Supervisors and Managers
Coping with Job Layoff
Common Reactions to Job Loss or Layoff:
Emotional Responses:
• Shock
• Anger toward others involved
• Fear
• Guilt
• Frustration
• Sadness
• Feeling Unsafe or Vulnerable
• Anxiety
Physical Responses:
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Change in appetite
• Shallow, rapid breathing
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Muscle Tension
• Increased Heart Rate
• Stomach Upset
• Fatigue
Mental Responses:
• Confusion
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty remembering details
Behavioral Responses:
• Withdrawal from others
• Irritability
• Marital/Relationship conflict
• Increased alcohol/drug use
When dealing with the stress of a job loss, be sure to:
• Take care of yourself by getting enough rest, eating well, and exercising.
• Seek information when you need it.
• Share your feelings with people you trust.
• Others may not know how to respond to your feelings. Let them know which responses are helpful and which are not.
• Talk with your Human Resources Department regarding what benefits/ services are available to you.
• Review your current budget and make adjustments that may be necessary.
• Take time for leisure activities.
• Seek the help of a professional counselor if you are worried about yourself or your family, or if you just need to talk things over.
You and your family members are eligible to see, at no cost to you, a professional counselor through your Employee Assistance Program.
Call us at (808) 597-8222 to schedule a time to meet with a counselor near you. All services are strictly confidential.
Meditation for Wellness
Our lives are full of demands at all different levels. All demands affect us, some to a mild degree, and some not so mild. We respond to the demands, but what happens when we can't turn off our internal response to the demand? Well, it stays on. As a result, you might start to experience general symptoms such as anxiety, depression, negative mood states including anger or irritability, or stomach cramps and headaches. This is what researchers have called "non-specific and unexplainable general arousal." Relaxation is the process of turning-off the response to demand. We can explore a few ways to turn off the response to stress through what is known as meditation.
In modern times meditation has become a valuable tool
for finding a peaceful oasis of relaxation and stress relief
in a demanding, fast-paced world.
Put your expectations aside, and don't worry about doing it right. There are infinite possibilities and no fixed criterion for determining the right way to meditate. There are, however, a few things to avoid. They are:
-
- Trying to force something to happen.
- Over-analyzing the meditation.
- Trying to make your mind blank or chase thoughts away.
- Putting too much emphasis on doing it right.
Find a quiet, comfortable place to meditate. You can sit in a comfortable chair, on the bed, on the floor... anywhere that's comfortable.
Eliminate as much noise and as many potential distractions as possible. Don't worry about those things that you cannot control.
And once you practice whatever type of mediation works best for you, this is a tool you can use throughout your day to become more mindful, present, and more relaxed. It doesn't have to take an hour. You can do this during your lunch break, or from your car (please not while you're driving!), or from the privacy of your bathroom.
Some people like to start with a guided mediation. Here are a few YouTube videos (each with millions of views) that might help:
Daily Calm 10-minute Mindfulness Meditation -- Be Present
5-Minute Meditation You Can Do Anywhere
10-Minute Mediation for Anxiety
20-minute Guided Meditation for Positive Energy, Relaxation, Peace
And if you like these, you can search YouTube for Hawaiian Meditation videos as well -- there are even Ho'oponopono mediation videos!
Here's an article from the Mayo Clinic we thought might help:
Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress
Meditation can wipe away the day's stress, bringing with it inner peace. See how you can easily learn to practice meditation whenever you need it most.
If stress has you anxious, tense and worried, consider trying meditation. Spending even a few minutes in meditation can help restore your calm and inner peace.
Anyone can practice meditation. It's simple and inexpensive. And it doesn't require any special equipment.
And you can practice meditation wherever you are — whether you're out for a walk, riding the bus, waiting at the doctor's office or even in the middle of a difficult business meeting.
Understanding meditation
Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. Meditation originally was meant to help deepen understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life. These days, meditation is commonly used for relaxation and stress reduction.
Meditation is considered a type of mind-body complementary medicine. Meditation can produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind.
During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process may result in enhanced physical and emotional well-being.
Benefits of meditation
Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. You can also use it to relax and cope with stress by refocusing your attention on something calming. Meditation can help you learn to stay centered and keep inner peace.
And these benefits don't end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly through your day. And meditation may help you manage symptoms of certain medical conditions.
Meditation and emotional and physical well-being
When you meditate, you may clear away the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress.
