The Impact of EAPs.(employee assistance programs)(Brief Article)

"The overall impact of employee assistance programs can be enormous. When designed to include family members, the EAP can play a singular, major role which cannot be duplicated anywhere else in our society."

Employee assistance programs have become so commonplace today that many employers and workers, especially those in large establishments, take them for granted. But in 1971, the 18 occupational alcoholism consultants--the forerunners of today's employee assistance professionals--who gathered in Los Angeles [see facing page] faced an uncertain future, with neither precedent nor resources to help guide them.

From that meeting emerged not only an …