What We Do
Support future fit organisations by impacting employees, managers and executives individually and collectively, with professionally optimised mental health support anytime, anywhere.
Employee Centric Support Ecosystem
Lyra Southern Africa continues to lead the way in clinical practice with our primary goal to restore clients to productivity as swiftly as possible. To achieve this, we seamlessly integrate all aspects of our clinical services, ensuring a smooth intervention process for clients. This integration encompasses various stages, starting from the initial telephonic or managerial consultations, followed by face-to-face, virtual, or ongoing telephonic sessions, and finally, the case management process. Throughout these stages, we adhere to the solution-focused, brief therapy model.
We believe this evidence-based model of short term counselling benefits our clients by:
- Setting clear expectations and defining success through goal setting
- Assisting clients in focusing on and achieving their goals, providing immediate assistance during the telephonic intervention
- Establishing a structured path for setting and accomplishing objectives
- Meaningfully reducing the impact of their challenges on their lives
- Offering a unique, personalised intervention with immediate skills and tools for managing difficulties and experiencing meaningful change
- Empowering clients to sustain long-term positive behaviour changes
Professional Telephone Counselling
A 24/7/365 professional counselling service is available to employees and their immediate family members via a toll-free number. The service is voluntary, confidential and doesn’t require pre-approval. Support is provided in the employee’s language of choice, with accessibility options available.
Work Life Services
Work Life Services are available to your employees and their immediate family living in the same household. These services provide detailed and practical information, education, resources and referrals to help individuals manage their work-life responsibilities.
Work Life Services educate employees about the risks associated with legal and financial issues. The Lyra Wellbeing Hub app allows employees to access articles and videos in support of a healthy legal and financial lifestyle. Work Life Services offer a holistic and integrated solution and are well-positioned to offer proactive services. For example: we can carry out an assessment to gauge an individual’s relationship with money. Thereafter, we can address financially related problems and treat the behavioural traits which cause money management issues.
Financial Coaching: Registered debt counsellors with National Credit Regulator (NCR)
Legal Advice: Bcomm Degree in Law, with Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bproc Degrees
Medical Nurse: Diploma or Bachelor Degree in Nursing, with Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) registration
In-Person Short-Term Solution Focused Counselling
Off-site, in-person support remains a prominent care pathway for employees and their immediate family members for a multitude of psychosocial problems. These might include sexual harassment, unfair discrimination, relationship issues, stress, anxiety, depression, identity problems, physical/emotional abuse, suicidal tendencies, substance abuse etc. Face-to-face counselling is short-term and solution focused with the aim to return individuals to productive functioning as soon as possible.
Counselling sessions are made available depending on the nature of the presenting issue and the required treatment plan. These sessions are provided by qualified and registered psychologists, counsellors and social workers and is rendered in accordance with EWP best practice. Sessions are conducted close to the employee’s residence or place of work anywhere in Southern Africa and in the employee’s preferred language.
Every employee is overseen by a Lyra case manager ensuring adherence to clinical process and enhanced user journey.
Managerial Counselling
Lyra offers specialised telephonic consultation and support to the managers, line managers, team leaders, supervisors and executives within organisations. We assist managers with their existing relationships with employees and provide them with professional assistance regarding the effective handling of new or challenging people management issues such as relationship, interpersonal conflict, delegation, motivation of employees, discipline, providing performance appraisals, managing diversity, personal and/or professional challenges, etc.
Additional benefits include empowerment for effective management. Managers need to feel empowered in dealing with people management issues. Managing performance is a vital role but often neglected and productivity of the organisation is directly impacted by ineffective people management.
Formal Referral and Conflict Mediation
The Lyra Managerial Referral is a formal process that helps managers support their teams during challenging times more efficiently and effectively. When psychosocial challenges are affecting their work performance, the manager can now refer the employee into the programme via multiple channels to get professional virtual support. Virtual interventions allow Lyra to support the manager more efficiently so the employee can return to productivity sooner. Upon completion of the referral form the employee confirms consent to trigger Lyra engagement with both employee and manager.
Critical Incident Support
Prompt and professional trauma debriefing and counselling services are available, for events such as:
- Armed robbery
- Loss of a colleague in unexpected manner
- Man-made disaster, such as serious workplace injury or explosion
- Natural disaster
- Shootings
- Motor vehicle accident
- Suicide
In a country experiencing continuous and ongoing trauma, it is crucial for South Africans to have access to a responsive service that addresses a wide range of traumatic incidents. Lyra developed a tailor-made trauma protocol that caters to the specific needs of clients. We have successfully navigated through various traumatic incidents, including unprecedented events like unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic, explosions, etc.
In urban areas, a Lyra trauma counsellor is able to be on-site in all major cities within 1-2 hours of the initial call to Lyra.
Individuals in need of further individual containment are assisted following these sessions to ensure that they are contained. Ongoing support for employees affected by the traumatic incident are referred for additional support including telephonic, virtual and in-person off-site counselling.
