About the Agency

Family Services à la famille Ottawa provides individual and family counselling, community based outreach programs and supports, and partnership programs to meet the needs of our community. We have been a community-based provider since 1914. We have pioneered work with victims of spousal assault, and groups for children who witness violence. We have also developed strong support services for seniors. Our slogan "because everyone matters" guides our work and provides the foundation for our purpose.

In 1989, Family Services Ottawa began offering our counselling expertise to workplaces in an effort to address the unique needs of employees and the workplace -- Family Services Ottawa Employee Assistance Program (FSEAP Ottawa) was born. Our work has evolved as the needs and concerns of our organizational and counselling clients have changed, and we continue to provide an array of innovative services to address real needs. Our goal is to assist employers develop a healthier workplace. We recognize the need to foster and maintain the health and well being of employees and their families, and we are committed to delivering the highest quality service. Recognizing that each organization is unique, we are flexible in delivering EAP and other wellness initiatives that meet your needs.

Family Services is a national provider of EAP services, and Ottawa is an important part of this network. Our offices and EAP staff are located in communities across Canada. We have both a strong local presence as part of an organization that has been serving Ottawa for almost 90 years, as well as being able to offer services in any province and community.

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About Our Staff

Mark Arnold, M.S.W.

Mark is the Director of the Employee Assistance Program and has been a counselling clinician for 18 years. He has worked with individuals, couples, families and groups and has provided support and guidance for hundreds of people dealing with depression. Mark is also a Faculty Member at Algonquin College and is a consultant for other corporations.

Mark is married with 2 boys, and his hobbies are varied, including music, skiing and traveling.

Lucille Smeltzer-Legault M.A., R.S.W.

Lucille is a bilingual Registered Social Worker with a Master's Degree from the University of Ottawa/St. Paul University, and she is a member of the Ontario College of Certified Social Workers. Lucille has over 15 years of clinical experience and has been providing services to individuals, couples, families and groups at Family Services à la famille Ottawa since 1994 in both the Mental Health Program and the Employee Assistance Program. She is also a certified teacher of Kundalini Yoga and has been teaching it since 2001.

Maggy Antebi-Wilson M.A.

Maggy is a bilingual counsellor with a Master’s degree in Psychology. She has 25 years of experience counselling individuals, couples and families with particular interests in the areas of depression, burnout, workplace issues, grief and parenting adolescents. During her 14 years at Family Services à la famille Ottawa, Maggy has presented numerous wellness workshops and critical incident debriefs . She is married , has a daughter, and is keenly interest in yoga, meditation and music.

Stephanie Piovesan B.S.S.

Stephanie has over 20 years experience working in the Geriatric community, in Long Term Care, Retirement Residences and community based programming. She has coordinated Seniors programming at Family Services à la famille Ottawa and is a lead consultant for the Elder Care Support Team through the Employee Assistance Program.

Dianne Beska M.S.W., R.S.W.

Since obtaining her MSW 18 years ago, Dianne Beska has been practicing clinical social work in various capacities.  Dianne has been employed at Family Services à la famille Ottawa since 1994 as a counsellor, providing couple, family and individual counselling.  Her work includes counselling people experiencing such issues as marriage difficulties, separation and divorce, grief, depression and anxiety.  She also has extensive experience working with adolescents and their families and has worked for 3 years in the area of adoption.

Dianne is both direct and supportive in her approach to helping clients achieve their goals. 

Dianne recharges her batteries by creating beauty and calm in her environment through gardening and home improvements.

Antoine Quenneville

Antoine has a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Ottawa and master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of Regina.  He has over 15 years experience as an EAP counsellor and management consultant. He has provided Employee Assistance Services, including management consultations and workplace training, within a broad range of organizations including the Federal Government and private sector companies.  He is personable and fluently bilingual with an excellent grasp of workplace issues which apply to a variety of employees from the high school janitor to the CEO of a Crown Corporation. 

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Workshops and Courses

We are in the relationship building business; we value your input in designing and delivering services that are consistent with your needs. Our product is a collaborative effort between your identified needs and our expertise. Our workshops are not pulled from the shelf, but rather include a consultative process to capture your issues, learning style and desired outcomes. Below is a sample of workshop topics that have been successfully delivered across the region.

Our Philosophy

"Facilitating, learning and laughter."

We work to engage participants in an experiential process that makes the information we present relevant, tangible and transferable into their daily lives

Our aim is to give participants the tools so they can choose to better themselves and function optimally in all aspects of their lives.

