The Empowered Work Counseling Model

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Individual Workers: Identify and Meet Unmet Work Needs

Traditional mental health treatment is not equipped for issues related to the workplace. It often does not account for specific challenges unique to the workplace. A focus on developing coping skills may ignore a worker having unmet needs or serious problems at the workplace.

The Empowered Work Counseling model focuses on helping the individual worker identify and plan to meet their unmet work related needs:

  • Work is a two way relationship where the employee’s needs are met in exchange for meeting the employer’s needs.

  • If the employer fails to adequately meet the employee’s work related needs, these unmet material needs will lead to the worker’s suffering.

  • The employee must take action to have their unmet work needs met, otherwise they will continue to suffer due to their relationship to the workplace.

  • Work needs are subjective and unique to the individual worker, while one worker may desire work from home, another may desire to work on-site. Only the individual worker can properly assess their own work needs.

The EWC model revolves around helping the individual worker identify their unmet work needs, then implement strategies to get them met.

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Companies and Owners: Implement Strategies to become an Effective Employer

The EWC model can also be used to help address various workplace problems facing modern employers, such as high turnover, low employee satisfaction and productivity, and increased sick time due to health issues related to the workplace.

The goal for the employer is to implement strategies to maximize meeting of their employee base’s unmet needs, while minimizing costs. The net effect is typically an increase in wellness, productivity, and income. This is typically accomplished through providing recommendations for change, and offering training and education to the management staff.

A typical EWC intervention involves:

Step 1: Investigation and Assessment

Step 2: Recommendations and Projections

Step 3: Implementation

Get started with Healing Work Counseling today.

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