By Katie Marsh, Senior Benefits Manager, Aspen HR
Here at Aspen HR, employee mental health is a very important and personal initiative to us.
The beautiful woman above was my older sister, Allison. That impossibly adorable kid in the sweater is me circa 1980 something or other! We had a tradition of when we picked pumpkins for Halloween, we had to “listen” to the pumpkin to see if it told us to take it home. She instilled in me a deep love of hair bands, long drives, and a sense of humor.
We lost Allison in August of 2012 to suicide after years of battling all kinds of things no one should battle alone. I tell you this because I want you to know, you are never alone, and you are never the only one feeling a certain way. But like so many out there, not everyone talks about it. Healing comes only when we are brave enough to be vulnerable and share our experiences. Never would I have imagined speaking about this would be a purpose for me. But to remain silent, continues the stigma that mental health should be dealt with alone and in the dark.
Aspen HR has made a concerted effort to make employee mental health a priority for our staff as well as our clients and their staff. We’re still managing a pandemic, changing workplaces, growing families, and aging parents just to name a few! We want to give you any tools we can to help you navigate any stage of life. What we know is that for employers, their employee’s mental health must be a priority.
May is Mental Health Awareness month. For our PEO clients, we have some mental health tools for you and your work site employees. We offer One Medical which is a concierge PCP and virtual visit service. We also have several other tools, such as Resources For Living through Aetna, along with the Aetna and Metlife EAP programs which offers a numbered amount of counseling services. All information about these resources can be found here and is at no additional cost to you. For our ASO Clients, Doctegrity is available to you which offers Teledoc services along with Teletherapy as well.
My hope for you whether you are navigating survivors’ guilt, struggling with depression, or managing 4 toddlers under 4 and just feeling overwhelmed, we have resources available to you and encourage you to use them.
Be well,
Katie