Workshop Topics

Personal Development and Relationship Building
Families in Transition
Creative Wellness
Financial Managment
Team Building
Coaching
Workshops for Managers
Pricing Model

Personal Development and Relationship Building

This series of workshops focus on the very common feelings and struggles we face when dealing with the challenges of life. The emphasis is on identifying how we cope, the thoughts and feelings attached, and methods for increasing our level of control. The following can be offered as half day or full day workshops:

1. Balancing Work and Personal Life
2. Taking Charge of Change
3. When is Enough Enough: Setting Limits and Improving Relationships
4. Difficult People: Understanding Them and Learning What to Do
5. Conflict as a Fact of Life: Striving for Positive Outcomes
6. Incorporating Play and Humour into the Workplace
7. Preparing Emotionally for Retirement 
8. Set for Life:  Navigating Your Career Beyond Retirement
9. New Career Directions: Changing into Who you REally Want to Be
10. Nutritional Support for a Health Immune System
11. Smoking Cessation

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Families in Transition

Families go through many stages and each stage provides unique challenges and evokes different feelings. We have a series of workshops that deal realistically with the different stages some of us are living through, examining the experience from a holistic as well as a practical perspective. The workshops allow people with similar issues to learn from each other and support each other. Included are the following half-day workshops:

1. You and your Aging Parents/ Relative
2. The “Sandwich” Dilemma - coping with and caring for parents and children.
3. Blended Families
4. How Separation/ Divorce Affects a Family
5. Disciplining Children - How to teach children self-discipline
6. Bullying - How to Help Your Child
7. Grief, Loss and the Family Life Cycle
8. How to Survive the Teenage Years
9. Raising Boys - Discusses the challenges in raising emotionally healthy boys
10. And Baby Makes Three - How to Cope with the Changes of New Parenthood (You're Not Alone!)
11. Helping Children Grieve - Explaining Death and Understanding Childrens' Grief Cycle
12. Sibling Rivalry - "You're the Favourite" - Keeping the Competition Healthy
13. Empty Nest Syndrome
14. Peer Pressure

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Creative Wellness

These workshops offer participants an opportunity to tap into their creative and spiritual side in a relaxed and non-judgmental setting. The following can be tailored for 2 hour or half day sessions:

1. Self Esteem - Developing and Maintaining the Self
2. A Yogic Path to Stress Management
3. Whole Person Wellness

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Financial Management

1. Finances 101 - Professional Financial Advisors providing practical tips and guidance on managing money and dealing with debt
2. Financial Planning for Kids - Teaching Kids How to Save and Budget 
3. Planning for Their Education - When Should You Start and How Should You Start
4. Demystifying Investments - A Beginner’s Guide to Investing
5. Money Planning: ABCs for New Employees and Recent Graduates 
6. Real Life Money Management
7. Financial Retirement Planning
8. What's the Score - Presented by a Credit Counsellor

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Team Building

We offer a variety of mechanisms to help strengthen work teams. Using different exercises and activities we encourage people to examine their roles in a team and how each individual can make a contribution. Rather than provide a set program, we consult with you to discuss the dynamics and nuances of the team in order to develop a workshop from that perspective.

Our approach is to assist participants in creating a productive balance between their individuality and their role as a healthy, functioning member of a team.

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Coaching

Our coaching trainer has been working in the Human Services field for 25 years.  With a Masters Degree in Leadership and Training, he provides a straightforward, yet sensitive approach to learning a new way to live at full capacity with joy and a sense of accomplishment.

1. Leading Through Effective Communication
2. How Professionals and Managers Avoid Learning
3. Helping You Discover Your Life's Work
4. Awareness of Different Learning Styles
5. Appreciative Enquiry, Leadership and Coaching

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Workshops for Managers

Any number of the above mentioned workshops can be adapted for an audience of managers and supervisors. Of particular interest are the following:

1. Managing Change for Managers
2. Managing Troubled Employees
3. Dealing with Conflict
4. Team Building for Management Teams or assisting Managers to initiate it for their teams.
5. Training and Awareness Sessions for Supervisors, Managers and Executives
6. Ethics
7. Harassment

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Pricing Model

We offer all our workshops at $100.00 per hour and 2 hours of development/preparation time per workshop at $50.00 per hour.

We are able to offer a reduced rate for every 5 workshops purchased and will offer it at $95.00 per hour.

All workshops include initial consultation with our Program Manager and all workshop materials. We would be glad to provide a more detailed description of any workshop of particular interest but would tailor the outline depending on your needs.

As well for organizations that may not be able to schedule a group of people for a half day we also provide these topics in a 1 to 1.5 hour seminar, ideally set over the lunch hour. These are $200.00 to $250.00 per seminar depending on the 60 or 90 minute commitment. This includes all travel and preparation time as well as all program management consultation.

For further information or enquiries about these and other workshops please contact Mark Arnold, Manager- Business Operations at (613) 725 3601 ext. 148.

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Specialized Services

Elder Care Stragegy Support Services
Road Map Through Depression
Holistic Nutritional Consultation
Career Development Services
Retirement Series
Fast Track Addictions Support

Elder Care Strategy Support Services

Work-family conflict costs both employers and employees in terms of family tension, absenteeism, productivity, retention, employment, and stress-related illness. There is a rapid growth in the numbers of and needs of employees who face the difficult challenges of balancing their job responsibilities with the responsibility of caring for an older relative.  How many of your employees are caught in the elder care/work squeeze?

This issue will effect your organization - So what can you do?

It is to everyone’s benefit to have productive, non distracted, employees. FSEAP offers consulting, training and resources to promote elder care and work balance. Our mission is to assist employers to develop innovative, cost-effective approaches to preventing and resolving elder care/work conflicts for/with their employees.

