Updated December, 2009

Ben Franklin is credited with saying, "We must all hang together, or surely, we will all hang separately." I think that became especially true for us as a chapter in North Carolina with the recent proposed changes to the LPC CEU rules. I was very surprised to find out that the Licensed Professional Counselor's Board had proposed a ruling that would force NCEAPA to obtain yet another approval from another organization to have our trainings recognized. We already obtain 2 such certifications. It felt really good, however, to hear that many of you had sent comments in support of NCEAPA to the LPC board. I felt especially strengthened by the fact that we had a state licensing board- the LEAP Board- that supported our interests with a fellow state licensing board. Whatever the final outcome of the LPC Board ruling, our ability to come together and speak with one voice has been vital.

I think that the LPC Board example can be a microcosm for what needs to happen with us as an industry. We are connected to so many different and divergent areas of the economy- human resources, counseling, unions, health plans, disability- that it is hard for us to be heard separately from these other groups. Frequently, we wear "both hats" even when we discuss employee assistance work. We are EA professionals who are part of the union. We are internal EAP's who are part of human resources. We are EAP's that are attached to health plans. We are EA counselors who must maintain a license in another field (counseling, social work, etc) to do our job. When we come together, however, with a clear understanding of a shared concern, we can make a difference.

We have a lot of changes occurring in this field. We have mental health parity and health care reform which will change and challenge our role in the workplace. We will be pressured by our "other hats"- unions, health plans, human resources, etc- to stretch yet again in order to serve varying interests in a changing economy. It will be more important than ever for us to understand who we are, how we fit into the larger workplace picture and how we can use our expertise to assist these various constituencies. As we do this, we will need to define what we do in clear, measurable terms that make sense and show value to our various customers. If we do not provide this clear measure of what we do for our client companies, I fear that we will be caught up in filling individual holes in the healthcare "safety net" via free counseling, free trainings or liaisons into roles that do not fit our core competencies.

If we don't hang together, surely, we will all hang separately.

Jay Hale
NC EAPA President