Free counseling through work: how employee assistance programs (EAPs) work

How common EAPs are

Federal survey data from March 2026 shows how many workers can use one:

Private-industry access has grown from 51% in 2016.

What the rules say an EAP can be

Federal rules treat an EAP as separate from your health plan, as long as it meets four conditions:

1. It doesn’t provide significant medical care. The rules look at the amount, scope and length of the services.
2. It isn’t a gatekeeper. You can’t be required to use up your EAP sessions before your health plan covers therapy, and you can’t be required to join the health plan to use the EAP.
3. You pay no premium to take part.
4. There’s no cost sharing, so no copay, coinsurance or deductible for EAP sessions.

That’s why EAP sessions are free, and why there are only a few of them. The federal government’s own guide for agencies describes EAP counseling as about one to six sessions, with longer-term needs referred out.

What an EAP usually covers

• A set number of free counseling sessions per issue. The number depends on your employer’s contract, commonly three to eight.
• Your household. Many EAPs cover spouses, children and other household members, and some cover household members who aren’t on your health insurance.
• Telehealth or in-person sessions, often with 24/7 phone support.
• Couples and family concerns. Some EAP vendors include couples and family counseling.
• Referrals to longer-term therapy, psychiatry or other help.
• Extras such as legal and financial consultations or grief support, depending on the plan.

What an EAP doesn’t do

• Long-term therapy. Once the free sessions are used, you continue with your health plan’s behavioral health benefit or pay the therapist yourself.
• Diagnosis and ongoing treatment. ComPsych, one of the largest EAP vendors, says plainly in its consent form that the EAP doesn’t provide diagnosis, treatment or ongoing counseling.
• Paying for outside care. If the EAP refers you to an outside counselor, lawyer or other professional, that cost is usually yours or your health plan’s.
• Crises. In an emergency, call or text 988 or call 911.

How private an EAP is

EAPs are built to be confidential, but the details depend on how you start.

• If you contact the EAP yourself, your employer isn’t told. Evernorth’s EAP terms, for example, say no one is notified of a self-referral without your written permission. Employers usually get only de-identified, combined reports.
• If your supervisor formally refers you, some EAPs tell the supervisor whether you kept the appointment. Ask before you agree to a supervisor referral.
• There are legal exceptions. Suspected child abuse or neglect, and serious threats of harm, have to be reported. The federal government’s EAP guidance names these exceptions.
• Substance use records held by federally assisted programs, including some EAPs, have extra federal privacy protection.

Ask the EAP to explain its confidentiality rules at the first call.

State employee EAPs in our four states

Tennessee: Here4TN, run by Optum

• Free visits: here4tn.com says members get five Emotional Wellbeing Solutions visits per year, per issue, per person. A 2027 enrollment notice relaying the state’s changes says this rises to up to eight short-term counseling visits per problem, per year, at no cost. Confirm the current number when you call.
• Who can use it: all benefits-eligible state and higher education employees and their family members, even if they aren’t on the state’s medical plan. For local education and local government, employees need to be enrolled in the medical plan, but their dependents don’t.
• Limit: you can’t use EAP visits while you’re receiving behavioral health services through the plan.
• After the free visits, you can keep going with the same counselor through your behavioral health benefit at the plan’s cost.
• Contact: 1-855-Here4TN (1-855-437-3486) or Here4TN.com.

Kentucky: KEAP

• Free and confidential for all state employees and their dependents, for information, assessment and referral.
• It doesn’t provide or pay for ongoing counseling. If KEAP refers you to a counselor, your health plan’s costs apply.
• You can contact KEAP on state time with your supervisor’s prior approval.
• Contact: 502-564-5788 or 1-800-445-KEAP (5327).
• Separate grief benefit: state employees with basic life insurance can get up to five grief counseling sessions per event through the life insurance carrier.

Georgia: State of Georgia EAP and the University System EAP

• State of Georgia EAP through the Department of Administrative Services, with Acentra Health: up to eight free sessions per person, per problem, per contract year, for employees, dependents and household members. You don’t have to be on a state health plan. Each agency chooses whether to take part, so check with HR. Phone 833-276-0988, company code GEORGIA, or EAPHelpLink.com.
• Former employees can use it for 30 days after leaving. Children under 8 aren’t eligible for individual counseling. It also includes a free 30-minute legal consultation and a 30-minute financial consultation.
• University System of Georgia employees have a separate EAP, also with Acentra Health: up to four sessions per concern, face to face or by telehealth, for employees working 20 hours or more and their household. Call 1-844-243-4440 or visit usg.mylifeexpert.com, code USGCares.

Alabama: State EAP through Risk Management

• Alabama’s Division of Risk Management offers an EAP through Behavioral Health Systems: three visits or consults, covered in full and confidential, for employees and their family members.
• Only participating agencies are covered, so ask your HR office whether yours enrolled.
• Contact: 800-245-1150, or behavioralhealthsystems.com with employer ID DORM.
• School employees: we didn’t find an EAP in PEEHIP’s 2025 to 2026 handbook.

Federal employees

Federal agencies offer free, confidential EAP counseling to employees and their families. Ask your HR office for your agency’s EAP, or search the Office of Personnel Management’s Work-Life contact tool. Military families have Military OneSource instead, covered in our TRICARE guide.

How to find and use your EAP

1. Look in your benefits portal or handbook for “EAP,” “employee assistance,” “work-life” or a vendor name such as ComPsych, Optum, Lyra, Spring Health, Carelon, Evernorth, Aetna Resources For Living or Acentra.
2. Call the number and ask how many free sessions you get, whether family members can use them, and whether you can choose the counselor.
3. Ask what happens after the free sessions. Some EAPs can move you to the same counselor under your health plan.
4. If you’d like to keep seeing the EAP counselor, ask whether they’re in your health plan’s behavioral health network. Aetna’s EAP materials suggest checking this before you start.

When to use an EAP and when to use your health plan

Our insurance guide covers using your health plan, and our sliding scale guide covers paying less when you pay yourself.

The short version

• An EAP gives you a few free, confidential counseling sessions per issue, often for your household too.
• Federal rules say a true EAP can’t charge a premium or cost sharing, can’t be a gatekeeper for your health plan, and can’t provide significant medical care.
• About 60% of private-sector workers and 80% of state and local government workers have one.
• Self-referral is private. A formal supervisor referral can come with attendance reports.
• Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama each have a state employee EAP, with different session counts and rules.
• After the free sessions, use your health plan or pay yourself.