Employee assistance programs (EAPs) provide access to counseling or treatment for employees who need these services. Reports of the prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse and the problems they create are commonplace. Organizations spend billions of dollars dealing with the problems brought on by substance abuse, from crime to sickness. The National Institute of Mental Health has estimated that 21 million adults in the United States experience a depressive illness in any given year, and that this constitutes 9.5 percent of the U.S. population.

EAPs are based on the notion that work is very important to people and that work performance should be used to identify employee personal problems and motivate employees to seek help. Employees with personal problems may be referred by their supervisor or may contact the EAP directly and receive counseling without the supervisor’s knowledge. While the effectiveness of EAPs is generally accepted, there is some controversy about this. A literature review reported that most studies claimed a 50 to 85 percent success rate.