Self-Care: Strategies to Sustain and Protect Lawyer Well-Being

BE WELL

BY CHRISTINA LOFTUS

As more data emerge about the protective benefits of self-care for those in helping professions, the legal field is similarly recognizing the importance of self-care strategies. The topic is now being promoted in the law to address the prevalence of substance use, mental health challenges, and burnout among legal professionals. Organizations such as the Institute for Well-Being in Law (IWIL) https://lawyerwellbeing.net, Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program (TLAP) www.tlaphelps.org, and the Austin Bar’s Well-Being Committee provide resources to promote attorney well-being and counteract the effects of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma.

Yet, what does “self-care” truly mean? I struggled with the importance of self-care during my social work graduate studies, as this topic never came up during my earlier legal education. My initial thoughts about self-care included: What is all this talk of self-care? Don’t we have more substantive things to learn? And as professionals, don’t we just need to do what needs to be done?

It turns out that self-care is not a subterfuge for shirking hard work, but instead may be the key to performing better in your work and promoting health in mind, body, and spirit. Based on my own experience, I cannot help but wonder: Despite all the articles, CLEs, and strategies promoting self-care, how much do we in the legal profession understand and embrace self-care?

The Green Cross (www. greencross.org), an international, non-profit organization providing support to those who serve others experiencing trauma following a crisis, imposes “Standards of Self Care Guidelines.” The guidelines have a persuasive statement that self-care is not only a duty needed to preserve the dignity and worth of the helper but is required so that the volunteer does not inadvertently do harm to those served. The guidelines direct the volunteer to make a formal commitment to self-care, to include physical, psychological, social/ interpersonal, and professional elements.

Self-care is not a subterfuge for shirking hard work, but instead may be the key to performing better.

Lawyers, similarly, are serving clients affected by conflict and adversity: Perhaps our profession should promote guidelines to sustain and protect legal professionals (and, by extension, their clients)? Some may say guidelines are too restrictive or limiting, citing barriers to self-care, including: a perceived lack of time; lack of money or resources; feelings of guilt for putting oneself “first”; a perception that self-care is a weakness; or a lack of awareness of what truly restores you.

Organizational psychologist Alyssa Westring suggests making a shift in mindset to these common self-care barriers to conceptualize self-care as less of a trade-off swapping one resource (time, money, or energy) with another, and more of promoting the interconnections between different parts of our lives. She shares the following tools:

• Defining self-care on your own terms, noticing patterns of when or what leaves you feeling either energized or drained and looking for opportunities to add more rejuvenating activities.

• Checking for all-or-nothing thinking, foregoing a complete schedule overhaul, and integrating small lifestyle changes with a spirit of curiosity and compassion.

• Seeking opportunities to integrate the different parts of our life together, such as walking with a colleague or volunteering with coworkers. Ultimately, there is no formulaic answer on the best way to implement self-care. Perhaps the guidelines suggested by another helping organization along with creative tools for overcoming common barriers to self-care will inspire you. For in the end, selfcare can truly provide a strategy to both sustain those in the legal field as well as protect lawyer well-being. AL

Christina Loftus is a lawyer, licensed social worker, and life coach who previously practiced law for more than a decade. Loftus earned a master’s degree in social work from The University of Texas at Austin and is a certified Human Potential Life Coach. She is employed at Travis County Health and Human Services.