Comparing Talked for Work vs Uprise

We spend a significant part of our lives at work. As such, it makes sense to expect workplaces to step up in their role to prioritise not only their business metrics but also their employees’ wellbeing.

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) have also evolved over the years. From simply giving access to counselling sessions, modern EAPs and alternatives have taken on a broader scope to effectively meet real needs and preferences.

Talked for Work and Uprise are two EAP service providers that have gone beyond the traditional. Let’s break down how they compare in this guide.

Key features at a glance

The specific services and add-ons you can access vary depending on your chosen EAP plan.  Talked for Work lets you pick from three tiers: Essential care, Enhanced care, and Complete care. Check this page for the specific inclusions and optional add-ons per tier.

On the other hand, Uprise currently has two plans: Uprise attentive care and Uprise attentive care plus.

Getting to know Talked for Work

Talked for Work is Talked’s workplace wellbeing program grounded in the Stepped Care framework and evidence-based mental health practices. It aims to provide complete, human-first mental health and medical support for both teams and managers – all in one platform.

Based in Melbourne, Talked’s services are primarily designed for Aussies by Aussies. All Talked psychologists and counsellors are registered and accredited by Australian peak bodies, such as the AHPRA for psychologists and the PACFA for counsellors.

Accessing psychology with Talked

It’s easy to start accessing psychology sessions with Talked. Depending on a company’s package, employees can be eligible for therapy sessions on a pay-per-session basis or a provision of 3 to 6 sessions per employee per year.

You have the option to use Talked’s therapist-matching tool (which will match you with three therapists who fit your needs and preferences) or browse profiles and choose a therapist on your own. Talked also lets you filter therapists according to their expertise, gender, therapy approaches, and more.

Employees using Talked for the first time also have the option to book free 15-minute consultations with any psychologist and counsellor, or, depending on their tier, access the clinical triage. The triage lets you speak with a mental health nurse who will assess your needs and provide expert recommendations and/or referrals.

Getting to know Uprise

Like Talked, Uprise also follows the Stepped-Care framework to support employees wherever they might be in their mental health journey. It’s one of the few EAP providers in Australia that offer more than just counselling.

To start using Uprise as a subscribed employee, you’ll typically have to start with an automated wellbeing check from which you’ll receive a wellbeing score out of 100. Based on your score, the algorithm will assess your risk level (high, moderate, or low) and provide specific recommendations (urgent intervention, proactive engagement, or wellbeing development).

Apart from therapy and coaching, Uprise offers access to a mix of self-guided mental fitness courses, resilience training, company or team-wide awareness events, and other psychosocial services.

Human-first clinical triage

Triage is an important first step to understanding your needs and the urgency of your situation. At Talked, we also believe that this is a time for connection – to make sure you feel understood, supported, and guided by a real person who truly cares and who’s competent to direct you to an appropriate next step.

Uprise doesn’t have a human triage, but they do have an automated algorithm that checks your wellbeing score and provides recommendations based on your result.

Free psychologist consultations

Many studies support that a positive client-psychologist relationship is more likely to result in fulfilling therapy outcomes. That’s why finding someone you feel aligned and connected with is very important.

Talked knows that you don’t always get the right fit at first booking, and that’s why Talked offers free and unlimited 15-minute sessions where you can meet different therapists and assess who can help you best before booking a full session.

Therapy, counselling, coaching

Talked lets you book a psychologist or counsellor at any time and day. Depending on your chosen psychologist or counsellor, you might be able to secure a same-day, after-hours, or weekend therapy session that lasts for up to 50 minutes. In-person sessions are also available under the Complete Care tier.

Meanwhile, Uprise can connect you with a therapist within the next business day. Sessions, via telehealth or in-person, last for 1 hour and can be scheduled within or after your work hours.

Proactive, early intervention resources

One of the things that differentiates modern from traditional EAP is the heavy focus on proactive and preventive support. Both Talked and Uprise embrace this advocacy, providing various wellbeing resources like a mood tracking tool, a wellbeing index tool, mental health assessments, courses, articles, video guides, audio guides, and other helpful assets. 

Both platforms also offer a mix of on-demand resources as well as live (online and in-person) learning sessions.

