Can Ontario Corporates, Industrialists and Businesses help ease Mental Health Crisis?

Ontario is Canada's most populous province by a large margin, accounts for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Therefore, any systemic or publicly accepted Mental Health care and benefits to employees in Ontario, will not only impact the mental health care scenario, but also be a huge example for the rest of the country.  Did you know that 58% of the 5 million Canadians who were diagnosed with mood, anxiety, or substance abuse disorders in 2022 reported that their mental health care needs had gone unmet? (Statistics Canada).

The post-pandemic era has seen a surge in companies incorporating resources for the mental well-being of their employees. These not only include vague considerations about an employee’s workload, but tangible resources such as private psychotherapy or counselling sessions.

Psychotherapy services for Corporates and Organizations

Psychotherapists at TherapySupports have been working with clients through confidential and free psychotherapy as part of employee benefits. These free resources provided by workplace enable high functioning employees, including senior managers, directors experience freedom from severe anxiety, and past trauma. Had there been no such provision for easy access to services, many would have never worked on the emotional distress that they were dealing with secretly. This individual work has not only a healthy impact on their personal growth, but healthier relationships and work efficiency. 

The need of the hour is to move past the stigma and consider workplace therapy at place. The individual psychotherapy services for corporates and organizations help both employee and employers. These benefits work because:

• Accessible therapy services: Let’s face it — The world is lacking mental health professionals and not everyone can afford therapy. Having a group of registered psychotherapists within reach at your workplace could solve this problem.

• Complete confidentiality less fear of judgement:  The professional standards of the regulatory college, the PHIPA, and other laws make it a mandate to secure personal information about a client. The employers have no access to the confidential information that the employee who seeks psychotherapy shares with the psychotherapist. The confidentiality enables the employee to focus on their issues and seek support comfortably.

• Psychotherapy is not covered by OHIP, and is expensive: Therapy still holds the stigma of showing weakness and not everyone prefers to air it out in the open. But when it’s available for free at the workplace, people would be more inclined to seek it out without the stress of budgeting their expenses and with no fear of judgment.

• Happier and hence, more productive employees: With a place to recharge and channel their workplace and/or relevant interpersonal concerns, the employees will be able to function from a space of psychosocial confidence and motivation to be productive. Research has evidence that poor mental health (mostly measured as depression and/or anxiety) was associated with lost productivity (Oliveira et al, 2023).

Reference-

De Oliveira C, Saka M, Bone L, Jacobs R. The Role of Mental Health on Workplace Productivity: A Critical Review of the Literature. Appl Health Econ Health Policy. 2023 Mar;21(2):167-193. doi: 10.1007/s40258-022-00761-w. Epub 2022 Nov 15. PMID: 36376610; PMCID: PMC9663290.