Wellness Toolkit: Barriers to Seeking Help
CLIA recognizes the importance of promoting wellness for the profession. To help, we have compiled a repository of wellness resources based on the findings of the National Study on the Health and Wellness Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada prepared by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, the Canadian Bar Association and the Université de Sherbrooke.
Wellness Toolkit Launch
As noted by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, “legal professionals are at higher risk of experiencing stress, anxiety, depression and substance use than are other professionals”. We also know that many claims result from wellness issues. As such, CLIA recognizes the importance of promoting wellness for the profession.
Law Is A High Stress Profession: The Mindful Business Charter Can Help
The practice of law is inherently stressful. Heavy workloads, relentless client demands and billable hour targets can take a toll. Helping clients can be emotionally draining and overtake our lives. Work/life balance can be elusive.
Bite Size CPD Series: Mental Wellness
For more than three years, the Law Society of Saskatchewan has developed the Bite Size CPD Series. These informative under-10-minute video episodes cover a variety of topics and are available for all to view on the Law Society website. A new episode is released each Thursday.
The Wellness Docket: Limit Interruptions to Decrease Anxiety and Increase Productivity
If you follow me on LinkedIn you know that I hate email. At the height of my personal struggles, thinking about checking email would elicit so much anxiety that I might as well have been preparing to fight a tiger. I have read several books and articles lately that have led me to conclude that the reason I hate email is the overreliance on it and other communication tools in the modern workplace and the impact it has on our ability to concentrate and produce high quality work. Let me give you a short summary of the recent literature that informs my thinking.
Wellness Toolkit Sneak Peek
As noted by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, “legal professionals are at higher risk of experiencing stress, anxiety, depression and substance use than are other professionals”.
The Wellness Docket: You’re Not The Only One Struggling To Lead in a Modern Law Firm - Why Running a Law Firm Is So Difficult
This summer I attended an executive education program for law firm leaders at Harvard Law School’s Center for the Legal Profession. The audience was made up of lawyers from all law firm sizes, all different practice areas and from fifteen different countries. It was enlightening to see how despite all our differences, we struggled with the same issues as leaders: the mental health of our people (including our own), difficulties managing through change and managing workplaces with multiple generations chief among them. My main personal focus throughout the program was on how I could use what we had learned to improve mental health in legal workplaces.
Lawyer Sabbaticals: A way to reduce burnout and errors?
Much has been written about the poor mental health among members of the legal professions. I have been speaking and writing about finding possible systemic solutions to this problem – one which I have suffered from personally.
Post Roundup: Wellness
In case you missed it, here is a collection of posts to help you get a better understanding of the wellness resources and programs available to you:
The Wellness Docket: A focus on mental health and wellness in the legal professions
I was thrilled to be invited by the Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association to write a regular column on their blog about mental health and wellness in the legal professions. It is wonderful that CLIA has turned its attention to this important issue that all of its subscribers are no doubt encountering in their day-to-day work.
Course: Mental Health and Wellness in the Legal Profession
CLIA recognizes the importance of promoting wellness for the profession. Courses designed to help lawyers recognize the symptoms of mental health issues in their colleagues and themselves, and that offer supports and treatment options are invaluable.
Bell Let’s Talk
Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day. In 2010, Bell Let’s Talk began a new conversation about Canada’s mental health. The goal of the day is to engage an open discussion about mental illness, and offer new ideas and hope for those who struggle.
Give Yourself the Gift of Wellness
CLIA recognizes the importance of promoting wellness for the profession. The National Study on the Psychological Health Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada presented troubling statistics about the psychological distress and burnout facing our colleagues.