Recently, as in yesterday, I decided to go back to therapy to address some of my own mental health issues and stumbled (more like face-slammed) into a problem. Despite having full health benefits from my other job, I somehow couldn’t find any therapists covered by my insurance within 20 miles of my home. If you ask me, that’s a bit ridiculous and kind of absurd to not have access to mental health benefits?!
If you’ve found yourself in a similar situation, then you know how frustrating it can be. With the increasing rates of depression and anxiety in this generation, it’s important to know whether your employer has mental health benefits available to you when you need it.
Here are five companies that offer some of the best resources, whether through their mental health initiatives or as part of their benefit packages.
EY (formerly Ernst & Young)
Considering the long hours and high volume of work that accountants in the private sector face, this “Big Four” accounting firm launched its “r u ok?” program to address mental illness and addiction at EY. The idea is to enhance EY’s culture of caring by reaching out to people who may be struggling and removing the stigma around asking for or accepting support.
As part of the program, EY provides resources such as 24/7 counseling support, management consultation, backup care, and counseling sessions by phone, online, or face-to-face.
American Express
American Express is a leader on the financial front, but I bet you didn’t know that the company also has an award-winning mental health program. It appears as if they have a knack for more than just racking up your credit card debt.
The Healthy Minds program stemmed from American Express’ decades-long employee assistance program. Now, the company provides part-time counselors at each employee clinic and has hired a clinical psychologist to run the employee assistance program to continuously improve its services.
Barclays
This online banking giant beganThis Is Meto challenge the “stigma around mental health at work and aim to break the culture of silence by supporting people to tell their own stories.” Inspired and spearheaded by the company’s disability network known as Reach, these colleagues banded together to record their own mental health challenges.
The campaign includes over 200 employee stories that have been captured on film and in writing, manager training, and policy reviews. Barclays also made an external commitment to normalize mental health issues by signing ontoTime to Change, a pledge to support employees facing these challenges.
Adobe
Adobe isn’t only changing the digital world, it’s also setting a standard for employee benefit packages.Adobehas partnered with Aetna and Kaiser to provide an extensive employee assistance program that offers a range of services including counseling and relationship support, CareKits for pregnancy, child and adult care, and legal services.
Netflix
Your favorite streaming service takes a different approach to work-life balance, offering perks beyond health and financial benefits.Employees don’t observe traditional 9-to-5 workdays or prescribed holiday and vacation schedules. They have the flexibility to choose what’s important to them, especially when their“mind and body need a break.”
While Netflix doesn’t have a specific program that caters to mental health, giving employees the flexibility to choose their schedules and offering generous parental leave make all the difference when it comes to their overall wellbeing.
