"Honestly, I think the source of your anxiety is you feel repressed guilt about not focusing sufficiently on your career. I think as you spend more time, energy, and effort at work you'll start to feel better about yourself. Also, that will help you create some safe distance from that toxic family of yours".
The Office Therapist Will See You Now
Staffers at Synchrony Financial get access to a dozen free therapy sessions with on-site psychologist Jennifer Nielsen each year.
By Chip Cutter, WSJ
Aug. 27, 2024 5:30 am ET
STAMFORD, Conn.—The leafy headquarters of Synchrony Financial SYF -0.12%decrease; red down pointing triangle is home to an on-site bar, wooded walking trails, bocce ball courts and a vegetable garden. The most unconventional amenity, though, sits near the edge of campus.
On the first floor of a little-trafficked office building, psychologist Jennifer Nielsen now sees Synchrony employees for free therapy appointments on Tuesdays and Wednesdays most weeks.
The benefit, which Synchrony began offering this year, has been embraced within the company, even if it is still largely unheard of at other major U.S. employers. While companies have long offered access to employee-assistance lines and other programs meant to support well-being, most bosses have stopped short of bringing therapists on site, fearing such a move could blur the line between personal and professional.
Synchrony got the request to provide the service from some of its youngest employees this past year. Members of its two-year business leadership rotational program told DJ Casto, Synchrony’s human-resources chief, that they would like access to a therapist during business hours.
Nielsen works in an office behind frosted glass on the first floor of a little-trafficked building.
The company, which issues credit cards on behalf of PayPal, Sam’s Club and Lowe’s, already provided wellness coaches, employee-resource groups and other mental-health programs to its roughly 20,000-person workforce. But executives knew that access to therapy became more challenging during the pandemic because of a lack of clinicians and other constraints. So Casto and his colleagues talked over the idea and agreed to pursue it.
Debates ensued about what type of therapist to offer, and even where to put an office on campus so employees could discreetly attend appointments, said Rebekah Raimo, a senior vice president of human resources.
“It’s different to have that offering in the workplace,” Raimo said. “We wanted to be really thoughtful.”
Synchrony chose Nielsen for the role. She had been working as a tenured school psychologist at nearby Greenwich High School and had experience in private practice and other clinical settings.
Friends joked with Nielsen that, in taking a corporate position, she would be living the role of Wendy Rhoades, an in-office therapist who is employed by a hedge fund on the Showtime television series “Billions.” Nielsen quickly explained to them that isn’t the reality.
“It really is so different,” she said.
Employees don’t have to take much time out of their day for a therapy appointment, Nielsen says. ‘It’s like a lunch hour.’
What brings you here today?
Synchrony works with Nielsen through a third-party firm, O’Connor Professional Group, in a sign of her separation from the company. She works in an office at Synchrony’s headquarters that is behind frosted glass and includes a table and chairs along with a couch. She leaves a 15-minute buffer between appointments so colleagues don’t run into each other. Even a security-guard post in the building was relocated so employees don’t feel watched.
Staffers get access to a dozen free sessions with Nielsen each year. If they want more, she might refer them to another professional. Synchrony hopes the benefit will lead to employees feeling better equipped to do their jobs; Raimo said the offering also distinguishes the company from others.
On campus, appointments with Nielsen often begin with a simple question: What brings you here today? Initial sessions last an hour, and follow-up appointments are generally 45 minutes.
Since she began working at Synchrony in January, Nielsen has heard from employees seeking help in navigating challenges with a romantic partner, parents, children or friends. Many employees also want guidance in coping with anxiety, body-image issues or work-related stresses. Nielsen holds separate group sessions for parents.
Confidentiality protected
She tells employees that she doesn’t share confidential information raised in therapy with Synchrony officials. If she finds an employee at risk of harming themself or others, she has a duty to inform health or legal authorities, but not Synchrony unless requested by the employee. She doesn’t provide the company with a list of patients; she simply tells them how many people come through her doors.
“It’s my job to protect the confidentiality of what happens in here,” she said. “I’m ethically bound to do that.”
Though many of her initial patients were younger employees, Nielsen has had staffers of all ages request appointments. On many days, her schedule is now booked all day. She finds she is getting more employees seeking her help every week—in part because the appointments are so convenient.
“They don’t have to take much time out of their day. It’s like a lunch hour,” she said. “Anyone could be in therapy—we could all use it.”
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