Psychological Distress in the Legal Profession

“The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet.” Remen

The legal profession – What a world! My first exposure to it was working as a Provisional Forensic Psychologist back in 2007, facilitating a workshop with criminal defence lawyers who seemed to be such masters of their craft and so consistently solid through the adversity: until we started talking about their own mental health.

In and since that workshop, I have learned a valuable lesson about psychological distress from the work being virtually inevitable for lawyers, regardless of their level of emotional capacity or resilience – and yet, the cultures and pressures of the profession have encouraged a ‘push through’ and ‘get on with it’ mentality for decades.

I have also learned about the need to consciously hold in mind that lawyers are human – that just because they are capable, resilient and responsible, does not mean they aren’t significantly impacted by their work (and often the triggers of their own past trauma, by working with and for traumatised individuals in high stakes situations). This has become vital in developing and facilitating programs for lawyers in a way that offers unconditional safety and containment, at the same time as opportunities for connecting, healing and growing.

Education and Support for Lawyers
“We are no longer the survival of the fittest. We are now the survival of the nurtured” Professor Louis Cozolino

While it has taken a long time to ‘spread the word’ about the importance of mental health education and support for all lawyers, I have been relieved to see detailed research findings published in the last 10 years across the globe to highlight the unique risks of the profession and specify what’s needed.

This has been led by the findings and wellbeing principles recommended by the International Bar Association Presidential Task Force on Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession (formed in 2019): i.e., raising awareness, increasing commitment to positive change, addressing systemic problems, and sharing good practice to “create a movement to change the culture of the legal profession”. Worth the read here.

I am even more relieved and hopeful about the fact that more law societies and individual organisations / firms have ‘got the message’ and are truly prioritising mental health education and support for lawyers, and support staff, in recent years – allowing their members to go temporarily ‘offline’ to get more ‘online’ about mental health and wellbeing practices.

Embodied Work
My career trajectory has exposed me to all types of law (and lawyers), and their unique stressors and psychosocial hazards. I constantly feel in awe of the level of commitment to humanism, and I have learned so much from lawyers about embodied resilience, altruism, hard work, and the impact of responsibility on such front line work.

I maintain that I can’t fully ‘get it’, but I have certainly learned to equip and resource these ‘soldiers on the frontline’ with information and tools they don’t necessarily already know. In a way that can be integrated quickly, implemented immediately, and sustained – most importantly to protect themselves against psychological injury (i.e., by knowing the global warning signs and what to do about them), for the benefit of increased self control and sense of overall wellbeing in the long term, but also therefore for the benefit of everyone around them.

I have been so privileged and heartened in recent years to work in depth with lawyers in organisations, focused on holistic support and integration, e.g., I worked with the Legal and Integrity Unit of the Victorian Country Fire Authority for 4 months intensively, combining workshops and individual reflective practice sessions, with great results and feedback. Let’s hope more organisations take the same road in future.

The Legal Profession in Tasmania
Since 2019, I have facilitated webinars and workshops for nearly all of the nation’s law societies, and the demand keeps growing. In 2024 and 2025, I had the privilege of facilitating. through the Law Society of Tasmania, multiple presentations, webinars and workshops for the legal profession in Tasmania.

Two things became immediately apparent – this Society, as the only law society in the country to implement a mandatory ‘equality and wellbeing’ CPD point, genuinely values mental health education and support for it’s members, and the members are so eager for guidance to enhance wellbeing in all directions – i.e., for themselves, their loved ones, their colleagues, and their clients.

I first partnered with the Law Society of Tasmania during COVID, focused on discussing key resources essential for members during that turbulent time. Since then, I have completed 3 trips to support many members.

Three topics were covered across the various formats in 2024, in the spirit of ‘covering all bases’ and equipping lawyers to support themselves and others:

• Protection Against Psychological Injury
• People Focused Leadership
• Navigating Dysregulating Clients

These workshops were designed in alignment with WorkSafe Australia recently amended regulations (2024) regarding psychosocial hazards, as well as the aforementioned findings and wellbeing principles recommended by the International Bar Association Presidential Task Force on Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession (2019).

The engagement has been profound and inspiring, with members not only sharing ideas and resources, but also stories of personal struggle, vulnerability, coping and hope. The key takeaways clearly landed with members.

Key Takeaways

1. Activate the insula!
   • This part of the brain ultimately turns down the volume on the ‘busy’ and ‘survival’ parts of our brain, helping us to be more regulated and focused
   • This can be achieved through mindfulness (e.g., attention to the senses), present moment somatic awareness and resourcing (e.g., grounding and vertical alignment), and self compassion practices (e.g., positive self appraisal processes; mesco, micro and macro breaks)

2. Practice People Focus Leadership
   • Create a culture built on civility and respect, starting with statements of values, mental health policies and resources
   • Facilitate mental health training and normalise mental health conversations in regular individual and team meetings
   • Focus on observable behaviours when discussing sensitive topics, model regulation, practice active listening, and stay in regular connection

3. Discover your ‘window of tolerance’ (before helping others with theirs)
   • Learn your warning signs to going out of your window of tolerance / becoming dysregulated – i.e., pattern of thoughts, feelings, sensations that suggest increasing stress / impact of the work
   • Know your activation tendencies – i.e., increased activation into hyper-arousal and / or withdrawal into hypo-arousal and survival patterns, e.g., fight, flight, submit
   • Find your resources to regulate – e.g., short term sensory deprivation for hyper-arousal, movement for hypo-arousal
   • Create a recovery plan – e.g., engagement in activities and / or with people that restore your energy and return you to your regulated self, and reflective practice, e.g., journalling including a reflection on your work / efforts in alignment with your values
   • Remember, the biggest gift you can give others is your regulated central nervous system!

The feedback from all workshops has been excellent (see here for comments shared by past attendees). Most importantly, Law Society of Tasmania members have specified their future interests and needs – Navigating Dysregulated Clients in Legal Practice, Reflective Practice for Lawyers, and the three-part Support Staff Series – Protection Against Psychological Injury. These workshops are offered in February and March 2026 with details listed here.

Please contact me if you are interested in customised workshop(s) for your organisation / firm when I’m in Hobart in 2026.

Nick Valentine
Psychotherapist & Consultant
Embodied Work
May 2025

nick@healingphase.com.au
embodiedwork.com.au