Workshop: Lawyers and Mental Health

Catalog description

Examines theoretical and practical approaches that can enable lawyers and law students to maintain their own mental and physical health while dealing with the stresses of law school and legal practice, including difficult clients and troubled colleagues, stressful work environments, and exposure to trauma. Students explore theoretical readings and research, first-person accounts, and hypothetical cases to better understand common mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, suicidality, substance abuse, and trauma, and their potential impact on the personal and professional lives of lawyers. Students learn how to assess, address, and reduce the impact of these conditions in themselves and how to deal with others whose actions may result from mental health impairments. Learning to practice appropriate self-care to further students' growth and resilience as lawyers is emphasized.