Well today is the first day of the International EAPA conference. This year the conference is being held in Dallas, Texas. It is a wonderful conference where Employee Assistance Professionals and vendors in the EAP space come together to learn and share best practices. The whole goal is to provide services for employees and employers in order that they may work and live more productively. The title of this year’s conference is “Meeting the Challenges of a Changing World” and as we all know there are alot of changes occurring in the workplace. A number of pre-conference sessions have already occurred including sessions on the impact of working and socializing in cyberspace, updates on trauma counseling and critical incident debriefings at the workplace, Department of Transportation Substance Abuse Professional evaluation guidelines and positive psychology at work which looks at how to help people by emphasizing human strengths and resilience.
Tonight was the opening reception in the Conference Marketplace/Exhibit Hall. There are a lot of vendors that have very valuable services to add to EAPs or organizations but the best part of tonight was the fact that I was able to re-connect with many old friends. I have been involved in the EAP field for over 25 years and have developed many friendships over those years that arose out of business dealings. I have very mixed feelings about this as part of me really feels good about the longevity of the profession and Perspectives. It is good to know that we have been able to contribute and sustain our business. We have been able to do this by retaining the core principles known as the Core Technology of the field while updating our methods and services to meet the changing nature of the workplace and work in general.
In the next few days, I will write about what I learn and my reactions. In fact, I am very excited about the Keynote Address tomorrow morning. It is titled “Making the EAP Case in Difficult Times: A Data-Driven Look at the Opportunities” and is being delivered by Daniel J. Conti, Managing Director, Employee Assistance & WorkLife Program at JP Morgan Chase & Co. He has been with JP Morgan since the 1980s and has contributed a tremendous amount to the field and to the employees and management of JP Morgan. Dan has developed and implemented innovative programs that address the link between behavioral health status and corporate costs and has published significant research on this subject and other health economics topics. Although I haven’t seen Dan in a long time, I do know him and have had a number of opportunities over the years to share experiences.
It really is great to be here. After spending close to 27 years in this field, it is wonderful to see how the field has grown and the value EAPs have had for so many people and organizations.
Tags: behavioral health, domestic violence, DOT, EAP, EAPA, Employee Assistance Programs, SAT, trauma counseling, Wellness, workplace
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