A SEASON OF CHANGE

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Mark Balthrop
Employee Assistance Program


Mark: This entire year has just been a year of great change and the anxiety that goes with it we didn't know what changes were next. We didn't know who we were going to be left with or what our jobs would look like after the changes were done.

So as I am out in the field doing the best support that I can for our employees, I've found that there have been seasons of personal fear then sometimes that survivor guilt for those who stayed versus those who had to go. Now that has evolved into grief just because the job has changed so much. We lost people. It's been really hard for just about everybody.

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Laree Reidenbaugh
Employee Assistance Program

Laree: One of the things that's challenging for individuals, they walk into the office; they see that empty desk. That person that they went to school with, that person that their children attended classes together, they went to family functions together, and that is a real grieving. It is something that people are dealing with on a daily basis.

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the capacity of our staff to experience emotional pain and still productively function. The resilience of our staff is absolutely amazing.

What I would encourage people to do is to take note and take stock of your own energy level. We have four different sources of energy. We have emotional energy. We have physical energy.  We have spiritual energy, and we have cognitive energy. They all come from one big energy source. It's not compartmentalized to us. As we go through our day, when those energy sources tap in, and we end up at the end of the day with absolutely zero, I encourage people to think about this.  Make sure you monitor your own energy. You'll want to take a look at your own energy level because if we don't, something is going to hit us out of the blue.

Mark: So I really encourage everybody to welcome emotions in, process with them. See what they have to offer because when you don't let them in, and you don't let them give their input, they don't just go away. Sometimes they have a tantrum, and their tantrums don't look like the original emotion. They may look like depression, anxiety, and anger. So, a big part of self-care for me is acknowledging emotions and processing them.

Laree: One of the things that I would recommend is looking at yourself and your pattern every day, do the next right thing. That next right thing might be talking to a trusted friend. That next right thing might be contacting the Employee Assistance Program. That next right thing may be just taking the evening off and having that time to yourself. And, definitely one of the next right things to do is to stop and breathe.

Mark: I would encourage people to make sure that they reach out for any kind of help that we have available or that they know is for them, for instance the Employee Assistance Program. With the Employee Assistance Program, there are six visits per year to a licensed professional counselor.  They can express grief, or areas in which they want to have improvement. Whatever is going on, this is a great benefit that the agency provides.

Laree: We are approaching the holiday season, and it's always interesting when you watch the Hallmark movies or those special holiday films that come on because whatever was happening in a home, or a family, or a place of work, it seems to all be resolved in 59 minutes minus commercials.

Once again, when we can give ourselves a realistic take: life is going to look different. It's not what it was before. It's going to look different.

The other thing that I would encourage people to consider is, what is your passion? What brought you to work every single day? What is your heart, your belief? What brings you to the Department of Human Services? For many individuals, when they can connect to that passion, that passion can take them well beyond where they are right now.

To us, this isn't just a job. This is a passion. We care about you. We care about your families.

Mark: The whole agency cares about every one of our employees, the whole person of the employee. We are part of the answer to that. We encourage calls to us all of the time. We are able to help, even with self-care because self-care isn't selfish.

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Employee Assistance Program
Laree Reidenbaugh (405) 323-2155
Mark Balthrop (405) 823-7508