The emotional and physical benefits of meditation can include:
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- Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
- Building skills to manage your stress
- Increasing self-awareness
- Focusing on the present
- Reducing negative emotions
- Increasing imagination and creativity
- Increasing patience and tolerance
- Lowering resting heart rate
- Lowering resting blood pressure
- Improving sleep quality
- Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
Meditation and illness
Meditation might also be useful if you have a medical condition, especially one that may be worsened by stress.
While a growing body of scientific research supports the health benefits of meditation, some researchers believe it's not yet possible to draw conclusions about the possible benefits of meditation.
With that in mind, some research suggests that meditation may help people manage symptoms of conditions such as:
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- Anxiety
- Asthma
- Cancer
- Chronic pain
- Depression
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Sleep problems
- Tension headaches
- Anxiety
Be sure to talk to your health care provider about the pros and cons of using meditation if you have any of these conditions or other health problems. In some rare cases, meditation might worsen symptoms associated with certain mental health conditions.
Meditation isn't a replacement for traditional medical treatment. But it may be a useful addition to your other treatment.
Types of meditation
Meditation is an umbrella term for the many ways to achieve a relaxed state of being. There are many types of meditation and relaxation techniques that have meditation components. All share the same goal of achieving inner peace.
Ways to meditate can include:
• Guided meditation. Sometimes called guided imagery or visualization, with this method of meditation you form mental images of places or situations you find relaxing. You try to use as many senses as possible, such as smells, sights, sounds and textures. You may be led through this process by a guide or teacher.
• Mantra meditation. In this type of meditation, you silently repeat a calming word, thought or phrase to prevent distracting thoughts.
• Mindfulness meditation. This type of meditation is based on being mindful, or having an increased awareness and acceptance of living in the present moment. In mindfulness meditation, you broaden your conscious awareness. You focus on what you experience during meditation, such as the flow of your breath. You can observe your thoughts and emotions. But let them pass without judgment.
• Qi gong. This practice generally combines meditation, relaxation, physical movement and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance. Qi gong (CHEE-gung) is part of traditional Chinese medicine.
• Tai chi. This is a form of gentle Chinese martial arts training. In tai chi (TIE-CHEE), you perform a self-paced series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner while practicing deep breathing.
• Transcendental meditation. Transcendental meditation is a simple, natural technique. In this form of meditation, you silently repeat a personally assigned mantra, such as a word, sound or phrase, in a specific way. This form of meditation may allow your body to settle into a state of profound rest and relaxation and your mind to achieve a state of inner peace, without needing to use concentration or effort.
• Yoga. You perform a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises to promote a more flexible body and a calm mind. As you move through poses that require balance and concentration, you're encouraged to focus less on your busy day and more on the moment.
Elements of meditation
Different types of meditation may include different features to help you meditate. These may vary depending on whose guidance you follow or who's teaching a class. Some of the most common features in meditation include:
• Focused attention. Focusing your attention is generally one of the most important elements of meditation. Focusing your attention is what helps free your mind from the many distractions that cause stress and worry. You can focus your attention on such things as a specific object, an image, a mantra, or even your breathing.
• Relaxed breathing. This technique involves deep, even-paced breathing using the diaphragm muscle to expand your lungs. The purpose is to slow your breathing, take in more oxygen, and reduce the use of shoulder, neck and upper chest muscles while breathing so that you breathe more efficiently.
• A quiet setting. If you're a beginner, practicing meditation may be easier if you're in a quiet spot with few distractions, including no television, radios or cellphones. As you get more skilled at meditation, you may be able to do it anywhere, especially in high-stress situations where you benefit the most from meditation, such as a traffic jam, a stressful work meeting or a long line at the grocery store.
• A comfortable position. You can practice meditation whether you're sitting, lying down, walking, or in other positions or activities. Just try to be comfortable so that you can get the most out of your meditation. Aim to keep good posture during meditation.
• Open attitude. Let thoughts pass through your mind without judgment.
Everyday ways to practice meditation
Don't let the thought of meditating the "right" way add to your stress. If you choose to, you can attend special meditation centers or group classes led by trained instructors. But you can also practice meditation easily on your own. Or you may find apps to use, too.
And you can make meditation as formal or informal as you like, however it suits your lifestyle and situation. Some people build meditation into their daily routine. For example, they may start and end each day with an hour of meditation. But all you really need is a few minutes of quality time for meditation.
