By Anonymous Little David, with his pitiful slingshot, vs. the mighty Goliath. In a nutshell, that’s how it felt to me for much of my career as a public defender. Now, with years of recovery in Al-Anon, I realize that so much of my perception of my role as a defender was tied up in […]
Archive for the ‘Mental Health’ Category
What’s Mindfulness Got to Do with It?
Posted byBy Laura Mahr After six weeks of Mindfulness Meditation for Building Resilience to Stress, lawyers from the 28th Judicial District Bar have the answer… There are few things we lawyers love more than our brains. Which is why, when our brains tell us we are tired, most of us lawyers tell our brains […]
The Control Enthusiast
Posted byBy Cathy Killian The Lawyer Assistance Program holds support groups across the state for lawyers who are actively engaged in a recovery process (recovery from all kinds of issues, not just drug or alcohol problems). Often these meetings are topic driven, providing lawyers an opportunity to uncover, examine, explore, and share their attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, […]
Three Months of Saturdays—One Busy Lawyer’s Most Excellent Summer Sabbatical
Posted byBy Chris Connelly Imagine every day is Saturday. The week is over, the successes and failures of the week are yesterday, the prospect of another week—stress, demands, egos, self-importance—is days away. Do what you want, where and when you want. Sit back and watch the world go by, or maybe even choose to be part […]
Messy, Unruly, Chaotic Life
Posted byAfter working at the NC Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP) for the past 5 years, I can say with confidence that most of what we see clinically is lawyers’ and judges’ responses to the serious difficulties of life and a career in law. Not that there isn’t true psychopathology, because there certainly is. But it is […]
A Parent’s Roller Coaster Ride into Recovery, Part 2
Posted byThis story is continued from the last edition of the State Bar Journal. Finally, the time came for Brian to leave the treatment center. The day we picked him up, my wife and I met with Brian and his counselor for a discharge conference. I have a vivid memory of two points from that meeting […]
A Parent’s Roller Coaster Ride into Recovery – Part 1
Posted byMy son is an addict. His addiction has had a profound impact on my life. Addiction—which includes alcoholism—is a disease, and it wreaks havoc on family members as well as the addict. Naturally, we seek and yearn first for the addict’s sobriety, and we want to do whatever we can to “fix” the addict. However, […]
The Dirty Not-So-Secret Ashley Madison Affair
Posted by“Life is short. Have an affair.” You might also want to have a good lawyer. And if you are a lawyer, you might want to “drop, cover, and hold on.” Ken Metcalf, Chief Technology Officer for a prominent security provider, recently compared the Ashley Madison (“AM”) security breach to an earthquake and its aftershocks. It […]
Getting Lost in Our Own Lives
Posted byLawyers are especially adept at maintaining a façade. “Never let ‘em see ya sweat” is wonderful advice for entering into a tough mediation, negotiation, or lengthy trial. The problem arises when we take an adage like that to heart so strongly that we completely disconnect from our authentic internal experience. Most lawyers we see at […]
The Enlightened Lawyer: Overcoming Stress and Creating Balance
Posted byYou’ve already been at the office for nine hours. The senior partner is on your case about a research memo you haven’t had a chance to begin. That difficult client who insists on calling several times a week to complain about everything under the sun is at it again. Oh, and you’ve got a brief […]