About EAP
Our statewide network of Employee Assistance Professionals supports our statewide customers. In addition to a strong, experienced staff in our Honolulu corporate office, we have a diverse proprietary network of clinicians across the Hawaiian islands.
This network of providers gives our companies an unmatched breadth of behavioral health expertise, and gives employees and their family members more choices and convenient locations.
And all it takes is one simple phone call to our central office. We know our providers and their specialties – they’re not just names on a list to us. We will make sure we find the right provider for you – whether you are looking for someone to train your company or someone who can work with your family – we have the expertise to help!
Who We Are
General Partners
David W. Mitchell, MA, LMHC (WA), CEAP, SAP
>>> Dave's kuleana has been Employee Assistance work for many years, having served over a thousand businesses. Before joining Employee Assistance of the Pacific, he ran WorkLife Hawaii as well as a large, regional EAP based in Seattle with national contracts and global employees -- First Choice Health EAP. He is active and well-respected in the EAP field, was elected President of the Hawaii Chapter and of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of EAPA. He has advanced critical incident training and decades of experience helping hundreds of businesses across Hawaii and the U.S. stay resilient following traumatic events. In addition, he has responded to large-scale events as a supervisor of clinicians, including the World Trade Center attack. He is a skilled trainer, a clinician with decades of experience, and oversees all administrative functions at this organization. He also is a Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP) and a DOT-Qualified Substance Abuse Professional (SAP). He spends most of his time providing management consultations to our corporate clients across the Hawaiian islands and is ready to help your small, local business or large, global business access positive, proactive, robust EAP services that help your employees and your bottom line.
P: 808-597-8222
Vali Hawkins-Mitchell, PhD, LMHC, REAT, CEAP
>>> Vali brings a wealth of experience to Employee Assistance of the Pacific. In addition to her work as a counselor and executive coach, she is a well-published author. Four of her books, Your Guide to Workplace Violence, The Manager's Guide to Bullies in the Workplace, The Cost of Emotions in the Workplace, and Emotional Terrors in the Workplace, directly relate to EAP work in helping businesses as well as employees recognize how to work with emotions as well as challenging people. In addition to her work here, she runs ImproVizion Consulting, where she provides Expressive Arts Therapy and coaching. She is also an advanced-level critical incident responder, having responded to incidents ranging from small corporate incidents to the World Trade Center attack. Her expertise on Resilience, and her beloved blog on the same topic -- Resiliency 4 Today-- demonstrate her ho'ohana in the EAP field. Vali is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Hawaii as well as Washington, and a Certified Employee Assistance Professional. She spends most of her time here doing coaching and trainings ("edutainment") across the islands. Her "52 Weeks of Well-Being" premiered to our customers (as a free service!), teaching reslience through self-care and artmaking. And her most recent book, #WeAreManyWomen: Many Voices, is now available in paperback and as an Kindle e-book! She was also chosen as a 2020 Women Who Mean Business honoree by Pacific Business News, and was a Cultural Advisor to the new Waikiki film (now streaming on Amazon!).
P: 808-597-8222
Meet our team
Laura Schlesinger, MS, CSAC, SAP, CEAP
>>> Laura is a counselor with Employee Assistance of the Pacific. She has over thirty years of post-master's clinical experience working with clients of all ages in community mental health, substance abuse, and private non-profit settings. She has worked exclusively in the employee assistance field since 1990, providing counseling to employees and their family members, consultation to supervisors and management, and training and education on various workplace issues. Laura has a master's degree in clinical psychology, holds state and national certifications as a substance abuse counselor, and is a certified employee assistance professional. Laura was born and raised in Hawai'i.
Greg Tanida, LCSW, CSAC, SAP
>>>Greg is a licensed clinical social worker and certified substance abuse counselor who has been working in the mental health and substance abuse field for over 25 years. He was born and raised on Oahu and credits his local experiences with shaping his counseling and communication style. Greg is certified in EMDR and enjoys his work with individuals and couples. His experience in the Employee Assistance field includes work with Straub and Kaiser Permanente. Greg also enjoys being a part-time lecturer at UH Manoa.
Chloe Loftis, MS, CEAP
>>>Chloe is the Intake Specialist/Office Administrator at Employee Assistance of the Pacific, usually the voice you hear when you call. Growing up in Oahu, she learned that her calling was to help others improve their lives. Since then, she has been working as a mental health professional for several years and received a Master’s of Science in Counseling Psychology with a mental health emphasis. She is also a Certified Employee Assistance Professional. Chloe has worked with many types of people, including adults with severe mental illness (SMI), children with developmental disorders, and survivors of sex trafficking. She is deeply passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of others and is grateful to be a part of a company that allows her to achieve that.
