City of Saskatoon Employee Family Assistance Program

Mandate

The Employee & Family Assistance Program Board of Directors (the “Board”) is represented by Unions, Associations, Departments and Boards of the City of Saskatoon. It has full authority and responsibility over the governance, operation and evaluation of The City of Saskatoon Employee & Family Assistance Program (the “Program”).

Vision

To enable support to City employees and their families to address personal issues that may be impacting work performance through proper governance and responsibility of the Program.

Mission

The Board of Directors is responsible to ensure the operation and evaluation of the Program continues to support the needs of the City’s employees and their families in the most cost-effective process. The Board recognizes that treatment for mental health and behaviour issues, when referred to appropriate professionals, can foster an emotionally healthy work environment.

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EFAP CONTRACTED AGENCIES

City of Saskatoon Employees and their dependents can access counselling by calling the EFAP office, or by contacting the contracted counseling agencies directly. Employees will be required to provide the agency their name and the department they work for. Employee's are required to show Photo ID. Family members are also required to show their eligibility by presenting their Medical benefits card. If the family member does not have medical benefits, they must produce a valid ID with the same address as the Employee.

The following is some suggestions that may help you choose which Counsellor to see.

Picking a Counsellor.

1 Know what a Counsellor can do for you.

·         Be an understanding and supportive listener.

·         Help you develop your ability to cope with life's difficulties.

·         Help you develop some of your life-skills: more effective communication, better problem-solving, better impulse-control, etc.

·         Help you look at your problems in different ways and with a different perspective.

·         Help you gain more insight into your behaviors, thoughts, and emotions.

·         Work with you to help you make changes in how you function and feel.

·         Offer advice on how to find services which s/he isn't able to provide.

2 Know what Counsellor cannot do.

·         Un-do hurt feelings and painful events.

·         Change other people in your life, and cannot tell you how to change them, either.

·         Create instantaneous change in you. Change requires hard work and dedication.

3 Call and ask the Counsellors any questions you may have.
·         Ask lots of questions and take notes.

· You could ask the Counsellor about his/her training, or about whatever else feels important to you to know (for example, does s/he have experience working with people of your ethnicity/sexual orientation, etc.).

- You're essentially acting as an employer who is giving a job interview, and your going to determine whether you want to hire this therapist as a consultant.

· Ask the Counsellor about how s/he handles conflict: therapists who are able to repair the rupture in the relationship when there is conflict tend to have a better outcome than their conflict-avoidance colleagues.

· Pay attention to how you feel when you talk with the therapist. If it doesn't feel like a good fit for you, don't make an appointment with that person even if you can't give a logical explanation about why you don't feel good about that person. Trust your feelings.

You can choose to see another Counsellor if you don't think this is the right Counsellor you.

4. Remember that your Counsellor is someone you have hired.·

- It's important to bear in mind that some problems will take longer to resolve than others, so treatment duration can vary considerably. But if you notice absolutely no change in your problem after the first couple of months, hire a different Counsellor.

T The following counselling agencies are contracted to provide services. The EFAP will be billed directly from the counselling agencies. The agency does not provided the EFAP the name of the client.

If you are unsure of who to choose , please call the EFAP office at 306-975-3327 and we would be happy to assist you.