Get to know a little bit more
Our Story
We weren’t always a successful Employee Assistance Program Company – have a read below to get to know more about our history and how we have built what you see here today.
Where it all began
Employee Assistance Australia was originally established in 2019 in Regional NSW with a mission to make quality mental health care more accessible in regional areas. We started off as a counselling company called Foundational Care servicing the local areas. We soon realised that there were many barriers to accessing quality mental health care in regional areas such as long wait times, lack of availability, financial barriers and more.
Typically in regional areas people can be reluctant to seek mental health support due to stigma, community perception and stoic values. By partnering with companies across regional areas we are able to access workplaces and become a part of the team, it makes it easier to reach out for support and have an informal chat with them before booking in.
Compared with major cities, the rate of suicide in rural and regional areas is about 40 per cent higher on average* this is a statistic that Employee Assistance Australia would like to do something about.
Not only are we passionate about mental health in regional areas we also passionate about healthy workplaces.
Reaching new heights
Seeing the impact that mental ill health had on work environments in the counselling clinic on a daily basis, we wanted to do more to help and prevent workplace mental health issues. Equally, hearing from executive managers about the challenges that they are facing with absenteeism, lethargy, mental illness and a plethora of other concerns we felt like we had something to add to the industry.
A couple of business in Central Western NSW approached us asking if we could undertake a Employee Assistance Program counselling on behalf of their company and that is when we knew we were on the right track.
Since then, we have grown to provide employee assistance services all over Australia. Employee Assistance Australia now has a team of highly skilled trauma informed counsellors, personal trainers and nutritionists that offer evidence based services to support people to meet their individual, relationship or organisational goals.
Where we are now
Our team has a commitment to developing both personally and professionally so that we are able to offer services that are relatable, up to date and full of integrity.
We have a real, down to earth and practical approach to our workshops and counselling sessions, whilst still full of love, sensitivity and care. We have a unique model of care that our counsellors are trained in that looks at underlying factors that affect their mental health such as sleep, nutrition, exercise, external stressors and interpersonal relationships. This model encourages people to take responsibility for their mental health and actively take steps towards improving it.
We see the person wholistically, not just as a list of symptoms to be diagnosed – there is no one size fits all approach so our counsellors are trained in multiple therapeutic techniques so that each client can be supported for exactly where they are at in terms of their own personal growth journey.