Monica Wakely, LCSW-R, SAP serves as LICADD’s Director of Employee Services. With over twenty years of professional experience in social work and employee assistance services, Monica’s primary focus is our Open Arms Employee Assistance Program.
Monica received her Bachelor’s degree in Special Education, and says her professional shift from education to social work emanated from her experience as a teacher; “I saw how the problems my students experienced at home affected their studies, and I wanted to address the root of the problem.” Monica pursued her LCSW-R, and from there, the switch from child-focused social work practice to an adult-focused one, came naturally. Monica received her SAP (Substance Abuse Professional) credential after realizing that the same family problems that affected her students, would also affect their parents at their workplace, and potentially threaten their jobs.
When employees are experiencing stress in their personal lives, it often carries over into their professional lives. This can have negative consequences on staff morale, efficiency, productivity, and can lead to losses in revenue over the long term. LICADD’s Open Arms Employee Assistance Program (EAP) seeks to target these imbalances by addressing the source of the problem. The program works with the business managers to offer client resources, support groups, clinicians, and treatment services in a way that supports employees, and includes a pricing structure that won’t overburden the company. In addition to addiction treatment and recovery services, we offer anger management, support groups for individuals at every age, as well as families, and are prepared to tackle any issue, including marriage, divorce, eating disorders, substance abuse, and grief/loss.
“Alleviating this stress has extremely positive outcomes, not only on the family, but the workplace as well,” Monica explained, “The stress of divorce, an illness, death and/or addiction, is extremely difficult to handle and I strive to support our clients through all of that. Our clients (and their employers) are reassured to know that they are not alone in their struggle, and that they have an entire network of highly trained professionals to support them through whatever challenges they encounter.”