Consulting
When elder care/work conflicts begin to surface in the work place, employers often do not know where to turn to find solutions. We can help to assess the specific elder care issues in your work place & work with you to develop a response that fits your company's culture and situation.

Training Workshops for Management & Staff
Workshops & training include practical information and strategies for those employees in a care giving role & for those preparing for the future. Topics include understanding the aging process; challenges & strategies of care giving for the elderly; and planning for your own aging.

Resources
An introduction to a range of community services and how to access them, includes information on researching and accessing resources for those care giving at a distance.

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Road map Through Depression

Despite medical attention and increased use of medications, depression and anxiety continue to negatively influence well being, productivity and absenteeism.

• 80% of people with depression report that the symptoms interfere with their ability to work. 
• Depressed workers report an average of 32 days per year when symptoms leave them unable to carry out normal activities or totally unable to work. 

Statistics Canada Jan. 2007

Perhaps medical intervention is only part of the solution.

FSEAP Ottawa recognizes the debilitating impact that depression and anxiety have on an individual and those close to them.

Depression Mapping

Dr. Randy Paterson and Changeways Clinic in Vancouver developed over 70 tools as part of a comprehensive model known as Depression Mapping.  We have contracted with the Dr. Paterson to train our EAP counsellors to use this set of tools. 

Depression Mapping is an evidence-based model derived from extensive research on depression, as well as direct client experience, including

• Depression has a variety of forms and a multitude of causes.
• Many strategies have been found helpful in treating depression.
• Effective treatment matches the strategies to the causes and nature of the individual’s depression and life situation.

FSEAP Ottawa is one of the first EAP providers to be trained by Dr. Paterson to use such a comprehensive model to manage depression and anxiety preventatively.

What is unique about this program?

• The client’s circumstances are matched with the appropriate treatment tools;
• more real progress;
• a direct impact on the person’s overall health and well being and
• improved health of your organization.

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Holistic Nutritional Consultation

The philosophy of FSEAP Ottawa is to put people first, providing tangible preventative services for individuals to proactively improve their health and well being. 

We are pleased to introduce Gwen Holm, a registered holistic nutritionist, as a partner in our wellness solutions.

1. Do you eat on the run or at irregular times?  Does your body know where the next meal will come from?
2. Are you experiencing cravings for certain foods?
3. Do you rely on sugar and caffeine to give you the energy boost you need to work and play?

What we eat, how much we eat, and when we eat impacts not only our bodies but every part of our lives.

Nutritional deficiencies can lead to:

1. fatigue
2. mood swings
3. anxiety and
4. insomnia

Left unchecked, such deficiencies can result in a number of problems:

1. high blood pressure
2. depression and
3. diabetes

What can you expect from FSEAP Ottawa’s Holistic Nutritional Services?

• a comprehensive nutritional review of dietary habits,
• testing for food sensitivities,
• a customized dietary regimen,
• enhanced energy levels,
• improved immune system,
• reduced risk of illness,
• improved memory and ability to concentrate.

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Career Development Services

FSEAP Ottawa and Careers Unlimited are pleased to formally launch a partnership to benefit our EAP organizations, their employees and family members.

1. How do you invest in an employee who has outgrown their position?
2. Would you like to help employees get the most out of their careers, aligning skills and interests with existing roles?
3. How do you offer transitional support for employees leaving your company?

The following services are provided by FSEAP Career Development Services to solve these and other employment and career issues:

• Goal setting
• Learning plans
• Work transition coaching
• In-depth support to match skills and aptitudes to a rewarding career path
• Résumé preparation
• Interview skills preparation

The service also benefits family members who may have experienced a lay off, or adolescents venturing out into the job market.

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New Beginnings - Redefining Retirement

In the early 1900's, nearly two thirds of the population were still working at age 65. In the new millennium, retirement has become a fact of life.

1. Will you have to learn to live with a different income level after retirement?
2. Are you prepared for the emotional transition that will occur?
3. What about investing in your diet and health, so you can pursue your dreams?

FSEAP Ottawa has developed a comprehensive 4-part program for employers and their employees who are looking at this transition to retirement.

1) Emotional Readiness

Developing a lifestyle that is adaptive to change, including retirement, helps each of us use the capacity we have to live life fully. The goal becomes visioning each day to manifest what we want it to be. This workshop provides participants with the skills necessary to make a healthy transition to retirement.

2) Financial Road Map to Retirement

Participants in this seminar will have an opportunity learn how to align their goals and aspirations with the financial realities that face today’s retiree. Topics include pensions, taxation, strategic portfolio balancing, and cash-flow management.

3) Nutrition for Healthy Aging         

The best hope of living longer and better is to improve nutrition.  This three-hour workshop will examine the common effects of aging on the body and how to prevent or minimize these effects to reclaim health and vitality, and keep it for decades to come.

4) Where Do I Go From Here?

It’s exciting to have the chance to finally pursue your dreams—but what are those dreams, exactly? And how can you make them come true? This three-hour workshop will lead you to satisfying retirement opportunities.