Normalizing Therapy
Being an adult is full of things that we accept are constantly on our to-do lists. Doctor’s appointments, trips to the dentist, bringing the car into the shop. These are all things that are generally normalized. If I say I need an hour for a doctor’s appointment, few people think twice. If I say I need an hour for therapy, too many people still do a double take.
The legal profession is full of educated minds. It seems like we should be better as a profession about accepting something like therapy. Personally, I think that all of us could benefit from having a therapist. Yet too often that is not the case. It shouldn’t need to be said, but apparently it does: living with mental illness and seeking the support of a therapist should never be something that disqualifies a candidate or holds them back.
Yet mental illness is still something that too many people don’t fully understand. Those who blame violent acts on mental illness fuel this stigma, as does a belief that it somehow makes someone less effective as an advocate. Even when employers claim to be supportive or understanding, the need to go to therapy might make an employee unworthy in their eyes of landing that big case or moving forward in the firm.
They might claim that it just comes down to billable hours, another practice that causes far too much harm in the profession, but it is more than that. It is the bias that the person is somehow unstable and therefore unreliable. It is the fear that they won’t be able to handle the stress of the big case, or the new promotion. And while some might argue that they never do that, the reality is that I still have people asking me if someone with a serious mental illness should be practicing law.
Looking back over the stigmas and the misconceptions that feed them, it seems apparent that one thing that legal profession needs is more education. The existing structure of requiring continuing legal education can readily be adapted to educate the profession about mental illness, what it is and what those who live with it are capable of. That is why in addition to offering peer support, a big part of what we do is education. If you are looking to offer your firm or law department educational material about mental illness, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We would be happy to help.