2023-07-10 05:50:14
Non-extendable terms and expirations, high level of competitiveness and demand and always being available to the client; These are some of the circumstances that lawyers must deal with in the exercise of their profession. Factors that, if not managed properly or combined with other personal problems, can pose a real risk to both the physical and mental health of these professionals.
Aware of this reality and the need to make it visible in order to tackle the problems that often derive from it, such as stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue, addictions or even suicide; some law schools have taken action on the matter to help their members take care of their mental and physical health. Thus, the Madrid Bar Association (ICAM) presented its Comprehensive Well-being project on Tuesday, July 4, from its ICAM Cortina Foundation.
The program is articulated in three lines of action: the first of them focused on the collegiate; the second in the offices, to provide them with tools to carry out their own wellness programs and turn them into agents of change in this area; and the third in ICAM workers. “The ICAM Comprehensive Well-being program not only contemplates psychological support, but it is an ambitious program for the care of the comprehensive well-being and mental health of the entire legal profession”, highlights Isabel ShopsVice Dean of ICAM and head of the program.
Within the first axis of the program, aimed at members, two free telephone hotlines have been set up: one for psychological support and another for emotional support and active listening. These services, explains Mariola Quesada, an expert lawyer in organizational well-being in the legal sector and one of the architects of the project, will be assisted, respecting the lawyers’ anonymity, by specialists from Quirón Salud and Teléfono de la Esperanza, respectively. “During the pandemic, we carried out an executive coaching project, but we realized that we might not help some colleagues who needed the help of medical professionals or psychologists or simply needed to be listened to,” she says.
For his part, Ana Buitrago, vice president of the ICAM Cortina Foundation and deputy of the Governing Board responsible for the social area, agrees that the school might not be left behind in defending its professionals in terms of their integral well-being and mental health, and predicts a great reception of this initiative. “The same day the program was presented, three colleagues had already called,” she says.
Likewise, the ICAM lawyers have access to help materials such as the stop suicide and stop addiction protocols and an extensive training itinerary made up of workshops, led by specialists, in which topics such as emotional intelligence, nutrition, mindfulness or the balance between work and family.
At the same time, the Well-being Observatory has been created, which, as Isabel Winkels details, has the task of “launching the first major mental health study for the Madrid legal profession to more clearly identify problems, refine proposals and provide solutions that result in effective improvements. The Observatory has the support of an advisory council, made up of the deans, presidents, vice-deans and vice-presidents of the Madrid law, medical, psychology and social work colleges.
specialized training
Another project that aims to help lawyers in their health care is that of the Seville Bar Association (ICAS). Last January, ICAS launched a health commission through which different training courses are carried out, given by experts, psychologists and other professionals, to help members with everything related to mental and physical health to the practice of law. “We want to sensitize and create awareness regarding the need for mental and physical self-care in this profession through these training courses,” he underlines, Manuel Aguilardeputy coordinator of the mental health commission, of the ICAS.
Identify problems and ask for help
Gem Gonzalez. A lawyer who has been a member of the ICAM for 35 years, she went to her College in search of help and guidance following being fired from the multinational where she worked and with worrying health. “In 2016 I had just changed jobs and they detected breast cancer, following a while they fired me and I found myself without a job at 55 years old and with great concern for my health,” she says. “After surgery I started looking for a job, but I felt very lost, I didn’t know where to go, so I went to ICAM looking for courses and there I also found the emotional support I needed”, she recalls. As a result of this experience, Gema highlights the importance of asking for help and not being paralyzed by the situation and continuing to move, in her case, to find work. Ella gema ella celebrates the new ICAM comprehensive wellness project which, in her opinion, has the three fundamental elements to help lawyers: active listening, emotional support and training.
Immaculate Clement. This lawyer from the Cáceres Bar Association suffered from depression as a result of the death of her mother, which affected her work. After that, she took leave due to an injury: tennis elbow, during which her anguish to get back on track reached such a point that she ended up on stress leave. “I suffered a lot of stress because I wanted to recover as soon as possible to be discharged and be able to return to work, since the procedural deadlines do not stop, and I ended up with a stress leave,” she says. In his opinion, the General Council of Spanish Lawyers should give more importance to mental health and have a psychological care service for all lawyers, since he considers that small associations, like his, find it more difficult to have these kinds of initiatives.
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