Employee Assistance Program
The Village delivers professional and confidential assessment, counseling, and referral services to you and members of your household.
As a benefit to University of North Dakota employees, UND contracts with the Village Business Institute to provide an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). When you or members of your household contact the EAP, a Village staff member will assess the situation and provide the needed services. This may include personal contacts with a licensed counselor and/or referral to a professional who is specially trained in your area of difficulty. All contact with the EAP is confidential.
A household is a closely integrated system; anything one member experiences can affect the rest of the system. Therefore, our Employee Assistance Program offers assistance to members of an employee's household. Employees are covered throughout their employment and for 90 days after employment ends. In-office and web-based counseling services are available.
EAP Benefits and Services
Village Business Institute Counseling Services
To contact the Village Business Institute call 1.800.627.8220.
Relationship Issues
- Marriage/couple Conflicts
- Parent/Child Conflicts
- Single Parent Challenges
- Children's Issues
- Sexuality Issues
- Two-Career Families
- Co-dependency
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
- Kids and Alcohol/Drugs
- Prevention Education
- Assessment/Evaluation
- Post Treatment Counseling
- Intensive Family Education
- DOT Compliance
Workplace Issues
- Workplace Conflict
- Coping with Change
- Job Stress Coping Skills
Financial and Legal Consultation
- Credit Information/Evaluation
- Debt Management
- Budget Counseling and Education
- Compulsive Spending/Gambling
- Bankruptcy Consultation
- Retirement Issues
- Assessment of Legal Problems
Emotional Health
- Personal Adjustment Problems
- Emotional Problems
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Suicide Issues
- Guilt, Shame and Self-Esteem Issues
- Compulsive Behaviors
Employee Assistance Resources
5 Tips to Relieve Stress
Try some of these simple steps at home or at work to bring down your level of stress and help you more effectively manage the stress in your life:
- Recognize that stress is normal. If you feel worried, tense or angry, it does not necessarily mean that you’re “not handling it well.” It’s human to be emotional. Rather than suppressing the feeling or “flying off the handle,” write the feeling down. Start with “right now I feel…” Forget about the “because.” Just naming the feeling often helps. Emotions that are ignored get bigger and more threatening.
- Get physical. When we feel stressed, our bodies are sending us a message to MOVE. Our pulse quickens, our breathing speeds and our muscles tense up. This energy needs to be released somehow. Try taking a brisk walk or stretching now and then. Use your lunch breaks to move for a few minutes before returning to your desk. Alternately tighten and relax your fists, arms, legs, shoulders and stomach. The muscle motion drains off tension.
- Breathe deeply. Sit comfortably with your hands on your lap and your legs uncrossed. Roll your head and hunch your shoulders up and down a few times. Next, breathe in evenly through your nose, then blow out gently through your mouth. On each exhale, silently repeat the word “one” or some other word like “peace” or “relax.” Do this for five minutes, three times a day. This technique, known as the “relaxation response,” has been proven to reduce blood pressure.
- Use your imagination. The mind’s ability to dream, to visualize and to imagine is a very powerful stress reduction tool. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and imagine that your mind is a movie theater. Project onto the blank screen any picture or place that you find relaxing. (Many people choose the ocean or a mountain stream.) Stay in this imaginary place for a few moments before returning to the task at hand.
- Learn to prioritize.We cannot do everything at once. Let go of some of the things that you tell yourself you “must do.” Have your kids clean up their own messes or learn to close the door and let it be their room. Teach other members of the family how to do their own laundry. Are there some tasks that do not really belong to you but that you have “volunteered” for anyway? Learn to say “no” or “catch me later.” In short, learn to prevent stress (rather than just fighting it) by simplifying your life.
If stress is affecting your daily life, The Village Employee Assistance Program can help. Call us at 800-627-8220.