October 2008 Edition

In this issue:

Welcome New NC EAPA Members

A warm welcome goes out to Mary Lou Albano, Mark Cowell, Catherine Savisky and Jon Murphy as new NC EAPA members. Welcome and let us know if we can help you with anything or sign you up for anything!

NCEAPA Chapter Holds September Conference

On September 18, the North Carolina Chapter of EAPA held its regular fall conference at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Research Triangle Park, NC. There were approximately 35 people who attended the event. Originally, this event was scheduled to have Jeff Christie speak on EAP ethics, but Jeff was unable to make the conference because of events surrounding Hurricane Ike.

Instead, participants had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Jeremy Bray, a Fellow in Health Economics at RTI International. He has spent much of his career doing research in the area of EAP and is currently working on a research grant involving EAP issues. Dr. Bray discussed his research with attendees, as well as issues in obtaining funding for research. At the end of the training, he presented an opportunity for EAPs to be involved in his research efforts. If you are interested in being involved in the project, contact Dr. Bray at 919/541-7003.

In the afternoon, Linda Smith, the Director of Programs for Duke Integrative Medicine, came to discuss health coaching. She discussed different aspects of health coaching and gave participants information on the Duke Integrative Medicine model. During the latter half of the training, everyone had an opportunity to practice the skills that they had learned and to discuss those skills within the group. Participants came away from the training with handouts on the Duke model, information on the Duke Integrative Medicine training program and some basic coaching skills.

Our next chapter training will be held on December 11th in Charlotte. Look for information to come out soon on this event. See you in Charlotte!

Submitted by Jay Hale, NC EAPA President

NC EAPA December Training Announcement

The NC EAPA December Training is titled Embracing Diversity: Addressing Harassment in the Workplace. It will be held on December 11th at the Comfort Suites in Pineville, NC. Please look for the Registration Form on our chapter website or through the listserve. Here is some information about the presenters:

Sally M. Masters is a Career Counselor in the Career Development Center with Appalachian State University's College of Fine and Applied Arts and Hayes School of Music. She has worked in education and counseling positions for over 25 years. Sally recently relocated to North Carolina from Massachusetts where she was an often requested regional and national resource and speaker on issues of social injustice. Sally received the inaugural statewide Human Rights Award from the Massachusetts School Counseling Association in 2007. She has a Master of Science degree in Education from Baylor University and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in School Counseling from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Robert P. Joyce is a lawyer and a specialist in public law, especially the law related to employment. He has practiced law in New York City and in North Carolina and is now the Edwin Hinsdale Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government in the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of The Law of Employment in North Carolina's Public Schools. Bob consults regularly with governmental administrators and the lawyers who represent units of governments. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the Harvard Law School.

2009 March Conference Update

Mark Your Calendars! The 2009 March conference "EAP: Championing Excellence in Today's Workplace" will be held March 11-13th at Embassy Suites and Conference Center, Concord NC.

The committee is hard at work designing another fantastic conference. This is the 30th annual conference, and you won't want to miss it, so start by marking the dates in your schedule now.

Great News! The committee is pleased to announce that the registration fee for members will remain unchanged! Unlike so many other things in our world that are going up in price, our not raising members registration fee means that the conference will once again be an incredible value. The non-members rate though will have to be increased however, so if you are not yet a chapter member, now is the time to join.

Changes! Yes, based on membership feedback and Board input, there will be a few changes to the program schedule which should make the conference even better. The biggest change is that there will be an Awards luncheon to kick off the conference on the opening day, Wednesday March 11th. This replaces the Awards dinner that has frequently been held on the first night. This allows the conference to start in a celebratory fashion as we honor the award winners, while also providing additional time for attendees to meet, reconnect, and network that first night.

Next! The committee is close to finalizing presentation selections for the conference program, and hope to have an advance copy of the schedule available in the near future. That will be distributed over the listserve and posted on the chapter website www.eapa.com. Exhibitors are being contacted, and that effort is being led by Margaret Larrea and David Hamby. If you know of potential exhibitors or sponsors, please contact them at , or .

Questions? If you have questions, contact Andy Silberman, Chair of the 2009 March Conference at: , or by calling (919) 416-1727.

Article By NCEAPA Board Members Published In NCHR Review

As your NCEAPA Outreach Chair, I am pleased to announce that an article submitted by three of your NCEAPA board members has been published in the NCHR Review -Fall/Winter 2008 edition!

Jay Hale, your new NCEAPA President, Renee' Evans, NCEAPA Diversity Chair, and Eileen Hodiak, Outreach Chair, joined together to author this article entitled "Leveraging Value in Your Employee Assistance Programs." It was accepted for publication in the most recent edition of the NCHR Review, the official publication of the North Carolina Society for Human Resource Management. One of the goals of your NCEAPA Outreach Committee is to continue to look for ways to promote awareness of EAP's in the professional community. Over the past few years, we have focused on the Human Resource profession with regards to these outreach efforts. We believe that this most recent publication in the NCHR Review will further promote the EAP profession and heighten awareness of the value of Employee Assistance Programs.

