Issues in International Employee Assistance Program Accreditation

Abstract This article describes the present size of Employee Assistance Programs outside of the United States. It emphasizes the rapid growth and the development of the profession beyond the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA). It then discusses the international programs and approaches to accreditation. Suggestions are made for international agencies that might be apprehensive about standards being too “American” and not being cross-culturally applicable. The Council on Accreditation (COA) appears the most logical, but the author also describes the recent development of worldwide guidelines, which have been sponsored by numbers of EAP groups. The guidelines might be a pathway or intermediary step to accreditation for those international EAPs that do not feel they are prepared to undergo the formal COA process.