The ECAP programme gives clergy, their families and Portsmouth Diocese employees access to independent counselling and advice services 24 hours a day.

This is provided by Health Assured and offers confidential support, advice and guidance to help individuals deal with life’s ups and downs, including any issues that might be adversely affecting their health, wellbeing or work performance. ECAP is available for all employees of the Portsmouth Diocese and all licensed Clergy in the Diocese of Portsmouth, plus their immediate families.

The ECAP operates through an app – Wisdom Health Assured which provides a helpline and online health portal 24 hours a day, seven days per week, 365 days per year. The service is staffed by qualified and experienced counsellors working to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) framework. These trained professionals offer confidential help in a friendly and non-judgmental manner and should an individual need further assistance they can be referred to a lawyer, nurse, doctor or other professionals according to specific requirements.

The programme gives clergy direct access to counselling and advice services 24 hours a day including the following:

• Telephone and face to face counselling including instant help
• Wellbeing Tools with tracking for health and mood data
• Wellbeing Resources including meditation, recipes, fitness support
• Podcasts, videos, articles and newsletters
• Links to further sources of help and advice

All calls to the helpline are triaged and the facility includes a GP call back service if required. It also provides access to a number of key areas including emotional support; structured telephone counselling; referral to face to face counselling; referral to serious illness and accident support; tax advice and legal advice; stress helpline; eldercare and childcare and medical information

We hope that this service will be of great benefit to our all licensed clergy and their families in the Diocese.