EAP counselling: what it is, how it works, and whether it is worth using

If you are in crisis or feel unsafe, please call 999 or go to A&E. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. Samaritans (116 123, free, 24/7) and Shout (text 85258) are always available.

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EAP counselling is counselling you access through an employee assistance programme, a support scheme your employer pays for, which means it is confidential and costs you nothing to use. ACAS notes that when an organisation offers counselling, it will usually be through a scheme of exactly this kind, and the NHS lists your employer among the places talking therapies are sometimes available for free.

This page is about the counselling side of the arrangement: what it actually involves, whether it is really confidential, and whether it is worth taking up. If what you want first is the bigger picture of the scheme itself, the employee assistance programme guide covers that ground, and if you are still weighing up whether you even want counselling at all, I need to talk to a therapist walks through every UK route in one place. The guidance here is drawn from ACAS, NICE and the NHS.

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What is EAP counselling?

EAP counselling is the counselling element of an employee assistance programme, which ACAS describes as the usual route when an organisation offers counselling to its staff. Your employer pays for the scheme, and the counselling sits inside it, ready for the point when something is affecting your mental health or wellbeing.

It is proper counselling rather than a token gesture. Counselling is a recognised talking therapy, which the NHS describes as talking to a therapist about your thoughts, feelings and life experiences, with the therapist listening and helping you find your own solutions rather than telling you what to do. The NHS also notes that talking therapies can be done in person, by video or phone call, or online, and how yours is delivered, how you get in touch, and how much counselling your scheme includes are all set by the package your employer chose. That detail lives in your scheme's own leaflet, intranet page or contact card, and it is worth finding before the point of needing it.

The backdrop is worth knowing too. Employers have a duty of care, which ACAS explains as an obligation to do all they reasonably can to support your health, safety and wellbeing, and NICE's guideline on mental wellbeing at work asks employers to consider giving all employees free access to an employee assistance programme and to raise awareness of it where one is offered. In other words, the guidance treats this as support you are meant to know about and meant to use, not a perk hidden in the handbook.

Is EAP counselling confidential?

Yes. ACAS's guidance for managers says plainly that when someone is directed towards an employee assistance programme, the conversations will be confidential, and what you discuss with the service is not routinely passed back to your employer.

Two honest notes belong next to that. NICE's workplace guideline asks employers to be clear about when confidentiality will and will not be respected, the exception being when someone is considered at risk to themselves or others, which is the same safety-first principle any decent support service works to. And nothing about using the scheme obliges you to tell anyone at work. ACAS is clear that whether you tell your manager about a mental health problem, and at what stage, is entirely up to you. Plenty of people value an EAP precisely because it sits at arm's length from the office, and using it quietly is a perfectly legitimate way to use it.

Is EAP counselling worth using?

If your workplace has a scheme, then yes, it is worth using, because it is real counselling that is already paid for and confidential. The less obvious point is that it is worth using earlier than feels natural. Workplace support tends to get remembered at breaking point, when the more useful moment was several weeks before, and a scheme nobody thinks about helps nobody. ACAS suggests checking with your employer what support is available if you have concerns about your mental health, and that check costs you nothing but a question.

The honest limits are the ones that come with any scheme. What is available depends on the package your employer chose, so the counselling may be shorter or shaped differently than you would pick for yourself, and if you decide you want longer-term or more specialist work, you may end up looking beyond it. None of that is a reason to skip what is already there. It is a reason to treat EAP counselling as a solid first step rather than the only possible one, and to know the other routes exist if you need them.

If you are a trade union member, ACAS notes you can also get help and information on mental health from your union, which sits alongside the EAP rather than replacing it.

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If there is no EAP, or it is not the right shape

Plenty of UK workplaces have no scheme at all, and support does not stop existing just because it is not routed through work.

In England you can refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies at nhs.uk/talk without going through your GP, free at the point of use, though waits vary widely. Elsewhere in the UK, and if you are not sure about referring yourself, the NHS suggests speaking to your GP, who can help you find out what is available in your area. Privately, a therapist registered with a professional body such as BACP, UKCP, BABCP, BPS or NCS is the safe starting point, and the NHS advises checking that any private therapist belongs to an organisation accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. Counselling Directory (counselling-directory.org.uk) lets you search by location and filter for online or in-person work. The fuller map of no-cost and low-cost routes is in free counselling in the UK, and if the labels themselves are the confusing part, counselling vs therapy untangles them.

Where Wobble fits

Wobble is not a replacement for an EAP, and if you have one, using it is a good decision. Wobble is a new and unique format of mental health support for the moments and the people the traditional shapes do not quite fit: no scheme at work, no wish to involve anything connected to your employer, or simply no appetite for booking a live conversation at all.

You describe what is going on by text or voice, and a personal video from a real qualified UK therapist comes back within hours, with one or two practical things to try. There is no ongoing commitment, and people come back for another Wobble whenever they want one. Therapists respond using the Wobble response framework, a structured framework built for short, practical, single-response support, and Wobble's Clinical Lead is James Penney, an NCPS Accredited Psychotherapeutic Counsellor.

When to see your GP

Book a GP appointment if low mood, anxiety or stress has been going on for several weeks with no improvement, if it is affecting your work, sleep or relationships, if it feels like it is getting worse rather than better, or if you have tried self-help and nothing is shifting. A GP can look at the whole picture, talk through options and refer you into NHS services, and none of that depends on whether you have used an EAP first.

Seek urgent help if you are having thoughts of suicide or self-harm or feel you cannot keep yourself safe. NHS 111 has a mental health option available 24/7, Samaritans (116 123) are free to call day or night, and Shout (text 85258) is a text-based service if calling feels like too much.

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Quick summary

EAP counselling is the counselling inside an employee assistance programme, which ACAS describes as the usual route when an organisation offers counselling, paid for by your employer and confidential to use. The standard exception to confidentiality is risk to yourself or others, and whether you tell your manager anything at all is your call. If you have a scheme, it is worth using, and worth using earlier than feels natural, with the detail of what yours includes living in its own materials. If there is no scheme or it is not the right shape, NHS Talking Therapies, your GP and registered private therapists are all real routes, and Wobble sits alongside them for anyone who wants qualified human support without the appointment.

Sources and further reading

• ACAS: Supporting mental health at work, Looking after yourself (acas.org.uk)
• ACAS: Supporting mental health at work, Talking about mental health (acas.org.uk)
• ACAS: Supporting mental health at work, Support and training (acas.org.uk)
• NICE Guideline NG212: Mental wellbeing at work (nice.org.uk)
• NHS: Talking therapies (nhs.uk)
• NHS Talking Therapies self-referral (England): nhs.uk/talk
• NHS: Where to get urgent help for mental health (nhs.uk)
• Counselling Directory: counselling-directory.org.uk
• Samaritans: 116 123 (samaritans.org)
• Shout: text 85258 (giveusashout.org)

This article is for information only and does not replace advice from a qualified medical professional. If your mental health is affecting your daily life, please speak to your GP or contact NHS 111. If you are in crisis, please call 999 or go to A&E.