Is the Legal Profession Making Good on Its Mental Health Promises?

Building Belonging is joined by Eileen Travis, Executive Director of the City Bar Lawyer Assistance Program. Eileen has forty years’ experience in mental-health services and has been part of the spearhead of the legal profession’s growing awareness of and respect for mental health and well-being. Eileen has great insight to share about the history of how the legal profession has dealt with mental health and well-being issues. She explained how shifting attitudes haven’t always led to substantial shifts in a culture that drives lawyers to burnout. But Eileen also shared her experience of progress being made by a new Gen Z workforce that is driving some of the well-being culture changes that the profession needs. Tune in to hear more about: • How the landscape of mental health in the legal profession was dramatically changed by a groundbreaking ABA report (linked below) • How the legal profession has succeeded in producing more mental-health resources without always giving lawyers meaningful opportunities to utilize those resources • How LAP has worked to change the character and fitness process to be less stigmatizing and more compassionate • The history of Lawyers Assistance Programs in New York and around the world, and how they built a foundation for wellness programs in the legal profession today The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change (aka the Krill Report): https://bityl.co/MRc6 DEIB for the People – a Collection of DEIB Content for Your Screens Mary Ellen – Tips for Consuming Social Media with Intention Tanya – “The Egg,” (https://ytube.io/3mxh) “Dissatisfaction” (https://ytube.io/3mxg) and “Loneliness” (https://ytube.io/3mxi) by Kurz gesagt Angie – When They See Us (https://bityl.co/MRJq) Access a transcript of this episode here: https://bityl.co/MRe2