Counselling and support services
The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is supplied by Validium, a professional and independent employee assistance provider who support over 350 organisations in the UK.
This service supports our Stress Management Policy (.pdf) and offers access to information services like:
- Counselling support (i.e. signposting and online resources)
- Legal guidance
- Financial information
- Debt advice
- Health and Well-being information
- Further details about the services Validiumn offer
Contacting Validium
Telephone 0800 358 48 58 (outside UK: +44 141 271 7179)
A minicom text phone is available on 0800 039 7879
Your call
You can contact Validium 24 hours a day and 365 days per year. Your call will be answered by one of Validium's professional counselling or information specialists who will talk to you and may transfer you to a colleague if you need the support of a different specialist.
You will be asked for your name and contact details (which are securely held) and also for general information for the provision of statistics. You can choose to remain anonymous if you wish.
vClub
vClub is an online portal from Validium giving you access to the following:
- My Resources – This allows you access to documents on topics such as debt advice, family matters and legal information. It also includes a range of clinical documents to support users in understanding anxiety, managing workplace stress and guidance on a host of other concerns
- My eCounselling - This is an alternative form of short-term counselling, via email communication rather than face to face or on the telephone
- The Calendar - This is designed to assist employees through their counselling journey and also displays information on awareness events and supporting resources.
- The Newsroom - This gives you a direct hyperlink to the latest articles that have been published on the Validium website
Accessing vClub
To join up, click the login button on the Validium website. You will be prompted to enter our username and generic password shown below before you create your account.
Username: UofE
Password: weareessex
Confidentiality
EAP is a confidential service. No information about you will be shared with the University. The EAP will only intervene - and if necessary break confidentiality - if you or someone else is in danger of being harmed by your, or someone else's actions. Work-related problems are treated just as confidentially as all other issues.
The EAP helpline number will not show on itemised phone bills relating to land-lines, because it is a freephone number. However, the number will appear on bills relating to mobile phones as your provider may charge for 0800 numbers.
Resources
Validium produce newsletters on a regular basis, which include information on subjects surrounding various types of support.
Quality
Validium are a registered provider with the Employee Assistance Professionals Association and work to their quality standards. The company is also registered to the standards of ISO 9001, SA 8000 (Social Accountability), Investors in People, ISO/IEC 27001 (Information Security) and BS 25999 (Business Continuity).
The only information that the organisation will receive is confirmation of whether the service is being used and the types of calls.
Support following Reindorf Review
Following the release of Reindorf review (link to relevant webpage) on 18 May, any staff member affected by the results of the review is able to arrange confidentially for a referral for structured counselling through Validium or Cognitive Behaviour Therapy through ASC Wellbeing Clinic, which is available to access until 30 June 2021.
Validium
If you would like to arrange up to 6 sessions of Solution Focused Brief Therapy via Validium, simply call the EAP helpline on 0800 358 48 58 and speak to one of their telephone counsellors.
You can also inform the counsellor if you have a preference with regard to your counsellor, for instance, gender, LGBTQ or BAME.
ASC Wellbeing Clinic
ASC Wellbeing Clinic are a service offering cognitive behaviour therapy support with therapists experienced with supporting people from the transgender community. Staff affected by the Reindorf Review will be able access up to 6 sessions and can contact them on 01702 523428 or 07584 022669 to arrange this.