Here are some ways you can practice meditation on your own, whenever you choose:
• Breathe deeply. This technique is good for beginners because breathing is a natural function. Focus all your attention on your breathing. Concentrate on feeling and listening as you inhale and exhale through your nostrils. Breathe deeply and slowly. When your attention wanders, gently return your focus to your breathing.
• Scan your body. When using this technique, focus attention on different parts of your body. Become aware of your body's various sensations, whether that's pain, tension, warmth or relaxation. Combine body scanning with breathing exercises and imagine breathing heat or relaxation into and out of different parts of your body.
• Repeat a mantra. You can create your own mantra, whether it's religious or secular. Examples of religious mantras include the Jesus Prayer in the Christian tradition, the holy name of God in Judaism, or the om mantra of Hinduism, Buddhism and other Eastern religions.
• Walk and meditate. Combining a walk with meditation is an efficient and healthy way to relax. You can use this technique anywhere you're walking, such as in a tranquil forest, on a city sidewalk or at the mall. When you use this method, slow down your walking pace so that you can focus on each movement of your legs or feet. Don't focus on a particular destination. Concentrate on your legs and feet, repeating action words in your mind such as "lifting," "moving" and "placing" as you lift each foot, move your leg forward and place your foot on the ground. Focus on the sights, sounds and smells around you.
• Engage in prayer. Prayer is the best known and most widely practiced example of meditation. Spoken and written prayers are found in most faith traditions. You can pray using your own words or read prayers written by others. Check the self-help section of your local bookstore for examples. Talk with your rabbi, priest, pastor or other spiritual leader about possible resources.
• Read and reflect. Many people report that they benefit from reading poems or sacred texts, and taking a few moments to quietly reflect on their meaning. You can also listen to sacred music, spoken words, or any music you find relaxing or inspiring. You may want to write your reflections in a journal or discuss them with a friend or spiritual leader.
• Focus your love and kindness. In this type of meditation, you think of others with feelings of love, compassion and kindness. This can help increase how connected you feel to others.
Building your meditation skills
• Don't judge your meditation skills, which may only increase your stress. Meditation takes practice.
• Keep in mind, for instance, that it's common for your mind to wander during meditation, no matter how long you've been practicing meditation. If you're meditating to calm your mind and your attention wanders, slowly return to the object, sensation or movement you're focusing on.
• Experiment, and you'll likely find out what types of meditation work best for you and what you enjoy doing. Adapt meditation to your needs at the moment. Remember, there's no right way or wrong way to meditate. What matters is that meditation helps you reduce your stress and feel better overall.
More Meditation Techniques:
Two-to-One breathing:
Practice making exhalation twice as long as the inhalation. For example, you may time your breath so that you exhale for a count of 6 seconds, and inhale for a count of 3 seconds, or about 6-7 breaths per minute.
You work with the rates of breathing to find the most comfortable speed for you. For example, 4:2, 6:3, 8:4, 10:5, 12:6, where the first number is the number of seconds of exhalation, and the second (smaller) number is the number of seconds of inhalation. You can simply count internally for a minute or so, and then let go of the counting so as to just practice and observe the breathing.
Two-to-One breathing has a very relaxing effect on the autonomic nervous system and is great preparation for meditation.
Walking breath:
This is a wonderful practice that can be done right in the middle of daily life, and integrates body, breath, and mind.
You count internally with exhalation and inhalation, and align this with the steps you are taking while walking. So, for example, you may count 4:4. This means as you walk, you internally exhale while you count off 4 paces. At the end of this, you start to inhale, and count off 4 paces. You count 4 paces with exhalation, and 4 paces with inhalation.
Automatically, your breath becomes even. Automatically, your body and breath synchronize. Automatically, your mind synchronizes with the body and breath, by virtue of the internal counting.
As you walk, you need to find the right pace that is comfortable, and in alignment with the speed you are walking. You might find that 2:2, 3:3, 4:4, 5:5 6:6, etc. is the optimum speed for you.
As you get proficient with even breathing, you can shift to two-to-one breathing with walking, such as 6 paces with exhalation, and 3 paces with inhalation. Again, you need to find the pace that is comfortable for you.
This practice can easily be done when you are walking even 1-2 minutes from one place to another. It brings great benefits, right in the middle of daily life.
Cloud Thoughts
Sit comfortably with your back straight but not rigid. Let your eyes close, and notice what it's like to sit with your eyes closed. It may seem a little strange at first. You may notice that as your eyes close, other senses, like hearing, become more sensitive. Notice the different sounds that become apparent to you. Notice the variety of sounds and how they change from moment to moment.
