Anxiety

The Control Enthusiast

By 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, […]

Messy, Unruly, Chaotic Life

After 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 […]

Getting Lost in Our Own Lives

Lawyers 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 […]

Positive Psychology for Lawyers—The Benefits of Positive Emotions

The emerging scientific field known as positive psychology helps us understand how the brain can change, and that we can purposefully change it to create more positive emotions. Positive emotions, in turn, broaden our cognitive capacity, allowing flexible, open-minded thinking for creative problem solving and building of personal resources such as skills, knowledge, and relationships. […]

You Can Trust That Assistance is Confidential and Reliable

The legal profession is a helping profession. Most days lawyers find themselves trying to solve problems for their clients. We are paid to have answers and to fix situations that have gone awry. One of the difficulties for professionals who are supposed to have the answers for others is that it is difficult for them […]

Anger The Drug

“Anger is liquor to the “dry drunk” alcoholic.  Once anger comes in, just like alcohol, it has to wear itself out; it goes through the body just like liquor.”  These were the words of a PALS volunteer to me recently.  They struck home.  I have been working with lawyers and judges dealing with alcohol issues […]

Lawyer Anxiety

One of the leading mental health issues facing lawyers, including lawyers suffering from alcohol addiction or depression, is anxiety.  Anxiety can be a terrible emotional experience.  It is a feeling that something horrible is about to happen, that is not actually happening.  A mechanism in our body has been triggered to put us into a […]

The Price of Modernity and the Loss of Love

You have probably noticed the rash of recent biographies about the founding fathers.  Why do we have this thirst for insight into the lives of our heroic American forefathers?  We seem to long for a sense of greatness in ourselves and our leaders that seems missing in our complex modern lives. A forthcoming biography focusing […]

The Promises of Alcoholics Anonymous

One morning I went to a place beyond dawn. A source of sweetness that flows and is never less. I have been shown a beauty that would confuse both worlds, but I won’t cause that uproar. – ‘Rumi No matter how we grow up -wealthy or poor, well loved or forsaken – we form a view of life. […]

The Pursuit of Happiness

” . . . [H]appiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.” – Victor Frankel Thomas Jefferson’s phrase has long resonated in the minds of Americans.  But only recently has there been extensive research on what makes people happy.  For many years, […]

Trouble Sleeping

The lawyer explained, “just don’t have time to see my doctor.”  Or, the explanation of what he did not have time for could have been, go to support group meetings, see a therapist, play with my kids, or take my spouse out to dinner.  One of the great benefits and burdens of technology has been the […]

The Importance of Trust and Curiosity In Treatment

Turns out that one of the most important aspects to addressing any emotional, mental health or addiction problem is learning to be curious.  Over the years, numerous studies of the application of different psychological theories have failed to show any factor about a particular theory which made the application of that psychological theory better than […]