Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
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The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides assistance with issues and challenges that may arise in your personal or professional life. EAP services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by phone at 1-888-321-4433 or online at www.pennbehavioralhealth.org.
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What is the EAP?
Penn's Employee Assistance Program provides information and support for personal and professional life issues. The EAP gives eligible faculty and staff and their immediate family members access to free, confidential counseling and referral services. One-on-one sessions are offered at dozens of locations, and online information, coaching and support services are also available. Penn's EAP services are provided through Penn Behavioral Health.
Reasons to Turn to the EAP
Members of the Penn community turn to the EAP for help with a variety of issues, including the following:
- Dependent care issues, such as searching for child care information, identifying services for special needs children, obtaining advice on the college application process, or arranging for residential care for an elder.
- Dealing with the stress of a major life change (even a positive one), such as having or adopting a child, getting married, moving or buying a home, or getting a promotion.
- Serious personal or professional concerns, such as general anxiety, depression, substance abuse, burnout, coping with illness, the loss of a loved one, relationship challenges, or resolving interpersonal conflicts.
How Do I Use the EAP?
EAP services are available anytime—day or night—by phone or online.
- Call 1-888-321-4433.
Penn Behavioral Health intake counselors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-321-4433. They can help you assess your situation and identify the best next step, such as talking to a Work & Family Services consultant about dependent care resources or visiting a counselor in the Penn Behavioral Health network for a face-to-face session. The intake counselor also may offer other solutions, depending on your situation. Emergencies will be handled immediately.
- Visit the Penn Behavioral Health and Work & Family Services websites.
The Penn Behavioral Health website provides a wealth of information about behavioral health topics, including addictions, anxiety, healthy relationships, grief and loss, and more. The Work & Family Services website contains expert information on a full range of dependent care issues, from care for newborns to college planning to special living arrangements for elders.
Do I Have to Pay for EAP Services?
EAP services are free for you and your eligible family members within certain limits. If you exceed these limits, Penn Behavioral Health will make every effort to coordinate these services with your existing health insurance when possible. However, if your health care plan does not cover in-office counseling services, payment for these additional sessions may be your responsibility. EAP services also include unlimited access to online resources.
Are There Limits to the Number of Free Sessions I Can Have?
You and your eligible family members each can have up to eight free counseling sessions per fiscal year for a specific issue. The following rules may apply:
- You may be referred outside the EAP for additional counseling services at any time during the counseling experience if a long-term solution is most appropriate. This may occur before your eight counseling sessions with the EAP counselor are completed, based on the counselor’s judgment.
- You may return to an EAP counselor for other sessions during the same fiscal year if they’re for a new, unrelated issue. For example, you can receive up to eight free counseling sessions for marriage problems and up to eight free counseling sessions for a stressful work environment in the same fiscal year.
- Once you reach the eight session limit, you may return to EAP counseling the following year to address a problem from the previous year. For example, you can receive up to eight free counseling sessions in one fiscal year for marriage problems and up to eight free counseling sessions the following fiscal year for managing a separation and divorce.
Face-to-Face Counseling Sessions
Face-to-face counseling sessions will be set up via a call back from the referred counselor, within 24 hours of your initial call. Appointments will occur within one week unless an emergency requires immediate attention. The University has arranged to provide up to eight counseling sessions per issue with a qualified counselor for you and/or each of your benefits-eligible family members. For your convenience, counseling sessions can be scheduled at the on-campus Penn Behavioral Health office at 3535 Market Street.
Support for Managers
The EAP offers several support services for managers, including coaching for dealing with interpersonal issues in the office, critical incident debriefings following a traumatic incident for the organization, and organizational development services.
Can My Family Use the EAP?
Yes. Penn provides EAP services to all benefits-eligible faculty and staff and their benefits-eligible family members (e.g. spouses, domestic partners and dependent children).
How Is Information Kept Confidential?
Confidentiality is of paramount importance for members of the Penn community seeking assistance or information, whether their inquiry comes before or even during a crisis. Faculty and staff have direct access to EAP services for precisely this reason. Penn Behavioral Health protects information in multiple ways, and frequently exceeds the privacy compliance standards established by federal law (HIPAA). All EAP and Work & Family Services discussions and records are confidential, including any records of online communications. Faculty and staff can feel confident about information security and privacy, and comfortable that there is no impact on their jobs as a result of using these services. If you have concerns about the confidentiality of the EAP or Work & Family Services programs, please feel free to contact a Penn Behavioral Health counselor anonymously at 1-888-321-4433.
For More Information
For more information about this or other Quality of Worklife Programs, contact Human Resources at 215-898-0380 or .