Next, feel your body sitting on the floor or chair. Feel the pressure of your buttocks on the cushion or chair. Feel your shoulders. Feel your feet. Your belly. Feel your body sitting here. Let the body be soft and open. Relax any place of tension or holding in the body as best you can.
Then feel the movement of the breath in the body. Notice how the breath has a pattern, a beat. See if you can tune into that pattern. Notice how the belly rises on the inhalation and falls on the exhalation. Notice how the chest expands and contracts with each breath, and how the breath enters and leaves the nostrils. You are not imagining or controlling the breath, but feeling it. Allow the breath to come and go in its own pattern.
Now turn your attention to your thoughts. Be aware of thoughts coming into your mind like clouds floating across the sky. Rest your attention on that flow. One thought comes and then another floats by to take its place... If mind-chatter can be thought of as clouds, the important thing to remember is that the clouds will pass through, if you don't hold onto them! Thoughts are like clouds that appear in the sky. They don’t require us to do anything about them. We can observe them and let them pass. You may say to yourself, "There’s a thought," just like you might say, "There is a cloud." You don’t need to classify the cloud, or think about what it looks like. It is just there, and in a little while it won’t be there. You don’t need to do anything with thoughts, and if you don’t do anything, in time, they will drop away.
Now gently turn your attention to the space between the cloud-thoughts. That space is empty and it is effortless to turn to it. Let your awareness rest there. Clouds will come by…just notice them and return your attention to the empty space between the clouds. Allow them to come, to have their moment, and allow them to leave. Don’t hold onto the clouds or jump from one cloud to the next. If you find your mind doing that…..and it will…..don’t create more clouds with frustration or judgments. Just return your awareness to the delicious space between the clouds.
See if you can be with each moment without struggle. Meditation is a time to rest from the constant activity of the mind. Enjoy this time. Have compassion for yourself in your sincere effort to bring more calm and peace in your life.
You and your family members are eligible to see, at no cost to you, a professional counselor through your Employee Assistance Program.
Call us at (808) 597-8222 to schedule a time to meet with a counselor near you. All services are strictly confidential.
Suggesting EAP to Furloughed, Laid Off, or Terminated Employees

It is often a difficult experience for managers to talk with employees who they need to furlough, lay off, or terminate. We offer suggestions for these managers elsewhere on our website, and plenty of great suggestions are available through the website links we provide.
One of the important things that managers can do is to offer these employees EAP services. Most contracts cover our services for a two-month period after separation.
Remind these employees of the following:
- This can be a time of serious stress for you and your family. Employee Assistance of the Pacific is ready to provide neutral, free and confidential support to all our employees.
- Separating employees and their families may use their EAP benefit for the next two months.
- EAP can provide you with free and confidential services, including:
- Counseling
- Financial Consultation
- Legal Consultation
- Eldercare and Healthcare Navigation Consultation
- The counselors at EAP are all professionals who are experts at providing you with ideas and resources for dealing with the pressures that life sometimes presents.
- You don’t need to have a mental health problem to see an EAP counselor.
- You do not need to use your medical insurance and there is no charge to you for these sessions.
- The EAP benefit is confidential. No information is shared with your employer, including your name, unless you give permission to do so.
- You can call the EAP directly (808-597-8222) to make an appointment. Services are available through telephone and secure video connections if a face-to-face session is not possible or safe.
- Their central Honolulu office is open 8-5 Monday-Friday, but counselors are available 24/7. They have over 70 counselors available across Oahu, Maui, Big Island, Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai.
If you doubt your own ability to listen patiently or to help someone who is being furloughed, laid off, or terminated, consider consulting with the EAP yourself for guidance or counseling.
5 Tips for Working From Home Stress-Free (Parent's Edition)

This is an article writen by James E. Porter, CEO of StressStop.com and is used by permission.
When I started my home-based stress management business, my wife was still working outside the home and we had a brand-new baby boy. We didn’t really have money for childcare, so I watched after him while starting my business. By the time baby #3 came along I had learned a lot about taking care of kids and running a business at the same time. Now with the pandemic forcing a lot of parents with young children to work from home and care for their kids at the same time, I thought it would be helpful to share some of what I’ve learned over the years.
