December 2009 Edition

In this issue:

Welcome New NC EAPA Members

A warm welcome goes out to our newest NC EAPA members (including new and reinstated members). They are: Doryan Dixon, Sandra Hutchison, Joyce Overton, Robert Buchanan, Sarah Atai and Demetrieus Shepherd. Welcome to the NC EAPA family, we are thrilled to have you with us!

Congrats to the New CEAP's and LEAP's!!

Hats off to Ronald Begley and Dawn Klug who are new CEAP's!! Let's keep it rollin'! If you are a new CEAP or LEAP please let me know so we can recognize you on the website!

And the Winner is...

Congrats to the following NC EAPA members who won awards at the 2009 NC EAPA September Training:

Darlene Weaver-Paid NC EAPA March Conference Registration

Tess Lineback-One year NC EAPA membership ($40 value)

2010 March Conference Update

The 2010 NC EAPA March Conference continues to gain steam!! The conference dates are Wednesday, March 17- Friday, March 19, 2010 at the Renaissance Charlotte SouthPark Hotel. The Conference Committee has been working hard to make sure that we maintain the excellent standard for this outstanding conference. We will use the same format that made the conference so successful last year. That means that we will again have the Exhibitor Luncheon and Awards Banquet on Wednesday and have three tracks of presentations throughout the conference. Hopefully you all saw the Postcard that was sent out on 11/5/09 with dates and presenters. The electronic brochure will be sent out via the listserve in the not so distant future. Exhibitors are being contacted, and that effort is being coordinated by Renee' Evans. If you know of potential exhibitors or sponsors, please contact Renee' () or myself (see e-mail below).

If you have any questions, you can contact John Waller, Chair of the 2010 March Conference at: or by calling (704) 347-5665.

Dawn Klug had this to say about the 2009 EAPA World Conference

It was an honor to represent the NC EAPA Chapter at the EAPA World Conference in Dallas, Texas during October 2009.

At the officer's meeting on Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet with other chapter leaders and share the concerns and accomplishments of chapter members. It didn't take long to recognize that most chapters are struggling with the issues of maintaining membership and promoting the CEAP, and that the NC EAPA chapter is one of the strongest chapters in membership and membership involvement.

The World Conference was truly international in that there were chapter leaders from Ireland, Greece, Belgium, and members from India, Trinidad, and Japan. There was a strong representation from the Texas Chapters, and they were proud of the newest chapter there, the Heart of Texas Chapter which covers the greater Austin area.

The conference started with a high school marching band from the Town view Magnet Center entering into the main stage. The keynote speakers included, Daniel J. Conti, PhD, the managing director of the EAP and Work Life Programs at JP Morgan Chase, Phillip Burguieres, the Vice Chairman of the Houston Texas football team, CEO of EMC Holdings, and Vice Chairman of the Menninger Clinic, and Elena Carr, the Program Analyst in the US Department of Labor's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy.

The business meeting for EAPA was held Thursday evening and the following information was shared:

• Jeff Christy (the EAPA President Elect) chaired the committee updating the ethics standards, and they are now completed and available on the EAPA website.
• The new EAPA standards are in the process of being finalized and were approved at the board meeting, so they should be available on the website by January.
• EAPA is working on increasing communication with members through the Ask the President and e-news communications.
• The downturn in the economy is impacting EAPA and the staff and board are pulling together to make sure resources are being used adequately this includes the following:
  • Providing quality membership services
  • Reaching out to affiliates who provide some EAP services
  • Reaching out to brokers, benefits managers and HR departments to educate them on the value of EAP and why an EAP is needed.
• A financial audit was completed and will be posted on the EAPA website, the audit found a net loss of $100,000, primarily because there were short falls in the 3 sources of income for EAPA, membership, conference registration and certification. This is the first loss in income in 6 years, and is not the biggest drop off in EAPA history. Fortunately there is a reserve that has built up over the past 6 years and will help EAPA withstand the downturn.
• There was a good turn out of members who asked questions of the board, including NC's own Renee Evans who brought up the need for Internship programs with EAP to help attract new graduates to the field. Jeff Christy did respond that the board is interested in helping to support the development of Internship networks.

The Chapter of the Year award was presented to our neighbors in the South Carolina Chapter. So please remember to congratulate their members whenever you see them.

Thank you again for the opportunity to represent our chapter at the EAPA World Conference!

September 2009 NC EAPA Training Summary

The September 2009 Chapter Meeting and Training at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Research Triangle Park was a great success!!! The topic, "Virginia Tech: Building Capacity to Support Faculty and Staff Resilience" was presented marvelously by: Pat Burton, Employee Relations Manager at Virginia Tech; Jeff Gorter, Account Executive with Crisis Care Network; and Rich Paul, Vice-President with ValueOptions. Evaluations were excellent with many comments on how much attendees appreciated this training! We had 30 attendees and it was great to see our regular NC EAPA attendees, as well as several new faces. The Comfort Inn & Suites provided a comfortable, beautiful and easy to find venue, right off I-40.

