Thirty Years of Being There

Have you ever stopped and thought about how you got to where you are in life? How and why you made the decisions you did, what were the motivating factors and what prompted you to take a particular life course? Perhaps it was a combination of influences from others that you admired, spontaneous opportunities, and your unique personality with it’s own set of attributes and gifts. I’ve been doing a lot of that kind of reflecting lately as it is now 30 years since the inception of Walmsley EFAP.

From 1992 to 1994 I was working in Prince George at an addictions outpatients agency as well as part time private practice counselling. In an attempt to get my private practice off the ground I was doing what many counsellors do and contracting with EFAP service providers. In both the agency and EFAP work the paperwork was crippling. It seemed to me that the needs of clients took second place to the needs of the ‘file’ and the funding organization. In addition, any compassionate consideration of the people needing the service was lost to the more important needs of the organization and their policies for service delivery. Those needs were often related to funding or the lack thereof. In those early years there were several situations where I thought the needs of client were lost and the agencies decisions were actually detrimental to the welfare of the client.  I was incensed by this and thought a different kind of EFAP service was called for. I approached a few counsellors who agreed to join me providing I did the administrative work. In August 1994 Walmsley and Associates was incorporated.  The objectives of the company were clear:

• Decisions would be made based on the needs of the client and not on funding.
• Paperwork for counsellors would be kept to a minimum and only as required for accountability and good clinical practice.
• We would maintain our compassion for clients and not see them as a file or case. They are everyday people going through life’s struggles like we all do.
• We would build relationships with counsellors so we could call on their specific skills when needed.
• We would meet with the employers at the worksites to understand the particular needs of their employee groups.

Building these objectives with the counsellor group meant working together as a team.  We worked at it by doing things like paddling down the Nechako river in voyageur canoes like Simon Fraser would have done on the Fraser River. We were getting new contracts and it was exciting to be heading into new adventures.   Our activities were all about creating good relationships , working as a team and believing that our vision would be embraced by employers looking for more personalized services for their people.

Those original objectives are still in place today and continue to distinguish us from other EFAP service providers. Much has changed in the EFAP world over the years but what started this company is still relevant today. With a network of over 200 counsellors it’s challenging to maintain relationships with all of them but we still try. The number of contracts has grown as well, but we still travel to the worksites to meet with the employers to understand their particular needs.  Things have become much more dependent on technology but nothing beats sitting down with people and meeting in-person. Because of this, Being There in person, especially in times of crisis, will continue to be a focus for our company.  We are collaborative and innovative as an EFAP provider, and will continue to be in the future.

Garth Walmsley, MSW CEO