Data from one of Towergate Health and Protection’s primary employee assistance programme (EAP) providers has revealed insights into the extent to which structured therapy counselling can help employees with mental health issues.
In some cases the figures, taken from professional medical diagnostic questionnaires used by the EAP at the start and finish of each structured therapy course, show marked improvement in patients’ scores for anxiety and depression.
The structured therapy comprised short-term, solution-focused counselling giving employees, and often their family members, someone to talk to, to share their problems with, and ways of working through the issues. It included face-to-face counselling, telephone counselling in structured sessions at agreed times, or secure chat and email counselling for those who prefer written communication.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaires showed that anxiety levels – feelings such as being on edge, fear, restlessness and worry – were all in the moderate to severe classification before structured therapy. However, these feelings frequently dropped to being in the mild classification after counselling, with an average improvement of 61.2% in anxiety scores.
Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ-9) showed that depressive symptoms – such as lethargy, poor concentration, hopelessness and poor sleep habits – were in the moderate classification, bordering on severe, before structured therapy. After therapy, there was an average of 59.5% improvement in the scores for symptoms of depression.
The questionnaires at the start and finish of therapy also asked employees to what extent they felt that they suffered from presenteeism and workplace distress, with each individual asked to rate their feelings. After therapy, presenteeism scores had decreased by an average of 25.8%, and workplace distress scores had decreased by an average of 21.3%.
David Williams, head of group risk at Towergate Health & Protection, said the figures show the approach works, and were “hugely encouraging”.
He added: “They also show that benefits can be seen by the employer too, which makes providing such support a win-win situation.”
Short-term models of therapy aim to provide help for in-the-moment emotional difficulties such as anxiety, low mood or depression, stress, or relationship concerns. More complex or trauma-related issues might require an alternative pathway.