To view this article, please go to the NCEAPA home page and look for the section entitled "What are EAP's?" You will find a link to this article middle of the page. Please take a few moments to see what your colleagues have to say and share this article with other colleagues, coworkers, supervisors, managers and human resource professionals.

Eileen G. Hodiak, LCSW, CEAP, LEAP
NCEAPA Outreach Chairperson
October 21, 2008

Anger in the Workplace

Ray Robbins forwarded this article about Anger in the Workplace

Hi Employee Assistance Professionals--

Desk rage spoils workplace for many Americans
Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:34pm EDT
By Ellen Wulfhorst

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Get out of the way, road rage. Here comes desk rage.

Anger in the workplace -- employees and employers who are grumpy, insulting, short-tempered or worse -- is shockingly common and likely growing as Americans cope with woes of rising costs, job uncertainty or overwhelming debt, experts say.

"It runs the gamut from just rudeness up to pretty extreme abusive behaviors," said Paul Spector, professor of industrial and organizational psychology at the University of South Florida. "The severe cases of fatal violence get a lot of press but in some ways this is more insidious because it affects millions of people."

Nearly half of U.S. workers in America report yelling and verbal abuse on the job, with roughly a quarter saying it has driven them to tears, research has shown.

Other research showed one-sixth of workers reported anger at work has led to property damage, while a tenth reported physical violence and fear their workplace might not be safe.

For complete article, click here.

Member Spotlight!

This will be a new addition to the On-Liner. It is a chance for everyone to get to know another NC EAPA member a little better. Every edition will spotlight a different NC EAPA member who will answer various questions. I have chosen Jay Hale, new NC EAPA President, to be the guinea pig for this first edition:

1. How long have you been involved with NC EAPA? I believe I have been a member for much of the last 10-15 years. I have been on the Board for 6 years.
    
2. What is your current position? I am the Quality Improvement/ Product Development Manager at Carolina Behavioral Health Alliance.
    
3. Who is in your immediate family (optional)? I am married with 3 children- Ages 16, 12 & 11 yrs old. I also have 2 cats.
    
4. What are your hobbies/interests? I play golf and sing in the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorale, as well as my church choir.
    
5. What is your favorite spectator sport? I'm not much of a sports fan, but I do enjoy watching March Madness during the March Conference.
    
6. What team(s) do you like in that sport? I always like to root for the underdog teams (Coppin State, Murray State, etc)
    
7. What is your favorite movie(s)? I would have to say "Lawrence of Arabia," "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" However, I have seen all of the Harry Potter movies and am upset with the studio for delaying the release of the next Potter movie.
    
8. Who is your favorite actor(s)? Gwyneth Paltrow, Tom Hanks, that guy who was the lead character in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and the woman who played his wife (can't remember either name)
    
9. What is your favorite place to vacation? I took my family out West this past summer to the Four Corners area (NM, AZ, UT, CO) and found Moab, Utah (Arches National Park) to be absolutely breathtaking. I would say Moab, Utah and the Four Corners region.

RAPID FIRE

1. ER or Grey's Anatomy? Are these TV shows? I'll go w/Grey's Anatomy
    
2. Duke or North Carolina? Definitely Duke.
    
3. American Idol or Dancing With The Stars? American Idol
    
4. Coke or Pepsi? Coke
    
5. ACC or SEC? While I now prefer the ACC, I have "an old flame burning" for the SEC.

Listserve Reminder

If you are a member of NC EAPA and are not yet on the listserve, or you have changed your e-mail address recently, send your e-mail address to Andy Silberman at: .

If you are a chapter member and wish to send a message to the listserve, just address the message to: (that's a small "L" after the hyphen).

You can be a part of the On-Liner!!

Just a friendly reminder that anyone can submit updates, articles, book reviews, pictures, etc. for the On-Liner. You can send information anytime and I'll make sure that it gets in the next edition!!

Photos

Renee' and Eileen at the famous Merchandise Table	How many EAPA members does it take...?
Ray, Midgie and Joan striking a pose	Dr. Jeremy Bray and Jesse Hinde presented on Research and EAPs.
It was a beautiful day for an outside lunch	It was a beautiful day for an outside lunch
Lindy swore in the new Officers at the Business Meeting	Lindy's outstanding service was recognized...thanks Lindy!!
It was great to have new NC EAPA members Tom Bradley and Jon Murphy	Linda Smith capped off the day with a Health Coaching presentation

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