On June 21, 2018
The Building Blocks of Resilience: Mindfulness (Part 2)
I wrote in the first part of this series about how one of the true foundational elements of resilience is grit. Staying power, passionate pursuit and deliberate practice and effort are essential for any lawyer who hopes to find success in the legal practice. Resilience, however, is not only about the ability to bounce back
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On April 11, 2018
“A Profession in Crisis – We Stepping up to the Plate for our Colleagues Recognizing, Understanding, and Referring a Colleague in Need”
As lawyers, we are a vulnerable population. Recent studies have confirmed that the overwhelming stress that is commonplace in our legal profession disproportionately results in attorneys suffering levels of depression, anxiety, addiction, and other serious issues at rates much higher than those seen in the general population.[1] Statistics collected by the Illinois Lawyers’ Assistance Program,
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On February 23, 2018
The Building Blocks of Resilience: Grit (Part 1)
Resilience—that is, the ability to bounce back in the face of setbacks—is essential for any lawyer who hopes to find success and well-being in the legal practice. Forget merely surviving, with resilience, you can actually thrive. For lawyers, thriving is a goal that is often hard won. As a 2017 report on lawyer well-being shows,
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On December 1, 2017
Weightlifting for Lawyers
Book Review by Gerald Cassioppi Healy, Ph.D., Shawn & Fortrang, Ph.D., Jeffrey, The Full Weight of the Law: How Legal Professionals Can Recognize and Rebound from Depression, ABA Publishing, American Bar Association, 2017. The authors, Drs. Shawn Healy and Jeffrey Fortrang, both have the appropriate and significant credentials, including experience with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers,
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On September 20, 2017
Tom Dart for Mental Health Education in Jail
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On April 4, 2017
Tips for Better Sleep
By: Karmen Wong If your day contains a lot of stress, it can be difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep, which then might create more stress. Here are a few tips to help reduce your daily stress and prepare you for a good night’s rest. 1. Get Some Quiet Time With Someone You Like
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On March 7, 2017
A Book Review: Full Catastrophe Living
By: Madeleine Sharko (Madeleine is a LAP Blog contributor and a long-time LAP Peer Support Volunteer) Full-Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn first arrived as a book in or around 1990. The revised 2013 version is expanded, but holds on to the same tenets as the past, ubiquitous manual. The initial book was reviewed extensively by
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On February 7, 2017
Are Young Lawyers Less Civilized?
By Marie Sarantakis (Marie is both a contributor to the LAP Blog as well as a columnist for The Examiner, specializing in generational studies. She also serves on LAP’s Associate Board since 2016.) “Civility costs nothing, and buys everything.” Mary Wortley Montagu What is civility? Civility is an art, attitude, and behavior. It is the
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On January 10, 2017
How Attorneys Can Make Time to Stay Healthy
By Jeff Sailing (Jeff is an attorney turned educator, and a regular contributor to the LAP Blog as well as other industry publications). Everyone knows that attorneys log a lot of hours; this fact is regularly depicted in television shows and in movies. Most people have friends who are attorneys who can attest to the
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On December 30, 2016
These lawyers turn to nature to nurture their bodies and souls
By Jenny B. Davis Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that “the health of the eye seems to demand a horizon.” For many lawyers, however, sight lines extend only as far as the office door, and the horizon is truncated by walls and window edges. They’re in a box, literally and figuratively, held captive by tasks,
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