The Benefits of Counselling for Employees’ Mental Health

The benefits of counselling and information services have long been known to many in the general public and now, thanks to new research, their positive influences on employee mental health is measurable too.

Based on data covering some 3,500 employees since 2013, Capita’s Health and Wellbeing researchers have found that over half of stressed employees would take time off work but don’t have access to counselling services. Not only does this pose an obstacle for the individual in the sense that many would be left to overcome the stress themselves, but this also prolongs the time they were off work. In turn, this can have drastic effects on businesses. For example, they will have to pay for prolonged sick pay. Plus, the indirect costs of an individual’s long term absence (a drop in productivity levels, for example) can affect operations and the business overall.

Additionally, insightful research from experts at the mental health charity Mind further shows how mental health issues effect bothemployees and employers:

• 1 in 5 people take a day off work due to stress
• 1 in 10 people have resigned a job due to stress.
• 19% of staff feel they can’t speak to managers about stress at work.
• 25% of people surveyed considered resigning due to stress.
• 56% of employers said they would like to do more to improve staff wellbeing but don’t feel they have the right training or guidance

Therefore, looking after the mental health of employee’s is not just beneficial to the individual but also to companies. And to that end, offering counselling is beneficial to both employee and employer.

Counselling gives the employee an opportunity to vent their feelings in a relaxed, care-free environment without fear of consequence. Plus, it allows individuals to come to their own informed conclusions without being judged and thus helping ease stress and anxiety. Karen Woodley (Business Development Director of Capita Health & Wellbeing) explains that “before counselling just 11% of employees were satisfied with their lives, but afterwards this increased more than five-fold to 59%.”

The benefits of counselling as sole treatment for mental health issues and also in comparison to other treatments have been studied extensively. Counselling is often found to be the most effective treatment. However, wait times to access counselling services via the NHS can be very long.

It is essential, therefore, that businesses help their employees with mental health care as soon as possible. In order to achieve such early intervention, employers need robust data monitoring that allows them to spot absence trends and employees who need help. For a platform that does all this and more, try Engage for free today.