Counseling and the Bystander‐Equity Model of Supervisory Helping Behavior: Directions for EAP Research

Abstract

The proliferation of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) has created new opportunities for persons in the counseling profession to examine specific psychological, sociological, and environmental factors associated with employee occupational mental health, stress‐affected work performance, vocational adjustment, and job‐related social behavior. In this article, we discuss the contribution that Bayer and Gerstein's (1988a) Bystander‐Equity Model of Supervisory Helping Behavior can make to the pursuit of EAP research based on the traditions of the field of counseling. We also offer the field a structure for pursuing empirical and applied activities in EAP settings. Finally, we encourage counseling researchers and practitioners to respond to the challenge of working much more closely with EAPs, so that our profession can further establish its commitment to investigating various aspects of vocational behavior.

Self-Monitoring, Loneliness, EAPs, Social Justice, Cross-Cultural Psychology, and Peacebuilding: Challenges and Opportunities

“…He and I created the bystander-equity model of supervisory helping behavior to explain when and how workers and supervisors aid their colleagues or staff when impaired (Bayer & Gerstein, 1988). Many studies and dissertations were conducted to test this model (Gerstein, 1990; Gerstein & Bayer, 1991). Further, it was one of a few available in the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) literature, and the only one in the psychology literature.…”

Job focused resources for psychotherapists and their patients.

“…The evidence seems to indicate that they can be in terms of initial diagnostic interventions and appropriate referrals to full range career resources in the community. Gerstein and Bayer (1991) point to evidence of EAP models which can be guides to successful interventions with vocationally maladjusted workers. Their model calls for a referral for assessment, usually supervisor-initiated, which can lead to support for job transfer, modification, or training, so that more congruence with worker traits is reached.…”

An Empirical Examination among Canadian Teachers of Determinants of the Need for Employees’ Assistance Programs

“…Interest in such programs began when employers realized that assisting employees in coping with their personal problems such as alcoholism and drug abuse could improve their productivity and that it was less costly than terminating their employment (Powell & Kotschessa, 1995). While the first em-Ployees' assistance programs dealt mostly with alcoholism problems among employees (Masi, 1984), 'their content subsequently was expanded to drug abuse and family and domestic problems (Reed, 1983;Gerstein, 1991) and eVen to problems in the workplace (Googins & Burden, 1987;Trice & Sonnenstuhl, 1988;Berridge & Cooper, 1993).…”

“…For example, termin ll d ing the employment of employees with problems, including the direct lln indirect costs of hiring new employees, was more costly than assisting these employees in better functioning in their personal lives. As a result, more and more organizations have chosen employees' assistance programs as their strategy for dealing with a variety of employees' problems (Gerstein, 1991;Park, 1992).…”