Employee + Family Assistance Program

The Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) connects staff, faculty and eligible dependents to registered psychologists or Master’s-level registered counsellors. Counsellors are selected for their breadth of experience and their focus on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

A partial list of EFAP Clinicians is available online. To be matched with a clinician, call the program directly.

Homewood Pathfinder

Employees can access enhanced counselling support (i.e. Homewood Pulse Check, Online CBT, Guided Journeys , screening and online booking , e-AP  and a MeetNow option) using Homewood Pathfinder — an interactive and intuitive online dashboard.

• Use the simple PulseCheck slider to track feelings over time and get tailored support.
• Get personalized service offerings based on your unique needs and preferences.
• Use clinically validated screeners for depression, anxiety and trauma and other issues.
• Book and change counselling appointments easily.

Access Homewood Pathfinder

1. Get your invitation code by calling the Homewood customer service centre at 780-428-7587 or emailing workplace.wellbeing@ualberta.ca.
2. Visit Homeweb.
3. Create an account and enter your invitation code.
4. If you already have an account, log out and then log back in to input the invitation code.
5. Fill in your profile, complete a quick PulseCheck and add some details about your concerns to start receiving personalized support recommendations.

Undergraduate students can call Counselling and Clinical Services at 780-492-5205 (during business hours) or 211 (24/7).

Graduate students can access the Graduate Student Assistance Program (GSAP).

U of A COUNSELLING Model

The University of Alberta, in collaboration with Homewood Health, has developed a counseling model designed to meet client-expressed needs in a responsive and respectful manner, using solution oriented therapies. Within this client focused, strength based-counselling approach, the client is treated as a unique individual with a set of personal resources and competencies which, once mobilized, will help him or her to cope with the problematic situation. Through goal setting, skill and strategy development and identification of resources, individuals and families are assisted in making and maintaining meaningful change.

The commitment to evidence-based clinical care is grounded in our model of solution oriented, client driven therapies. The model helps people change by focusing on solutions rather than on the origin of problems and promotes the activation of the individual's strengths. Unlike many other “talking treatments” focused on the causes of the client's distress or symptoms, solution oriented therapies focus on the “here and now,” and look for ways to improve the client's state of mind in the present. The approach identifies thoughts and beliefs that might be unhelpful and unrealistic, and gradually moves individuals toward new ways of behaving, reframing and reacting.

EFAP Brochure

• English - Employee and Family Assistance Program
• French - Programme d’aide aux employé.e.s et à leur famille
• Amharic - ተቀጣሪ እና ቤተሰብ እርዳታ ፕሮግራም (ኢኤፍኤፒ)
• Arabic - الموظف والأسرة برنامج مساعدة
• Farsi برنامه کمک به کارمندان و خانواده
• Slovak - Zamestnanecký & rodinný asistenčný program
• Tigrinya - ተቀፃርን ቤተሰብን ሐገዝ ፕሮግራም (ኤኤፍኤፒ)