December 2009 NC EAPA Chapter Training

Renee' Evans, NC EAPA's Diversity Committee Chairman, has put together another wonderful diversity training for our members!!! Presenting will be Dr. Kok-Mun Ng, Ph.D. an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling at UNC Charlotte and a frequent presenter at state, national and international conferences. His topic will be "What is Emotional Intelligence and How to Use it in Counseling". The training will be held and the Comfort Suites in Pineville, NC just off I-485 south of Charlotte. Six hours of credit will be provided and registration forms, along with more information are available under Conference and Events on our website (www.eapa.com).

EAP Licensure Article

Our very own Gary Bailey has published an article about EAP licensure in the Jornal of Workplace Behavioral Health. Congrats to Gary and here is the abstract:

EAP Licensure: Is It Dead or Lying Dormant?

Authors: Gary B. Bailey ^ab; Chris Troxler ^a
Affiliations: ^a Elon University Health and Counseling Services, Elon, North Carolina, USA
^b Alamance Life Works EAP, PLLC, Burlington, North Carolina, USA
DOI: 10.1080/15555240903176179
Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year
Published in: Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, Volume 24, Issue 3 July 2009 , pages 357 - 363
Formats available: HTML (English) : PDF (English)
Also incorporating: Employee Assistance Quarterly
Article Requests: Order Reprints : Request Permissions

Abstract

After more than 60 years of evolution, Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) provide mental health and other services to thousands of workers each year. However, only one state, California, has chosen to specifically regulate these programs as programs, and only two (North Carolina and Tennessee) have legislation regulating the professionals who provide EAP services. This article explores the regulation of mental health and other professionals working in the EAP framework and raises questions about the adequacy of self-regulation for programs and providers.

Keywords: employee assistance; licensure; professional regulation view references (7)

Articles from Ray Robbins

Thanks to Ray Robbins who forwarded these two articles for our reading pleasure:

"Here's an article that might help summarize the new ADA regulations that may be on the way. Ray"

Your Career: More disabilities to be protected
Epilepsy, cancer, mental illness to be covered under changes to ADA
By Eve Tahmincioglu
msnbc.com contributor
updated 5:46 p.m. ET, Sun., Nov . 15, 2009

"Hi Listmates,
California is often a state that leads the nation in change. State legislatures across the country keep an eye on what's happening there. Don"

California adopts stricter rules for drug abusers in the health industry
Nurses, dentists and other professionals with addictions will be subject to more drug tests, and any restrictions to their licenses will be listed on public websites.
By Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber
November 20, 2009

Website Changes Soon!

NC -EAPA website is undergoing some changes with an expected launch date in early January 2010. Some of the changes will be in the design, to give the website a fresh look and make it even easier to navigate and find content that is important to you. One of the biggest changes in format though will be with the On-Liner and how information is presented on the site. After web consultation and discussion with the Board, decision was made to discontinue the On-Liner, and instead, implement a "headlines" format on the website. This will allow for the most current content and information to be placed at top of the home page, and will be added as it becomes available. So, instead of having to wait every couple of months to read the "latest" news in the On-Liner, you will just go to the website to get the most current information and updates.

Stay tuned for a listserve announcement when the changes are completed. We think you'll like the new look!

Member Spotlight

Welcome to the 5th edition of this new On-Liner feature. 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. This edition will spotlight Lib Edwards, NC EAPA Secretary Extraordinaire:

1. How long have you been involved with NC EAPA?
21 years. Oh dear.

2. What is your current position?
EAP Director, WFU Baptist Medical Center

3. Who is in your immediate family?
Daughter and 2 golden retrievers

4. What are your hobbies/interests?
Foremost - See above. When possible - snow skiing, water sports, offroad motorcycling, restaurant critiquing , and photography

5. What is your favorite spectator sport?
ACC anything (mostly football, basketball, and soccer)

6. What team(s) do you like in that sport?
UNC everything (mostly football, basketball, and soccer)

7. What is your favorite movie(s)?
Life is Beautiful

8. Who is your favorite actor(s)?
Denzel Washington and George Clooney

9. What is your favorite place to vacation?
Somewhere tropical where mostly foreign languages are spoken

RAPID FIRE

1. Coffee or Tea?
Tea!!!

2. Coach K or Coach Roy (I wonder...:)?
I can't even acknowledge that question.

3. SEC Football: Alabama or Florida?
Florida -- Sir Tebow

4. Survivor or Dancing With the Stars?
Dancing

5. Cats or Dogs?
Dogs (**remind everyone to click on www.theanimalrescuesite.com everyday**)

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).

Photos

We were treated to a great presentation	The fabulous Merchandise Table
It's fun to mingle	Look at that buffet!
Great time to catch up	Wonderful presenters Jeff Gorter, Pat Burton and Rich Paul
Thank you Comfort Suites!

Please see our Businesses & Services page for Supporting Companies found in the OnLiner!

For information about our CONFERENCES available, visit the Conferences & Events page.

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