1. Delegate and/or share the burden.
For some reason, kids today don’t seem to do as much work around the house as they did in days gone by. Yes, they have a lot of homework, but you and they will feel better in the long run if you let them share the burden of certain household chores. Figure out what chores can be assigned to your kids at what age and let them do those duties without any help from you. Picking up toys, hanging up clothes, making their beds, even doing their own laundry (when they are a little older) are all good places to start. Once you firmly establish these chores as routine, your life will be easier, and their lives will be fuller. Remember, don’t make them (necessarily) do it your way. That’s not delegating. As long as their results match your expectations, let them do it any way they want to.
2. Embrace the interruptions.
I used to get all bent out of shape, when my wife – who transitioned to being a full time mom once baby #3 came along – would interrupt me with a plumbing problem or some “emergency” that needed fixing right away. I’d get annoyed and tell her: “If I wasn’t working from home, you’d either call a contractor or figure out how to fix it yourself.”
After a couple of years of having this as a recurring source of conflict, I finally realized, if I wasn’t in the middle of something important I’d take (an often much-needed) break and do whatever she wanted me to do. (And this was often the equivalent to getting up from your desk and walking around for five minutes every hour.) Also, when the kids came into my work space to share some accomplishment they were excited about, unless I was on the phone (and they learned fairly early on not to interrupt me when I was in an online meeting or on the phone) I’d embrace that interruption too. It was silly to spend any time being annoyed by interruptions. After all, I probably would have had even more interruptions if I had been working in an office setting with other employees all around me.
3. Don’t miss dinner.
Missing dinner is an easy place to lose your footing as a family. It’s so tempting to skip it when the work piles up or check your phone a dozen times during dinner itself, or come late to dinner when your food is cold and everyone else is about to leave the table. For me, my workday always stops at dinner time, whenever that is. While our routines have changed dramatically over the years, when the kids were little dinner, play time, baths, reading before bed, putting the kids to bed: These were all precious moments that for the most part, I never missed.
4. Every day of the pandemic could be: Take your child to work day.
When your children are very young, they desperately want to imitate everything you do and I think we would be wise as parents to take advantage of this innate tendency. That’s why I always invited my kids to work beside me whenever that was possible. I remember how my older daughter, before she could write a single letter of the alphabet, would go to the bank with me, and fill out a bank deposit slip, just like I did, by putting little hash marks (which was her imitating me writing) on the slip in all the blank places.
So just by letting my kids tag along on certain errands – like going to Staples – and even visiting an understanding client or two, where I just had to stop in to deliver something or pick something up, they had a learning experience. My kids ultimately went to a charter school where the mission statement for the school was that children should: “learn by doing.” Every moment the kids and I spent working together, was definitely a learning experience for them. Sure there were interruptions but it was worth it to be able to teach them in that way. My older daughter is 25 now and still one of her FAVORITE activities is going to Staples and buying office supplies!
5. Practice gratefulness.
You are one of the very fortunate people who HAS kids and gets to work from home and watch your kids grow up. As a result, you won’t miss a thing: First words, first steps, first birthday, etc. Sure, it would be nice if you didn’t have to supervise them quite so much but getting frustrated about them being home all the time isn’t going to make your life or their lives any easier. Before you go to sleep at night, repeat silently to yourself five things you have to grateful for, including all the time you got to spend with your kids that day. I predict, that at some point those of us who didn’t suffer major losses during this pandemic will look back on this unique period with fond memories of a time where we spent more time talking, being together, living simply and hopefully being grateful for everything that happened, just the way that it happened.
Remember about your EAP benefit!
- This can be a time of serious stress for you and your family. Employee Assistance of the Pacific is ready to provide neutral, free and confidential support to all our covered employees.
- EAP can provide you with free and confidential services, including:
- Counseling
- Financial Consultation
- Legal Consultation
- Eldercare and Healthcare Navigation Consultation
- The counselors at EAP are all professionals who are experts at providing you with ideas and resources for dealing with the pressures that life sometimes presents.
- You don’t need to have a mental health problem to see an EAP counselor.
- You do not need to use your medical insurance and there is no charge to you for these sessions.
- The EAP benefit is confidential. No information is shared with your employer, including your name, unless you give permission to do so.
- You can call the EAP directly (808-597-8222) to make an appointment. Services are available through telephone and secure video connections if a face-to-face session is not possible or safe.
- Our central Honolulu office is open 8-5 Monday-Friday, but counselors are available 24/7. We have over 75 counselors available across Oahu, Maui, Hawaii Island, Kauai, Molokai, and Lanai.
