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What is a Corporate Therapist?

Heather Rafanello, MSW, LCSW @GrowingMindsetTherapy 

In honor of landing our second corporate therapy contract, I’m going to celebrate by writing a blog post (woo hoo!). 

What is a corporate therapist? 

I’m so glad you asked! A corporate therapist, or corporate counselor, is similar to a school counselor, but at work! Companies like Meta, and CVS have on site counselors for their staff, and TV shows like Billions, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking are starting to highlight the importance of mental health, making it much more mainstream. 

Throughout childhood we have access to wellness support via school counselors, and then as soon as we enter into the workforce, we dive head first into an endless series of life adjustments. We go from student to professional, single to married, experience parenthood, have changing friendships, career progression, retirement, and so much more.  It truly never ends!  With so many major life changes, everyone could use a little support, and to top it all off we have to find the time to seek out this wellness support on our own. As a mental health therapist, I’m a little biased here, but this seems like an issue that we can resolve with a corporate or in-house therapist!

Mental Health Directly Impacts Employee Performance

Mental health directly impacts many aspects of our lives, including an employee’s performance at work. A corporate, or in house therapist, can provide support to employees to increase their productivity, longevity and attitude about work in many ways.  These include improving productivity, reducing absenteeism, and boosting employee retention. Employees who feel more engaged and satisfied with their jobs/organizations are more inclined to remain at their organizations (Society for Human Resource Management).

Current options for mental health support include external Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) or insurance benefits. These EAPs are "a work-based intervention program designed to assist employees in resolving personal problems that may be adversely affecting the employee's performance" (Society for Human Resource Management). 

What Does a Corporate Therapist Do?

The Growing Mindset Therapy (GMT) corporate therapists and counselors allow for the same work based intervention programs to resolve these problems as EAPs, while also providing prevention opportunities designed to help employees achieve personal and team effectiveness in the workplace. Corporate therapists and counselors assess and enhance individual employee work style. In addition to providing 1:1 solution-focused support, we offer direct case management, linking employees to other health and wellness services as needed.  All this allows for more direct, in the moment, individualized support, increasing the likelihood of them utilizing the resources. Our team can also work closely with HR to curate workshops, wellness fairs, and other events. The same array of services offered by an EAP program can be done in house with a familiar face, allowing employees easier, direct access to someone that they already know. 

Being able to offer in-house counseling services allows employees to receive services tailored to help them through unique workplace and home life challenges. This results in higher performing staff and a more positive organizational culture. Research has shown that healthy and happy employees are more productive and engaged in both their company and individual jobs, which is great for a business's bottom line (Society for Human Resource Management). 

DISCLAIMER: This article is not intended to treat, or diagnose and medical conditions, nor is it a replacement for mental health or medical treatment. If you or someone you know is in need of clinical support, our team is able to provide therapy services to those in NJ and FL. Contact us to learn more. If you or someone you know is in need of immediate support please contact emergency services. U.S. Mental health crisis line: dial 988 ; medical emergency dial 911