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Our company has a therapist

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Re: Our company has a therapist

#21

Post by chimeracoder »

DanBC wrote: post #14
tunesmith wrote: post #3

This sounds pretty dangerous - even if the executives of a company claim that it is confidential, why should the employees believe it? Therapists talk about their patients in a very general sense all the time, and even if they don't, an employer is going to want to have some idea of how the therapist's job is going. In a small company, it would be far too easy to put two and two together, and then react in a way that…

The company is in the UK so there are laws governing use of information. Hopefully the company chose a BACP registered therapist and so that therapist will be covered by their registration rules too.

> The company is in the UK so there are laws governing use of information.

There are laws governing the use of that information in the US as well - some of which exist federally, as well as some on the state level (which may be stronger than the federal ones).

Re: Our company has a therapist

#23

Post by bayesianhorse »

I was sceptical when I read the headline. For one thing, employees may not believe the confidentiality. For another, if only a few people attend, and then office is in the building, these visits aren't all that confidential.

But it looks as if that's not a problem because so many employees are actually using this service. So the benefits seem to outweigh: More employees are seeing "any" therapist at all, they are taking their own mental health more seriously and early interventions are more likely.

They also seem to see the therapists as helping them get "better" rather than just fixing some flaw.

Re: Our company has a therapist

#24

Post by bayesianhorse »

DanBC wrote: post #11

I've spoken to a bunch of people at different companies. Their companies provide confidential talking therapies through an occupational health service. A lot of people I spoke to said they would be unlikely to use that service because they wanted a clear seperation between health care and employment. That unease didn't totally go even when the talking therapy was an external service bought in by the employing company…

If someone is already willing to go to an external therapist, then that's good. If not, a company therapist may be a good first start.

Re: Our company has a therapist

#25

Post by DanBC »

bayesianhorse wrote: post #24
DanBC wrote: post #11

I've spoken to a bunch of people at different companies. Their companies provide confidential talking therapies through an occupational health service. A lot of people I spoke to said they would be unlikely to use that service because they wanted a clear seperation between health care and employment. That unease didn't totally go even when the talking therapy was an external service bought in by the employing company…

If someone is already willing to go to an external therapist, then that's good. If not, a company therapist may be a good first start.

Yes! I should have said that it's great that this company is thinkin about mental health and is actually doing stuff. It's really nice to see.

Re: Our company has a therapist

#26

Post by BukhariH »

DanBC wrote: post #11

I've spoken to a bunch of people at different companies. Their companies provide confidential talking therapies through an occupational health service. A lot of people I spoke to said they would be unlikely to use that service because they wanted a clear seperation between health care and employment. That unease didn't totally go even when the talking therapy was an external service bought in by the employing company…

> "they wanted a clear seperation between health care and employment"

Couldn't the company let the employee choose their own therapist and then the employee can claim the money back up to a certain amount?

It would provide the necessary separation that the employees wanted whilst still allowing for the employer to pay for the treatment.

And, it wouldn't be that difficult to implement seeing as a lot of companies already do something similar with benefits like travel/petrol.

Re: Our company has a therapist

#27

Post by Tenhundfeld »

penprogg wrote: post #6

I would never go to a company therapist. Go out and pay for one yourself. There is a clear conflict of interest for the therapist and while they may seem to be nice it's not worth the risk.

I disagree. It depends on many factors.

There've been numerous times in my life, and in the lives of close friends, where having a few sessions with a therapist could have been beneficial. But the situation didn't seem extreme enough to go through the hassle of finding a decent therapist and making an appointment – probably for weeks in the future with a good one. Sure, I could be proactive and find one before I need one, but let's just add that to mountain of things I should be doing in my copious free time while running a business, being a husband, father, etc.

My point is the availability and low-friction this setting provides could be hugely advantageous.

To your point about conflict of interest, I think it depends if this person is a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, clinical social worker, etc. If so, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) contains privacy rules about psychotherapy and mental health. At your first visit, the therapist should give you written information explaining privacy policies and how your personal information will be handled.

If they don't do that and/or if they are some type of uncertified "life coach", I would be more concerned about conflict of interest.

Re: Our company has a therapist

#28

Post by detaro »

zalzane wrote: post #22
swagmeister wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude this is pretty heavy for Hacker News. I hope nobody can recover this guy's identity

it was heavy enough to get deleted by the mods good job covering your ass, ycombi

How can you tell it was deleted by ycombinator and not by the user him-/herself?

Re: Our company has a therapist

#29

Post by sergers »

zalzane wrote: post #22
swagmeister wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude this is pretty heavy for Hacker News. I hope nobody can recover this guy's identity

it was heavy enough to get deleted by the mods good job covering your ass, ycombi

I am not sure what post content was deleted, but the op didn't mention any names in his recollection of a ceo

Re: Our company has a therapist

#30

Post by DanBC »

BukhariH wrote: post #26
DanBC wrote: post #11

I've spoken to a bunch of people at different companies. Their companies provide confidential talking therapies through an occupational health service. A lot of people I spoke to said they would be unlikely to use that service because they wanted a clear seperation between health care and employment. That unease didn't totally go even when the talking therapy was an external service bought in by the employing company…

> "they wanted a clear seperation between health care and employment" Couldn't the company let the employee choose their own therapist and then the employee can claim the money back up to a certain amount? It would provide the necessary separation that the employees wanted whilst still allowing for the employer to pay for the treatment. And, it wouldn't be that difficult to implement seeing as a lot of companies alre…

Well, in England this kind of talking therapy is available free under the IAPT (improved access to psychological therapies) system. You search for various combinations of "talking therapy" or "cbt" and the name of your county.

Companies could allow employees to go private and send the bill to the employer. I guess buying in therapy as a service allows the costs to be more predictable.

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