Counseling Outcomes at a U.S. Department of Defense Employee Assistance Program

As part of a quality improvement initiative, counseling outcomes were reviewed at a Department of Defense employee assistance program (EAP). One hundred clients completed a self-report instrument, the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2, prior to their intake interview and again prior to their last counseling session. Counselors rated the clients on the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale immediately after the intake interview and again at case closing. In the closing summary, counselors also rated each client's perceived level of improvement on the major goals established at the beginning of counseling. The majority of clients reported less overall dysfunction (86%), less subjective distress (79%), better interpersonal relations (68%), and better functioning at work (68%) at case closing than at intake. Results on the counselor-completed scale of perceived improvement were very similar to client self-ratings. The GAF showed somewhat less sensitivity to change in general and deterioration in particular. The findings are consistent with other studies of counseling outcome in EAP settings and suggest that EAP counseling of short to moderate duration can result in less distress and better functioning for a majority of clients.