Lyra Group trauma interventions are underpinned by the idea of post-traumatic growth. This refers to positive psychological changes and personal development that individuals may experience after going through a traumatic or challenging event.
This is contrary to the traditional way of thinking about traumatised individuals, which often focuses solely on the negative consequences of trauma. Post-traumatic growth emphasises the potential for personal transformation and positive outcomes following adversity.
The positive psychological change which individuals may experience include:
- Increased personal strength: Discovering hidden resilience
- Enhanced relationships: Deeper, more meaningful connections
- New life perspectives: Appreciation for life’s possibilities
- Spiritual or existential growth: Shift in beliefs or newfound purpose
- Greater appreciation of life: Heightened gratitude for everyday experiences
- Sense of personal growth: Accomplishment and development in coping
It’s important to note that post-traumatic growth is not experienced by everyone, nor does it negate the challenges and distress that trauma can bring. Additionally, the process of post-traumatic growth is complex and can take time to emerge. Some individuals may experience both negative effects and post-traumatic growth simultaneously.
Wellbeing Coaching
Lyra coaching aims to create a better-rounded and proactive approach to supporting employees’ mental health and overall wellbeing. Our dedicated wellbeing coaches possess a clinical background with additional training in solution-focused work which ties in with our coaching philosophy.
With a strong focus on safety and effectiveness, Lyra’ wellbeing coaches are adept at assessing and managing risks, navigating appropriate referral paths, and promptly addressing any clinical emergencies that may arise during the coaching process.
Traditionally EWPs provide short-term solution-focused counselling geared specifically to help employees resolve psychological or emotional issues, mental health concerns, and past traumas. Short-term counselling remains a key cornerstone service of any EWP and coaching is an additional proactive clinical service aimed at supporting employees to improve their overall wellbeing and quality of life.
Lyra coaches work with employees to identify and achieve their personal goals, enhance self-awareness, and develop strategies to lead a more satisfying and meaningful life. We have a holistic proactive approach to wellbeing and focus on multiple aspects including sleep, movement, nutrition and mindfulness. This approach acknowledges the interconnectedness of various wellness dimensions and recognises that progress in one area can positively influence others.
The coaching process can empower individuals to take ownership of their wellbeing journey and make sustainable positive changes across multiple aspects of their lives.
Digital Solutions
Lyra Wellbeing Hub
The Lyra Wellbeing Hub is a one-stop-shop for access to Lyra services and hosts a dynamic library of wellbeing content available on mobile or desktop. Users get information on a wide range of psychosocial issues and receive support and access to treatment via live chat and a click-to-call directly into our National Operations Centre based in Johannesburg.
The app also has a FAQ section about all the Lyra services available to the employee and family members with direct Click to Call and Live Chat functionality. Users can access a library of expert-led articles, videos and questionnaires that help users proactively manage and improve their wellbeing. The Lyra Wellbeing Hub operates in 50+ global languages and automatically connects users to their local Lyra number for immediate support.
Hello, Tomo
A unique behavioural change tool forms part of Lyra’ digital wellness single access ecosystem within the Lyra Wellbeing Hub app. Tomo is an AI-driven behaviour change tool that helps users to build healthy habits that improve their mental health and wellbeing. Tomo has over 70 healthy activities to help employees select from, and aids users to work out what habits are good for them, using automated techniques drawn from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Users form part of a peer support community, sharing photos of their habits to motivate themselves to do more and inspire others to do the same.
Analytics
Lyra has extensive experience in the collection and analysis of data. We have been generating employee health and wellness data insights since the early 2000s and in an era of rapid digital transformation, data has become a valuable resource for insight and action.
Lyra Reporting Objectives:
- To track your programme success/health indicators
- To provide insight into the health and wellness of your people (and teams)
- To track existing trends and monitor emerging trends
- To highlight areas of risk and resilience
- To provide recommendations that will drive programme success
- To provide risk management recommendations
- To provide client access to online reporting dashboard
- To present client with Predictive Analytics to manage future risks
We have bespoke automated reporting tools that provide trends on engagement, problems, risks, impact and by using statistical models and machine learning to forecast future outcomes with predictive analytics.
Supplementing that, we have a diverse team of individuals who translate engagement into a monitoring indicator, problems into indicators for risk and resilience and impact into a productivity indicator. Essentially, we work with you to understand how your data provides insight and enables action to position wellbeing as a fourth bottom line indicator.
Crisis Management
Lyra provides expert and immediate solutions to organisations, teams and individuals preparing for and recovering from crises.The primary goal of this intervention is to facilitate the immediate recovery process of those who are primary, secondary or tertiary victims of the event. This ensures that they return to being fit for work as soon as possible, whilst vastly decreasing the danger of recurring traumatic stress later in their lives.
35 years of experience
We assist organisations in the aftermath of international, national and local disasters.
Clinical experts
Provide expert managerial advice while keeping employees at the center of every solution.
Learning and Upskilling
With Lyra’s innovative Learning and Development, your workforce will receive development and resilience training whilst simultaneously bolstering your company’s grit, growth, and productivity.
