The EAPA Podcast

A conversation with Adriana DiNenno, Product Manager, for Infor People Solutions, providers of cloud-based HR talent products, and the company’s Wellbeing Co-Chair, which focuses on all dimensions of an employee’s wellbeing - mental, physical, financial, etc. - to create a safe environment at work and an inclusive, positive culture. Bonus chat on Broadway Musicals with a mental health theme.

Dr. Deryk Van Brunt, a professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and CEO of Credible Mind, the one-stop-shop for personalized mental wellbeing apps, whose mission is to help everyone optimize their mental and spiritual health. Their AI-based platform is an “evidence-based gateway” to thousands of mental health and well-being apps, enabling employers, EAPs and users to identify which ones meet specific needs. We discuss how EAPs can partner with Credible Minds to cost-effectively address mental well-being issues while facilitating a handoff to employee assistance professionals. For more, visit https://crediblemind.com/

Tracee Talavera, a member of the silver medal-winning American team at the 1984 Olympics, and a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame, on the day-to-day life of an elite gymnast, what it takes from a mental health standpoint to perform at the highest levels with everything on the line, why elite sports organizations need to lower the stigma around mental health and the progress we’re making.

Dr. Ian Quamina, Chair of the Employee Assistance Certification Commission (EACC), and head of clinical services for Families in Action, providers of EAP services across the Caribbean, discusses the new CEAP© Certification Course, an exciting development for people in the field, people just getting into the field and for businesses looking for real workforce management solutions at a time of dramatic change. For more, visit https://zurl.co/DPxm.

We kick off our Elite Performance and Mental Health series with the remarkable Nancy Hogshead-Makar, née Nancy Lynn Hogshead, an American swimmer who won three gold medals and one silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Nancy discusses the mental preparation required to compete at the highest levels, coming out the other side of a traumatic experience, her advocacy work as CEO of Champion Women, and how the societal stigma that has long surrounded mental health is being systematically eroded as more of today’s most celebrated athletes come forward to share their personal struggles.

Kathleen Greer, founder of KGA, a nationally recognized leader in the field of Employee Assistance and Work-Life Programs, on the ways in which COVID drove her company to innovate, the 2-3 most important developments in EAP over just the past 10 years, the biggest challenges facing the field, her work with an angel investment group supporting women entrepreneurs, and highlights from a distinguished career stretching back to 1982.

Joseph Boyle, an Employee Assistance Consultant with over thirty-five years of experience in the service and delivery of EAP, mental health, and chemical health services, gives new meaning to “multicultural,” having provided EAP support across corporate, public sector, military, and union cultures (his near-native fluency in Spanish is due to happily “marrying into” Latino culture). He discusses EAP’s often-overlooked management consulting role, his embrace of technology, and the relative efficacy of internal, external, and hybrid EAPs.

Traversing the globe (conversationally) with Edinburgh-based Buon, Tony Buon, a workplace psychologist, mediator, coach, speaker, author, and managing partner of the Buon Consultancy, who has worked with many of the world’s leading organizations in over 30 countries - including starting China's first EAP.

A conversation with Tamara Cagney, one of the nation’s most respected employee assistance professionals, on her work with Sandia National Laboratories, a safety-sensitive, heavily regulated environment. We also discuss her work as a Clinical Consultant for the Teamsters’ Assistance Program,  EAPA’s DOT SAP Program, and the “perception gap” re the risks associated with CBD/cannabis use in the workforce.

Greg DeLapp on EAP and the Employee Assistance Professionals Association based on his 40+ years in the field: how EAP has adapted during the pandemic to improve service delivery, utilization and outcomes…how EAPs around the world responded to COVID… lessons learned from and the innovations driven by the pandemic…and what’s in store for those attending – or thinking about attending - the 2021 EAPA Institute & EXPO in Houston September 24-26!