Employee Assistance Programme
As a Lancaster staff member, you have access to a free and confidential Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
Wellbeing Portal
The online information and resource library offer user-friendly factsheets, self-help guides, podcasts and links. These are readily available to support you with common issues such as money management and debt, change, work life balance and stress and pressure; and also for proactive support relating to your health and wellbeing for topics including nutrition, sleep, smoking, alcohol, weight management and physical activity.
It also enables you to set goals, either individually or as part of a team, follow a personal fitness programme and diet plan. It includes recipes, a calorie counter and can be synced with your personal fitness devices such as Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, Strava and many more.
Log into the Wellbeing Portal.
Emergency Support
Telephone Helpline Tel: 0800 1116 387* or +44 845 330 5132 from abroad or email helpline.wellness@vhg.co.uk.
Your EAP includes a free-phone confidential and unlimited helpline service, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Calls are answered by accredited counsellors or information specialists depending on whether you need emotional or practical support, and provide expert answers and guidance on a wide range of issues:
- Personal - relationship and family issues, bereavement, financial difficulties and debt, health, wellbeing and lifestyle, substance misuse, stress, anxiety and depression, consumer rights.
- Work Related - relationships, conflict, change, performance, promotion, work life balance
- Debt - budget planning, negotiating with creditors, debt health check to reduce the cost of utilities and other outgoings.
- Legal - marital, family, divorce, separation, domestic, consumer, probate, landlord/tenant.
Making that call to ask for help can be a big step to make, so please see our First Steps - Making The Call page for more information to help you think about when and where to make the call, and understand the process.
*Please note that there will be a connection fee if on a PAYG mobile. To avoid this fee please email using the above address or contact your line manager who can call on your behalf.
You may also want to see our I Need Help Now page.
Immediate Emotional Support and Session Based Counselling
Through the EAP helpline 0800 1116 387, counsellors and senior case managers are available 24/7/365 to provide immediate emotional support. Where appropriate, you will have access to up to six sessions per calendar year (October to November) of structured, session-based telephone counselling. As each individual's issue is different, they utilise a range of evidence-based therapies that best align to your issue to achieve the greatest possible outcome. Their counsellors operate within the BACP's ethical and professional guidelines.
The type of support depends on your responses to a series of assessment questions you'll be asked over the phone. Depending on your score after the assessment, a referral will be made. You can also just ask also skip the questions and ask for immediate emotional support and talk to someone straight away, and do that as many times as you want, but if you call back again, you may not get the same person, and if you want further support, you will need to go through the assessment. If your score is higher than the set threshold, you may be referred back to your GP or the local Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Programme.
You can also access free counselling from Able Futures, source your own through the Counselling Directory, or some Specialist Support providers like Mind also offer counselling.
Immediate Emotional Support & Session Based Counselling
Through the EAP helpline 0800 1116 387, counsellors and senior case managers are available 24/7/365 to provide immediate emotional support. Where appropriate, you will have access to up to 6 sessions per calander year (October to November) of structured, session-based telephone counselling. As each individual’s issue is different, they utilise a range of evidence-based therapies that best align to your issue to achieve the greatest possible outcome. Their counsellors operate within the BACP's ethical and professional guidelines.
Most counsellors within the EAP network are now operating a telephone counselling service and achieve excellent recovery & satisfaction rates. There is a very limited number of counsellors available to offer a face-to-face service. On occasions face-to-face sessions may be a preference. In these cases, a request to the EAP helpline team can be made upon contact – they will advise if this is a possibility at the time and the wait time for the first appointment. The EAP provider will always accommodate such requests where possible.
Support for Family
Partners or spouses at the same address, and dependents aged 16-21 in full time education of Lancaster University staff are covered for telephone support through the EAP so they can also call the helpline in the same way as staff. They do not get access to face to face counselling or onward referrals, but they can call the helpline as many times as they need and access immediate emotional support.
There are also sections on the Wellbeing Portal about relationships and children and adolescents.
Family members may also be able to access support through Able Futures and/or the Specialist Support listed. Able Futures provides the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service for people working and living with mental health difficulties, employers and providers of apprenticeships.
Stress Management
A study by the Mental Health Foundation (2018) has found that 74% of adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year that they felt overwhelmed and unable to cope.
The Wellbeing Portal as part of your Employee Assistance Programme has a range of information to help you deal with stress management.
Stress management and anxiety are also specialist areas of expertise for Able Futures.
The Counselling Directory also has some great information about work-related stress and how to manage it.
Legal Aid
The Legal and Information team through the EAP provide information around topics such as: consumer, relationships, family and care, as well as signposting to additional resources.
You can also access free legal advice from Citizens Advice.
Management Guidance
As a line manager you may need to talk to someone about concerns about the wellbeing of your staff. The EAP provides a manager support helpline Tel: 0800 1116385 to help resolve issues such as conflict, mental health, having difficult conversations, managing stress, performance and attendance. Advice can be provided over the telephone but can also be accessed via the dedicated manager section on the Wellbeing Portal.
As a line manager you can also use the manage support helpline to call and ask about help on behalf of a member of staff. They will need to give you permission and the following details: Name, Contact Details, Address, DOB, Department.
Case Study 1: FHM Professional Services Staff Member
"I’ve lived long-term with the challenges of depression with a manic element. When I found work overwhelming I accessed the Employee Assistance Programme and found it incredibly helpful. After a short confidential telephone discussion I was referred to a counsellor. The first counsellor didn’t really work for me using a psychodynamic approach, the EAP were excellent at helping me with this and organising a shift to CBT which really helped give me address priorities and develop strategies to cope with stress and manage emotions and depressive tendencies." FHM Professional Services Staff Member.
Find out about what others have been through in our Case Studies section.
Case Study 2: Professional Services Staff Member
"As a Lancaster staff member, you have access to a specialist Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). Through the EAP helpline 0800 1116 387, you can speak to accredited counsellors or information specialists, depending on whether you need emotional or practical support, who can provide expert answers and guidance on personal, work-related, debt, and legal issues. As one Professional Services Staff Member explained, “The EAP service has been a fantastic and, arguably, life-saving support option for me…. I would encourage colleagues to use the EAP to allow them to vent their worries, frustrations and fears to a qualified advisor, as a problem shared is a problem halved. Speaking to the EAP advisors may help you to feel calmer, more in control and stop things building up too much.”
Find out about what others have been through in our Case Studies section.
Five Ways to Wellbeing
Find out about the other pathways to wellbeing below to improve your wellbeing:
