Employee Assistance & Workplace Wellbeing Counselling
When work or life gets overwhelming, having someone independent to talk to can make a real difference.
I provide confidential, practical counselling for employees dealing with work stress, burnout, difficult relationships, personal challenges and major life changes.
Through an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or Employee Wellbeing Program (EWP) arrangement, your business can help staff access counselling without committing to a large prepaid package.
Three things worth knowing before you start.
Do I have to pay for a whole year?
No prepaid annual counselling package is needed for the proposed pay-as-used arrangement. Your business pays for authorised sessions that are delivered, along with any charges agreed in the service terms.
See employer pricing →Will employees' conversations stay private?
Yes, counselling conversations and clinical notes are confidential, subject to the usual legal and safety limits. Before enrolment, we explain what information may be needed for authorisation and billing.
Understand confidentiality →Do staff have to be based in Cairns?
No. I offer phone, video and scheduled real-time live chat counselling across Australia. Face-to-face sessions are also available in Cairns City on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
View appointment formats →You can't remove every pressure. You can make support easier to access.
A staff member may be showing up to work while dealing with far more than anyone realises.
Workloads, difficult conversations, money worries, illness, caring responsibilities or relationship changes can affect how someone feels and copes day to day.
Providing access to an independent counsellor gives employees another option for working through concerns, understanding their responses and identifying practical next steps.
This service is suitable for employers wanting a straightforward individual counselling arrangement, including small and medium-sized businesses.
Support before things build up
Offer a confidential place to talk when pressure, worry or emotional exhaustion becomes difficult to manage.
Help with conversations and boundaries
Counselling can explore communication, work relationships and the challenges of speaking up or saying no.
Keep support practical
Sessions can include coping strategies, problem-solving, emotional awareness and manageable goals.
Maintain a clear boundary
The employee is my counselling client. An employer funding the session does not gain access to the counselling conversation or clinical file.
What can employees talk about?
Not every issue starts at work. Sometimes what's happening outside of work affects how a person feels when they're there.
Counselling is based on the person's situation and what they would like help with, rather than a fixed list of workplace problems.
Work Stress & Burnout
Feeling stretched, irritable, exhausted, under constant pressure or unable to switch off after work.
Workplace Relationships
Difficult conversations, strained working relationships, conflict, boundaries or problems communicating needs.
Personal & Family Challenges
Relationship difficulties, separation, parenting pressures, caring responsibilities or feeling overwhelmed at home.
Anxiety & Overthinking
Persistent worry, second-guessing decisions, tension, frustration or difficulty settling your thoughts.
Change, Grief & Adjustment
Loss, changes at work, illness, injury, disability, diagnosis or a shift in confidence and identity.
Confidence & Life Decisions
Feeling stuck, doubting yourself or trying to work out what needs to change in life or at work.
For more detailed information on a particular concern, see my anxiety counselling, trauma counselling and grief counselling pages.
How employer-funded counselling works.
Start with a conversation about what your business actually needs. We'll agree on the arrangements before anyone books.
1. Tell me about your workplace
We discuss your business size, location, likely employee needs, funding preferences and whether a pay-as-used arrangement would suit.
2. Agree on access and limits
We confirm session fees, any funded session limits, self-referral or employer-authorised access, cancellation terms, invoicing and privacy information.
3. Staff access counselling
Eligible employees contact me using the agreed pathway. Appointments are arranged privately and your business is invoiced according to the agreement.
Pay for the support that's actually accessed, with the scope and cost agreed in advance.
The introductory call is for service enquiries and questions, not a counselling appointment. Employer-funded sessions are arranged through the agreed EAP/EWP pathway, not the standard private booking option.
A straightforward pay-as-used approach.
Plus GST per 50-minute counselling session.
You choose how many sessions your business is prepared to fund. The final service arrangement sets out authorisations, invoicing, cancellations and any additional agreed work.
There's no need to purchase a large bank of sessions that staff may never use.
All prices exclude GST. For example, 10 sessions cost $1,400 + GST ($1,540 including GST).
If an employee needs more sessions than the employer has funded, we can discuss suitable next steps. Additional sessions are not automatically billed to the business.
Your employer may pay. Your counselling remains private.
You are the counselling client, even when your employer is covering the cost.
Sessions are a place to talk about what is happening for you, whether it's related to work, home or both.
I do not provide your employer with clinical notes or details of our conversations as part of routine EAP/EWP reporting.
Before your first appointment, I explain confidentiality, its legal and safety limits, how appointments are authorised, and what information may be needed for billing.
If you want to ask about an existing workplace arrangement, you can contact me privately about access. Please don't send detailed personal health information in an ordinary email.
Useful administration. Appropriate boundaries.
We agree what information is needed to authorise and invoice sessions. In a small workplace, even attendance data can reveal someone's identity.
Managers and HR staff do not receive session notes, counselling disclosures or personal clinical information just because the business is paying.
If any service-use summary is requested, it must be agreed in advance and designed to avoid identifying individuals, especially in smaller teams.
Information sharing is handled with appropriate consent or another lawful basis. Relevant confidentiality exceptions are explained at intake.
Support your staff wherever they work.
Employees can choose a suitable format within the agreed workplace arrangement and available appointment times.
Video Counselling
Private online sessions for employees across Australia, whether they work in an office, remotely or across multiple locations.
Phone Counselling
One-to-one appointments without a camera. A useful option for people who prefer speaking by phone or have limited access to video.
Real-Time Live Chat
Scheduled counselling through typed messages during a live appointment. This may suit employees who express themselves more comfortably in writing.
Face-to-Face in Cairns
Tuesday and Wednesday appointments at Room 22, Level 2, 129A Lake Street, Cairns City, subject to availability.
The building lift accommodates manual wheelchairs but not larger powered wheelchairs. Contact me to discuss accessibility before booking.
Employees should attend from a space where they can speak or type privately. Appointment times, including possible after-hours times, depend on availability.
Allan Bunyan | Counsellor & CPCA Member
A real conversation. A practical way forward.
I'm Allan Bunyan, a Cairns-based counsellor who works with people feeling overwhelmed, under pressure or facing difficult changes in life.
My counselling style is collaborative, down-to-earth and trauma-informed. We start with what's happening for the person, then explore understanding, coping strategies and what might help next.
I've worked across disability and mental health-related support since 2018. I also bring lived experience of disability, which informs my understanding of access, workplace assumptions, independence and adjustment.
I hold a Diploma of Counselling, am a member of Certified Practising Counsellors Australia (CPCA, #47516), and am completing a Bachelor of Counselling at Torrens University Australia.
My professional training guides my counselling practice. My lived experience adds perspective, without assuming anyone else's situation is the same as mine.
What this service includes — and what it doesn't.
Good workplace support starts with being clear about the type of help available.
What I can offer
- Private, individual counselling for authorised employees
- Support for work-related and personal concerns
- Short-term counselling with practical strategies and agreed goals
- Referral discussion when more specialised or longer-term help is needed
- Phone, video, real-time chat and Cairns appointments
What this arrangement is not
- A 24-hour crisis response or emergency mental health service
- A workplace investigation, mediation or disciplinary process
- A fitness-for-work, medico-legal or diagnostic assessment
- A substitute for an employer's WHS or psychosocial risk management duties
- A guarantee of particular wellbeing, attendance or performance outcomes
Where an employee's needs fall outside my scope or a brief counselling arrangement, I will discuss appropriate referral options with them.
Workplace Counselling Questions & Answers
What's the difference between EAP and EWP?
EAP means Employee Assistance Program. EWP is often used for an Employee Wellbeing Program. In this offering, both refer to an employer-funded arrangement that gives eligible staff access to confidential individual counselling. The specific inclusions are agreed with each workplace.
Is counselling free for our employees?
For sessions your employer has authorised and agreed to fund, the employee does not pay that session fee. The employer pays under the service agreement. Additional sessions or services are discussed separately before being booked.
Do I have to sign a long-term contract?
A written service arrangement is needed to confirm the scope, privacy, billing and other terms. The proposed pay-as-used model does not require buying a large annual block of sessions in advance.
How many sessions can an employee attend?
The number of funded sessions is agreed with your organisation. If further support is needed, options can be discussed before any extra sessions are arranged.
Can an employee contact you without going through their manager?
Yes, where the employer has approved a self-referral process. Otherwise, the agreed authorisation method applies. At setup, we discuss how staff can make contact privately and what the employer may learn through authorisation or billing.
Will the employer be told what the employee discusses?
No. Routine employer reporting does not include counselling conversations, clinical notes or personal concerns. Confidentiality has legal and safety limits, which are explained to the employee. We also make the authorisation, attendance and billing information arrangements clear in advance.
Can staff access counselling from anywhere in Australia?
Yes. Phone, video and booked real-time live chat sessions are available Australia-wide at suitable appointment times. Face-to-face appointments are available in Cairns City on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Do employees need a GP referral or Mental Health Treatment Plan?
No GP referral is required. This counselling does not attract Medicare or private health insurance rebates. Employer-funded EAP/EWP sessions are paid according to the agreed arrangement.
Is this an emergency counselling hotline?
No. This is an appointment-based service, not a 24/7 crisis or emergency response. In an emergency call 000. For crisis support in Australia, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Want to support your staff without an expensive, unused program?
Tell me a little about your workplace and what sort of counselling access you're considering. We can discuss a straightforward arrangement and see whether it's the right fit.
I work with businesses in Cairns, Far North Queensland and across Australia. Employees of an existing partner workplace can also contact me using their organisation's agreed access process.
Call or text 0423 763 712 or email allan@strongfoundationsupport.com.
Cairns appointments: Room 22, Level 2, 129A Lake Street, Cairns City — Tuesdays and Wednesdays, by appointment.
Australia-wide: Phone, video and scheduled real-time live chat, subject to availability.