Photos by Russell Tanoue. Cariactures by Jeff Langcaon.
Our Provider Network
We have EAP Providers Across the Islands
Additional providers are also available on the U.S. Mainland and Internationally for those companies who choose to cover those employees.
Our Growth
We have come a long way from those first two contracts that Straub signed to become the largest EAP in Hawaii! Serving all industries across all Hawaiian islands, we continue to grow and look forward to serving even more employers.
It's also important to note that our primary Hawaii-based competitor boasts that 25% of their customers have been with them over a decade. Even though we have grown substantially, 41% of our customers have been with us for over a decade!
Our History
Oct. 1, 1989 | >>> |
Straub signs two EAP contracts. [HC&D, LLC (formerly Island Ready Mix and Ameron) is still with us today!!] |
Sept. 1992 | >>> |
Straub signs the 25th contract – with Punahou School [Still with us today!] |
January 1995 | >>> | SAP services begin to support corporate clients compliance with the Omnibus Transportation Act’s requirements for drug testing in the workplace |
Jan. 1998 | >>> |
Straub signs the 50th contract – with Queen Liliokalani Trust [Still with us today!] |
July 2004 | >>> | Our Founders, Cheryl Prince and Carey Brown, acquire the book of business from Straub and incorporate as Employee Assistance of the Pacific, LLC |
Jan. 1, 2005 | >>> |
The 100th EAP contract is signed |
April 2009 | >>> | We partner with Ho’okele to offer free Healthcare Navigation and Eldercare Consultation to our clients |
May 2010 | >>> | We move to 1221 Kapiolani Blvd, Suite 730 after customizing the space for confidentiality and privacy! |
2013 | >>> |
Employee Assistance of the Pacific has grown to serving over 150 businesses across Hawaii! |
2015 | >>> |
Employee Assistance of the Pacific has grown to serving over 160 businesses across Hawaii! |
October 2015 | >>> |
David and Vali Mitchell take over ownership of Employee Assistance of the Pacific, LLC with Cheryl and Carey continuing to serve as Founders |
March 2016 | >>> | We start rolling out free Legal and Financial Consultation to all our clients – robust Work/Life services at no extra fee! |
April 2017 | >>> | Employee Assistance of the Pacific has grown to serving over 170 businesses across Hawaii! |
July 2017 | >>> | Our new and improved website launches, as well as our 52 Weeks of Well-Being, available to all our clients at no extra fee! |
January 2018 |
>>> | Employee Assistance of the Pacific has grown to serving over 180 businesses across Hawaii! |
September 2018 | >>> | We launch our Physician Assistance Program (PAP) and website! |
December 2018 | >>> | We sign our 200th Contract!!! |
January 2019 | >>> | Our Provider Network grows to over 60 Hawaii-based counselors |
March 2019 | >>> | We now have 15 DOT-SAP providers across Oahu, Maui, Big Island, Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai! |
July 2019 | >>> | We start serving all Department of Education employees across the State! |
March 2020 | >>> | To support those dealing with the Coronavirus, we transition all services to Telehealth and add new Resources and Training Videos to our website. |
September 2020 | >>> | We partner with all five nonprofit Hawaii Mediation Centers to offer free Mediation Intakes to over 200,000 Hawaii residents! |
November 2020 | >>> | We begin rolling out free Identity Theft Recovery services! (Once again, another added service we cover without raising rates to all our capitated clients!) |
2021 to 2023 | >>> | We respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic, changing all services to Telehealth to keep clients and EAP staff safe. We provide dozens of trainings across the state on dealing with the fear and axiety and job implications, morphing into pandemic fatigue and burnout as time passed. We supported a growing number of companies and industried with their unique challenges. |
July 2023 | >>> | We move our offices to the Pan Am building! |
August 2023 | >>> | We respond to the Maui fires, providing over 90 hours of onsite Critical Incident support to hotels, stores, physicians, and other covered companies there in the first week. Continued support and consultation to impacted groups and employees included another hundred additional hours of onsite support over the next few weeks. Ongoing support will continue for years for those impacted by the most deadly wildfire in our nation in a hundred years. |
July 2024 | >>> | We now serve over 300 employers across Hawaii! |
Our Value