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Comment by tunesmith | Hacker News Reader

This sounds pretty dangerous - even if the executives of a company claim that it is confidential, why should the employees believe it? Therapists talk about their patients in a very general sense all the time, and even if they don't, an employer is going to want to have some idea of how the therapist's job is going. In a small company, it would be far too easy to put two and two together, and then react in a way that is in the "company's best interest" yet not in the employee's. I'd feel less comfortable confiding in a company-hired therapist than I would confiding in HR - it seems the better alternative would be to offer a heightened health insurance package that covers frequent therapy, along with a liberal "time off for doctors appointments" policy.

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They can believe it because as I sat in bed thinking how much talking to someone in confidence has helped me, I thought that maybe others might be able to benefit from the same feeling. I have absolutely no interest in what is discussed in these sessions, just that they happen at all, if people are interested in doing so.

I disagree about the point that trusting in a company-hired therapist makes one feel less comfortable than confiding in HR. If I broke up with my girlfriend, I'd hope that the confidential conversations had with a trained therapist would prove more fruitful than a conversation with HR.

I came up with this idea because it helped me, and not primarily because it is best for the company. I care enough about the people I work with that I'm happy to support a free service that might help others too, if they want it.

Thanks for the comments. It's an interesting issue that remains an important subject not just for companies, but society in general.

Jerome

Having someone neutral to talk to is important - even just for the simple fact of verbalizing to process it.

While employees should definitely get their own therapists, I'm not sure it's a bad idea for a company to offer one for free while encouraging them to find their own. Removing the barrier to entry and the stigma by making it a standard thing might be worth doing.

Then again, if there are insurance plans that have this sort of thing in mind, making that plan standard and encouraging people to use it sounds better.

You touch upon a couple of very important points here - removing barriers and the stigma.

What we're trying to do here is just provide a completely independent person to talk to. They're able to talk to them about anything and everything and none of that information will come back to the employers. Why do this then? By offering this, people are able to work out/unravel any problems/goals/challenges they've got. The hopeful result is that this private chat will then provide a focus, a decision and a more fulfilled human.

The company is in the UK so there are laws governing use of information.

Hopefully the company chose a BACP registered therapist and so that therapist will be covered by their registration rules too.

> The company is in the UK so there are laws governing use of information.

There are laws governing the use of that information in the US as well - some of which exist federally, as well as some on the state level (which may be stronger than the federal ones).

> The company is in the UK so there are laws governing use of information.

Are there laws against invading privacy via subverting cell phones in the UK? Did it happen?

As if laws are never broken.

Downvoting me doesn't mean UK laws are always obeyed.

I'd like to think for the same reasons you don't sweep your backpack for bugs that your employer has planted on you, or check under your desk for secret spy cameras. Unless your employer has some sort of reputation, I don't see why the default should be to believe that they are morally bankrupt enough to run some kind of therapist sting operation.

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