Welfare checks

A person in crisis might not always seek help, and that’s when a psychologist-led or manager-initiated welfare check becomes crucial.

With a clinician’s advice or at a manager’s request, Talked for Work can initiate welfare checks for employees exposed to a critical incident at work. Managers can also request Talked to do a welfare check on an employee who is uncontactable or might be in crisis.

Uprise doesn’t specify welfare checks in their list of services, but they do initiate callbacks for employees determined to be at-risk during their psychological assessment.

Medical advice & GP access

Access to medical advice is incredibly helpful, especially for conditions that require both mental health therapy and medication. Under Talked’s Complete Care tier, users can access medical advice from a mental health nurse or get connected with a GP.

Talked’s bulk-billed GP can also provide a Mental Health Treatment Plan for users who want to use Medicare to access subsidised psychology sessions.

Psychosocial risk assessment & management

Addressing psychosocial risks is a must under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) obligations. If your team hasn’t put in the effort to comply with the WHS, Talked can help you identify the psychosocial hazards in your organisation and then define and implement the necessary control measures.

This not only safeguards your team’s wellbeing but also protects your organisation from compliance issues and costly compensation claims.

Critical incident response & follow-up

Despite proactive measures, crises and critical incidents might still happen at times. That’s why a complete workplace safety framework must involve everything from risk mitigation to prevention, response, and recovery.

When a crisis does happen, both Talked and Uprise can support your team. Talked’s comprehensive critical incident support includes remote support during or immediately after a crisis, deployment of on-site trauma responders if necessary, and follow-up support and planning to ensure your team’s safety and prevent the same issue from recurring.

Uprise, on the other hand, offers remote and on-site psychological first aid and follow-up planning.

Real-time safety services

Here is where Talked for Work goes much farther than most EAP providers’ extra mile. 

For organisations with safety-sensitive or high-risk roles – such as field workers or roles with physical danger – Talked’s safety services can offer peace of mind and quick access to support. 

This support includes: 24/7 access to our Care Team, a “check on me” timer that automatically alerts our Care Team if an employee doesn’t respond to the set alarm, and welfare checks for employees who might be unsafe.

Manager support

Managers are key players in workplace safety, but that doesn’t exclude them from needing support themselves.

To support and empower managers, both Talked and Uprise offer leadership and mental health training specifically for managers. In addition, Talked’s highest tier also lets managers consult our Care Team for immediate advice on people management, critical incidents, and other leadership-related issues.

Wellbeing library

This is one of the key services where both platforms have a large overlap. Both Talked for Work and Uprise offer a library of a wide range of resources designed to support different needs - from self-care and self-paced courses to fitness videos, meditation videos and audios, and many more.

Everything in Talked’s library is designed specifically for Aussies, so that local context is embedded or considered in all resources.

Real-time dashboard and insights

Talked for Work offers a real-time dashboard with its Complete care tier, giving organisations instant access to usage data, support trends, and engagement insights. Even at lower tiers, Talked provides monthly usage reports under the Essential plan and a quarterly business review with the Enhanced plan. This can help leaders stay informed and proactive about workplace wellbeing.

In contrast, Uprise offers quarterly reporting, which provides valuable insights but lacks the immediacy and tiered flexibility of Talked’s reporting options.

Talked: A human-first service provider for organisations of all sizes

Both Uprise and Talked for Work provide real value, but they serve somewhat different needs and workplace types.

Uprise focuses on digital-first, preventative care, using algorithm-driven triage and self-guided resources to build resilience. Recent reviews of its app highlight the availability of resources like exercise videos and other wellbeing content.

Meanwhile, Talked for Work stands out by offering a more human, hands-on approach. With clinical triage led by real professionals, access to a multidisciplinary care team, and the option for a free 15-minute consultation, support feels more personal and immediate. Add in access to medical advice, GP consults, and on-site crisis support. With all these services, coupled with a library of proactive and early-intervention resources, it becomes obvious that Talked provides a more comprehensive safety net for workplaces of any size.

You wouldn’t simply be ticking check boxes to meet minimum workplace safety requirements. Instead, you get real, human-centred support, 

If you need more information to guide your workplace wellbeing decisions, feel free to request a demo or reach out to us via team@talked.com.au.