Help for the Helper: The Effects of Trauma and Compassion Fatigue on the Lawyer Who Cares

Many attorneys were attracted to the legal profession because they care about people and want to help them. Burnout is one of the consequences of shrugging off the anxiety and stress that come with helping people through complex legal matters without properly addressing that anxiety and stress. A special type of burnout, called "secondary traumatic stress" or "compassion fatigue," isn't discussed as frequently as those of stress and burnout and thus, for many attorneys, they are topics in need of attention. 

Secondary or vicarious trauma can be the cumulative effect of listening to a client or witness relay graphic stories and experiences. Those who experience compassion fatigue tend to take on the pain, suffering, and burdens of the people they are helping. It is an exhaustion that is felt physically, emotionally, or mentally and can affect numerous areas of an attorney's life, often leaving them feeling numb. 

This program explores the connection between compassion fatigue that attorneys experience and recent studies which have shown a dramatic increase in impairment due to alcoholism, addiction, and mental health disorders among members of the legal profession.

Learning Objectives:

1. Recognize the early warning signs of impairment, with special emphasis on stress, burnout, trauma, and compassion fatigue

2. Utilize the free services that Lawyers Assistance Programs provide to lawyers, judges, their family members, and law students

3. Identify barriers which prevent lawyers and judges from seeking the help they need

4. Explore the role that education plays in breaking the stigma and fear associated with addiction and mental illness in the legal profession

5. Identify how best to approach the impaired individual