so does the health of our communal consciousness.

And in turn, for all of us, that feeds through to the health, or lack of, for our bodies.

It's all very well, all this endless analysis and concern about the NHS, but really, historically, we should have paid more attention to the health of our planet.

Everything is interconnected and inter-related and inter-dependent.

 

[Fagin2021]

fisicx didn't want your query to take over the thread, so sorry fisicx but I can't resist this one!


I believe there is definitely a connection between the body and the mind. And it works both ways.

Just like all our minds together form a global communal consciousness which responds to the body Earth ? itself.

When the health of the Earth deteriorates then so does the health of our communal consciousness.

And in turn, for all of us, that feeds through to the health, or lack of, for our bodies.

It's all very well, all this endless analysis and concern about the NHS, but really, historically, we should have paid more attention to the health of our planet.

Everything is interconnected and inter-related and inter-dependent.

You've been in the catnip jar again haven't you ?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Is it really the employers responsibility to look after their own investment

Unfortunately the more you mother employees, a fair percentage will abuse it and try to take advantage, look at home working and how hard it is for HMRC to get staff back in the office

 

[numbersrule]

You've been in the catnip jar again haven't you ?

Hi Fagin2021, and sorry about my off-piste warbling, but I am feeling intensely positive as a result of my favourite football team being top of their league for the third consecutive Saturday.

 

[ctrlbrk]

Unfortunately the more you mother employees, a fair percentage will abuse it and try to take advantage, look at home working and how hard it is for HMRC to get staff back in the office

I don't disagree - there's always someone who will try to take advantage.

At the other end there's always someone whom you'd do well to look after.

Everyone is different.

 

[fisicx]

@mindworx - following on from the posts by @Ground Investigator maybe the starting point should be the workplace. A happy and well run business will have a positive effect on the minds of those working there.

Maybe it’s the managers and supervisors that need help before the workforce.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

help with employee mental health

f you could provide a list of the top four mental health issues in the workplace, we can proceed from there. Please feel free to list them, and we'll address each one individually.