BarCARES FAQs

Below are Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About BarCARES:

Q. How do I access my free BarCARES counseling sessions?

A. You can access your three free annual BarCARES counseling sessions by calling the confidential BarCARES assistance line (1-800-640-0735). Your call will be received by a BarCARES service representative at HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, PA, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Following the call, the BarCARES service representative will work to arrange an initial session between you and a BarCARES counseling provider in your local area. Subsequent BarCARES counseling sessions are arranged directly between you and your BarCARES counseling provider, and can be used to resolve problems or determine how to access other sources of help.

Q. What if I don’t work/live near a provider?

A. In distant areas where there are no nearby counselors, telephone consultation is available through the BarCARES program. Telephone counseling is not covered under traditional insurance plans.

Q. Can my family use my BarCARES counseling sessions?

A. Some bar groups have chosen a “family rider” plan that allows immediate family members (dependents) to use one or all of their three cost-free annual BarCARES counseling sessions. The BarCARES service representative will let you know if your specific bar group allows family members to participate.

Q. Does my problem have to be work-related to use BarCARES?

A. BarCARES believes that any problem which is causing you concern can negatively impact your job performance. Therefore you can use BarCARES visits for work-related problems, marital issues, parenting and family concerns, or any other issue that takes your mind off of doing a good job for your clients.

Q. Who pays for my BarCARES counseling sessions?

A. Three annual BarCARES counseling sessions are provided at no cost to you by funding provided by your bar group membership or law school. The NC Bar Association and Lawyers Insurance Agency fund administrative fees for the program. None of these groups have access to names or other identifying information of any program user.

Q. Who are the providers of BarCARES counseling sessions?

A. The statewide BarCARES provider network consists of licensed counseling professionals across North Carolina. The network includes psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.

HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, PA, which is one of the oldest and largest clinical practice groups in the Southeast, selects and approves each counseling professional before he or she is added to the statewide BarCARES provider network. Therefore, you can be assured that each counselor in the BarCARES provider network has strong professional references and the appropriate credentials needed to practice mental health and/or behavioral health in the state of North Carolina.

Q. Can I continue with my BarCARES provider after I have used my three sessions?

A. Only those licensed counseling professionals that have been approved by HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, PA are eligible to provide cost-free counseling sessions to you under the BarCARES program. This helps assure the quality of the statewide BarCARES provider network and ensures that you will be meeting with a highly referred, credentialed counseling professional.

However, we are open to reviewing additional locally recommended providers across North Carolina for inclusion in the statewide BarCARES provider network. If your regular mental/behavioral health provider is interested in participating in the network, they may contact Anne Arberg at HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, PA. She can be reached at 1-800-640-0735, locally at 919-929-1227, or by email at aarberg@aol.com. Please note that it may take 1-3 weeks to review and approve new BarCARES counseling providers.

Q. How is BarCARES different from the NC State Bar Lawyer Assistance Program?

A. BarCARES operates on a different format. All contact is made through HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, PA, the organization that administers the BarCARES program. The three annual counseling sessions are free. To find out about the State Bar LAP program (PALS & FRIENDS), visit http://www.nclap.org/.

Q. Who will know about my counseling visits under BarCARES?

A. Unless you tell someone, the only people that will know about your use of your BarCARES counseling sessions are the BarCARES service representative at HRC, who connects you to a BarCARES provider in your local area, and the licensed professional providing BarCARES-sponsored counseling services to you. Counselors are bound by the confidentiality requirements of their profession.

Q. How does BarCARES maintain the confidentiality of its users?

A. Confidentiality is at the core of the BarCARES program. BarCARES maintains the confidentiality of program users by administering the program through HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, PA, [HRC] one of the oldest and largest clinical practice groups in the southeast. HRC and the statewide BarCARES counseling provider network are groups of licensed professionals bound by the confidentiality requirements of their profession. HRC does collect anonymous statistics (all names and other identifying information are removed), and reports quarterly to the Board of Directors of BarCARES of North Carolina, Inc. (BCNC) on the utilization for each BarCARES program. This is done for program review purposes and to ensure continuing improvement of the program. BCNC is a nonprofit corporation founded to implement BarCARES throughout North Carolina, and to monitor the overall operation of the BarCARES program. BCNC contracts with HRC to administer the BarCARES Program.

Q. Who do I call for support or questions regarding the BarCARES program?

A. For support or other questions regarding the BarCARES program, contact Anne Arberg, Program Coordinator for HRC Behavioral Health & Psychiatry, PA. (www.hrc-pa.com/barcares.html). She can be reached at 1-800-640-0735, locally at 919-929-1227, or by e-mail at aarberg@aol.com.