Meet Your EAP Friend: Anika Isaac
This is the fifth installment in a series introducing NASA Johnson Space Center team members to the many people working in the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Catch up on the first, second, and fourth installments.
Oftentimes, it can be scary to take that first step and reach out when you’re struggling, and the pandemic has only exacerbated the number of people who are having a hard time. Anika Isaac, one of four clinicians in Johnson’s EAP, could be one of the professionals you would speak with if you make an appointment.
Get to know a little about her, below.
What is your job title?
Counselor.
What do you do for the Employee Assistance Program?
I provide counseling, assessment, referral, crisis response, debriefing, and support; an assertiveness workshop series and six-week training courses; coordinate the Autism Support Group; orientation for interns/co-ops; management consults; EAP and Autism Support Group SharePoint website development; and various presentations by request and in collaboration with Employee Resource Groups.
For people hesitant to reach out to the EAP, what would you like them to know?
I would want to encourage people that we absolutely understand and expect the hesitance to reach out to the EAP. I want folks to know and remember our common humanity that we all share in struggle, since no one is exempt from it. If anything, the year 2020 has absolutely reminded us of that. Yet, the EAP is a support for persevering during the in-between moments. A key reason behind our EAP profiles and the desire to host workshops and presentations is so that people see us and feel more comfortable contacting us.
How has your own personal/professional background influenced your work with the EAP?
First off, my sense of humor usually shows through. Laughing at my own folly and humanness allows me to encourage others with accepting theirs. I absolutely am a firm believer and proponent of a strong social network. Not necessary big, but close. That only takes one other person. I recognize and know that I am made better through my family and friend network.
Over the years of counseling, I have come to appreciate and be humbled by the amazing humans in my family and friend group who are courageous in vulnerability and triumph. I feel that allows me to offer support for clients to reinforce our shared human connections. My professional background has a strong influence in family/couple therapy, crisis response, addiction, and grief. I have experienced several personal losses of key loved ones. I have worked in a residential drug/alcohol addiction rehab. I have worked with police directly as part of a crisis response team, where we ride together as a team responding to people and their families who call due to someone in psychiatric distress and get them to a hospital. I also have provided crisis support for first responders, working frequently with firefighters. My EAP background has allowed me to work with people of just about every level in a work group and a diverse set of disciplines. This truly has allowed me to witness, firsthand, the common thread that exists amongst us all while recognizing the nuances that makes us all unique.
These are emotionally fraught times with the pandemic, divisive politics, and other struggles. What is your best advice for those who need help coping when problems seem to snowball?
I have found myself encouraging others to remember their anchors. (I am sure that people have other terms for them.) For me, anchors are individual and also universal. They are what matters most to us — inspiring messages and remembering how we have overcome past crises. When we feel lost and adrift, our anchors ground us. It takes more strength and courage to see what we have in common and not just react to how we are different. Once we look at seeing ourselves in each other and not the reflex of assumptions, but really think about how we see ourselves and each other, we find we have more in common than not.
I would suggest that people identify what those anchors are for them. When facing a mountain of feeling overwhelmed, all you need to take is take one step at a time and, eventually, you will get where you need to be. There are many roads to Rome and several ways to work toward a goal. And, we also should allow ourselves to rest in between steps and look for guides along the way. Slow, steady, and STAY IN THIS DAY/MOMENT. All too often we scare ourselves with repeating the worst that has happened and the worst that could happen. We need to stay in what IS happening and the silver linings in TODAY. Most importantly … Whatever you are feeling, YOU ARE NOT FEELING IT ALONE!
Now, more about you!
Where did you grow up?
New Orleans and northeast Houston.
How long have you been at JSC?
Eleven years.
What have you learned about yourself that you didn’t know before because of the pandemic?
My dog is more spoiled from this, I have discovered a renewed love of writing, and my inner introvert has allowed me to adapt better than I thought. I also learned that disconnecting from social media during this was easier than I thought, and I am still able to maintain connections with family and friends.
What’s your idea of the perfect Thanksgiving?
Simple: Spending time with family and friends and taking in the beauty of that gift.
Name your guilty (or maybe not-so-guilty) indulgence.
All things “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” “Game of Thrones,” Marvel and DC movies.
Tell us something people don’t readily know about you.
Probably my indulgences … but I love traveling, especially internationally. I am a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. I LOVE a good hot tea!
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Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Johnson's EAP at 281-483-6130 or jsc-employeeassistanceprogram@mail.nasa.gov if you need someone to talk to.
