Counseling Awareness Month: Interview with Lori Walls, Employee Assistance Program Manager
By Lori Walls
In 2020, it was estimated that around 41.4 million adults in the U.S. received mental health treatment or counseling at some time in the previous year.
April is Counseling Awareness Month. ODMHSAS Employee Assistance Program Manager Lori Walls offers insight into what receiving counseling or therapy entails, when you may want to seek counseling services and how it can help you live your life to the fullest.
Q: Tell us about yourself and what counseling means to you.
A: I have been a licensed counselor since 2018. I received my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Family and Community Services from Oklahoma Baptist University and earned my Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from Southern Nazarene University. I also attended the University of Oklahoma where I completed Master Level courses in Human Resource Management. Before coming to the EAP office, I worked in many settings including mental health agencies, community mental health centers and inpatient hospitals since 2013. I have experience working with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, grief, relationships, alcohol and drug abuse, crisis management and adjustment disorders among adults, adolescents and children. My passion is providing mental health awareness and educational opportunities for employees within their workplace setting. My primary career goal is to ensure state employees have access to adequate mental health resources and opportunities that will help promote greater psychological health and personal well-being.
Life is a roller coaster that can cause a lot of suffering and unforeseen challenges that can feel overwhelming and unbearable at times. Many times, we feel so overwhelmed or stuck that we are unable to cope or figure out how to move forward. Meeting with a counselor can help us not feel so alone and offer us guidance as we work through difficult emotional pain or challenging problems. Counseling provides individuals, couples and families with a safe environment that encourages them to open up and talk about difficult emotions and thoughts that are often underlying many forms of psychological pain. A counselor can offer empathy and unconditional positive regard that is unbiased and encouraging. In counseling the client and counselor look at the client’s personal struggles from the client’s worldview and personal value system which allows the client to gain more insight and understanding which promotes healthy change and growth.
Q: Is there a difference between counseling and therapy sessions?
A: Counseling and therapy are similar terms used to describe the activity of meeting with a trained or licensed mental health provider to discuss and address emotional and mental health concerns.
Q: What are some misconceptions about counseling?
A: I think there is a big misconception that if you reach out for counseling that you are weak or there is something wrong with you as a person. We all have mental health just like we have physical health. We have to take care of our physical health by exercising, eating healthy, getting plenty of sleep and going to the doctor for checkups yearly. We need to be taking time to take care of our emotional and mental health as well and one of those ways is counseling. The fact is people suffer and life is hard. Why go through it alone and continue to struggle? Make your mental health a priority. Start choosing to live more fully today by working through your past negative experiences, overwhelming fears and uncomfortable emotions.
Q: Can you tell us more about the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offered at ODMHSAS? How long it has been around and what services are available for state employees?
A: The Employee Assistance Program has been offered through ODMHSAS since July 1, 2017. The mission of the Employee Assistance Program is to empower employees to build hope and resilience by educating and promoting positive mental health.
The Office of the Oklahoma Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a cooperative effort between employees and administration to help employees gain access to professional services in resolving personal problems. Our services are designed to be an “on-ramp” to other services. This means from the very start, the employee or family member is actively engaging in the next steps to identify coping strategies and needed resources for them to move forward independently. This can either be by short-term services (5 visits or less) or linkage to resources, such as long-term services outside our office through the employee’s insurance plan. There is no charge to the employee or family member for their assessment and referral services received from the EAP office. The decision to accept help from the EAP is a decision that only the employee can make.
EAP Programs
Wind Down Wednesday - a virtual support/educational group that provides a safe place for employees to share and connect with others that are dealing with similar issues and stressful situations. Each week Wind Down Wednesday will provide employees with psychoeducational information on common mental health topics as well as offer helpful tips and skills that will inspire change and improve mental wellbeing. Meetings take place each Wednesday at 12 p.m. via Zoom (excluding holidays). To participate email eap@odmhsas.org.
Wellness Support and Referral Services – EAP believes that a person’s sense of wellbeing involves both healthy minds and bodies. There are lots of challenges that can get in the way of feeling mentally at our best. EAP will work to improve workers’ mental and emotional health by referring to resources that also support physical health and overall wellbeing. Because everyone’s needs and preferences are unique, it is important for us to be able to locate and connect resources that will be a good fit for each employee’s personal wellness goals. EAP utilizes a certified behavioral health case manager and/or Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist (C-PRSS) to connect clients with resources in their community, health care providers that are in-network with state insurance plans, and the Thrive employee wellness programs.
Postvention - All organizations experience critical incidents that are highly stressful and can overwhelm an individual or agency’s normal coping mechanisms. A critical incident can occur either in the workplace or outside of the workplace and often produces significant adverse reactions for the affected employees. Critical incidents include events such as a death of an employee, resident, inmate, patient, client, or customer, a serious workplace injury, suicide, workplace violence, and natural disasters. EAP is available and able to provide postvention assistance to employees and agencies who are affected by critical incidents. In the aftermath of a critical incident, EAP staff and counselors will provide employees with needs assessment, referrals, short-term counseling, and follow-up services or telehealth group debriefing.
Q: Do you have any advice for those who want to start counseling but don’t know where to start or how to get help?
A: It can be overwhelming and scary if you do not know who to talk to or where to turn for help when you are ready to be vulnerable and confront emotional suffering. However, if we had a broken bone or were physically sick you would not likely just ignore it and try and move on - you would go to the doctor for a cast or medication to help you get better. Just like physical ailments, our emotional and mental suffering will not fix itself and sometimes we need help. I encourage all my clients to view their mental and emotional health similarly to their physical health when thinking about reaching out for help.
EAP services through ODMHSAS are all confidential. When an employee reaches out to talk to EAP staff through e-mail or phone inquiring about services the information provided by the employee will not be shared to anyone. We cannot talk to employee’s coworkers, supervisor or family members unless a consent to release information form is completed by the client. All services are strictly confidential in hopes to create a healthy therapeutic environment for the employee.
- Author
Lori Walls, Employee Assistance Program Manager
Lori has been a licensed counselor since 2018. She is a Graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Family and Community Services and Southern Nazarene University where she received her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology. Lori also attended the University of Oklahoma where she completed Master Level courses in Human Resource Management and completed an Employee Relations Internship. Lori’s passion is providing mental health awareness and educational opportunities for employees within their work place setting. Her goal is to ensure employees of ODMHSAS have access to adequate mental health resources and opportunities that will help promote greater psychological health and personal well-being.