Protecting Employees from Workplace Trauma & PTSD

Trauma happens regularly in businesses across Hawaii. People die at their workplaces. Tourists suicide at the hotel they are staying at. Businesses are robbed. Traffic fatalities occur. Workers who are exposed to a workplace trauma can be supported through these experiences in ways that reduce the chances of developing PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) or long-term consequences.
Here in Hawaii, in the past there was a reluctance in many to discuss a traumatic event. “We don’t do that in our culture” has been an attitude that fortunately is going away over time, as normalizing seeking appropriate help has increased.
While most of us (70% globally according to the World Health Organization) experience a potentially traumatic event during our lifetimes, only a minority (3.9% of the world population) will develop PTSD. Thanks to effective treatments available, many with PTSD recover within one year.
The chances of recovering from long-term effects of trauma increase when people get appropriate help. If people don’t know help is available or don’t have access to help, they are not as likely to recover as well.
Trauma versus PTSD
Most functional people are impacted in the short term when a workplace trauma happens. We grieve the death of a co-worker, we have an understandable stress reaction to witnessing a suicide or a tragic workplace accident, we don’t want to go around the place that this event occurred. Yet over time most of us resolve our fears and retrain our bodies that nothing bad is happening at that spot today. Most people seem to have a built-in process of recovery that helps us move forward.
For some, however, trauma changes into PTSD. Symptoms develop. They continue to re-experience the event, feeling like it’s happening all over again. They avoid reminders of the event, refusing to talk about it or avoiding situations or activities that remind them of the event. They experience symptoms of heightened arousal or vigilance that cause significant distress as it feels they are in a heightened state of danger even when they are not actually at risk. They may blame themselves or someone else for the event. These symptoms develop usually immediately after or within one month of the traumatic event.
PTSD is only diagnosed if the symptoms are still going on for at least one month and are interfering with aspects of their daily life, relationships, or work.
Again, it is important to note that most people will not develop PTSD following a critical event. They have strong social or family ties or healthy relationships where they receive support, they are more physically healthy before the event that helps them recover, they have fewer risk factors such as mental health challenges, physical illness, isolation, or a history of trauma. By the time one month has passed, most feel like they are back on their game again.
The Employer’s Role
First, it is important for supervisors and leadership to proactively provide or offer support to victims of workplace trauma. Understand that it’s common for a team to all be responding differently to the same event. Keep in mind that some may be concerned about their personal safety or the safety of their team. Some may want to continue talking about the event, while some do not want to discuss it at all. The workplace may be a bit bumpier than usual for the next few weeks while a crew is working on how this event impacted them individually and as a team.
Seek Support and Offer Proactive Support
If you are an employee impacted by a critical event, we encourage you to call the EAP for support! If you’re a supervisor or in a leadership position, you can also call the EAP to ask for suggestions on how to support your team in the weeks to follow. The sooner you do this the better! What you might need to do the day of the event may differ if the event happened at the beginning of a workday or at the end, or how close people were to the event or to the person, or what changes were already impacting them at work. You can connect impacted employees with the EAP, and you can discuss whether and when to bring the EAP to the worksite to support a team.
The trick is to connect impacted employees with support available to them, but only if they are interested in doing so. Some people may just want to go home the first day, some may want to stay working. Some may want to call the EAP immediately, some will not want to. You can’t force anyone to get help, but you can make it available to them. You want to provide a safe place for people to talk about their experiences without forcing people to do so.
Professional support is available to all of your employees and may make the difference in how they recover from the trauma, or whether their trauma turns into PTSD. The more resources impacted employees have the better, and talking with helpful teammates or supervisors who understand their experiences can also help them cope. You don’t want to be their therapist or offer psychological advice, but you may be able to help them by listening and letting them know you care and want to support them as they recover; all while reminding them that professional, confidential, free support is available if they call their EAP. HR professionals can be helpful in providing or arranging for support when leadership is unable to do so or cannot serve in a helping capacity due to their perceived role in the trauma.
In the EAP, we understand trauma. Our trained counselors are trauma-informed, which means we understand the impacts of trauma on a variety of people and know how a background of trauma may impact someone today. We know that supporting someone well initially can help people bounce back faster – when people are educated about normal responses to trauma and what coping methods can help, they feel less like they’re “losing it” when they experience normal trauma effects. When people impacted by trauma know they’re not alone, and that their feelings are okay, this helps them process the trauma in a healthier way and ultimately helps their relationships, mental health, and job performance. A workplace trauma can ultimately transform a team over time, and responding well to the trauma can help make a difference.
EAP as a Supervisory Tool

As a supervisor, you understand that many factors contribute to employee job performance. Situations may arise unexpectedly, and you need to have the tools and knowledge to deal with them quickly and effectively.
Training Topics

We provide a variety of trainings that can help. Whether you are meeting compliance needs, helping your team become more resilient through change, or teaching soft skills, we can customize you a training that will reinforce the direction(s) you are heading AND remind employees and supervisors of their EAP benefits. These training partnerships help bring more value to your EAP by keeping us top-of-mind for your supervisors and your employees.
Some EAP contracts have a number of training hours and/or orientations included at no charge annually. Additional trainings are available on a fee-for-service basis at our contracted rate. Call us during regular business hours to discuss your training needs!
Leading Through Changes - Helpful Links
Leading your company or your team through change, or multiple changes, can be challenging. The more that leaders can be successful in Change Management, the better!
Here are some links we hope may assist you in leading through change:
5 Ways to Help Your Team Be Open to Change
Edith Onderick-Harvey, 2019, Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2019/04/5-ways-to-help-your-team-be-open-to-change
6 Ways to help guide employees through multiple changes
Gregg Brown, 2018, People Management
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1745940/guide-employees-through-multiple-changes
7 Organizational Change Management Strategies Effective Leaders use to Maintain Productivity and Engagement
Dan Grisoni, 2021, Grisoni Coaching
8 Ways to Manage a Team Through Change
Tammy Perkins, 2021, Glassdoor
https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/8-ways-manage-team-change/
How to be a Successful Change Leader
The Center for Creative Leadership
https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/successful-change-leader/
Managing Organizational Change
SHRM Toolkit
Work Will Never Be the Same – Savvy Business Leaders are Adapting to Change That’s Already Here
Deborah Lovich et al, 2022, BCG:
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/how-business-leaders-are-adapting-during-covid-19
How Leaders Get in the Way of Organizational Change
Ron Carucci, 2021, Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2021/04/how-leaders-get-in-the-way-of-organizational-change
And if you need any support or coaching to help you as a leader, don't forget you have EAP available to you. It's a free, confidential benefit you have!
Developing Resilience in the Healthcare Field
Healthcare organizations are paying attention to creating an organizational infrastructure to support physicians and other healthcare practitioners.
The Stanford Wellness Framework is being used by many organizations to address this issue, and consists of three domains that help build professional fulfillment and even what has been called "Joy In Medicine":
While the organizations themselves largely drive the first two factors, Personal Resilience is something that YOU can impact and something that your EAP can certainly support!
- Source: Sinsky, Christine, et al. “Creating the Organizational Foundation for Joy in MedicineTM.” stepsforward.org
- Learn more at https://www.stepsforward.org/Static/images/modules/50/downloadable/Organizational_foundation.pdf
Remember your EAP can help you stay RESILIENT:
We can provide you and your family members free, confidential counseling and coaching.
- You can call us to see an experienced professional counselor near you for up to a contracted number of confidential sessions.
- We can support you and your family with any personal or work-related challenges to help build your resilience.
- We can work with you on self-care methods to help you stay resilient throughout your career.
We can provide free, confidential, neutral financial consultation with experts on issues that impact you.1
- You can call us for a 30-minute telephone consultation with a certified financial expert on issues that impact you and your family.
- Examples of these matters include retirement planning, budgeting, debt consolidation, taxes, 401(k) analysis, home buying strategies, college funding analysis, and student loan debt.
We can provide free legal assistance for non-work-related issues.1
- You can call us for a free 30-minute face-to-face or telephonic consultation with an attorney near you. If you need more than the 30 minute consultation, the attorney will reduce their ongoing fees by 25%.
- Examples of these matters include civil/consumer issues, personal/family legal services (adoption, custody, divorce, name change, and other domestic or family law issues), real estate, criminal matters, tax matters, estate planning, and immigration issues.
We can provide free Eldercare/Healthcare Navigation consultation.1
- For issues related to elderly parents, ill children, or navigating through other healthcare issues.
Remember the EAP is available for support and consultation to you and your family members. Please feel free to give us a call!
Call us for support at (808) 597-8222.
1Please note that not every company has this benefit available to their employees. Call us to make sure this is available to you!
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