Mental health and wellbeing counselling for individuals in the legal industry
We welcome you to the information and booking page for individual lawyers and legal staff seeking confidential online counselling.
This service is for people who are in crisis, or experiencing challenges that may lead to crisis. Your challenges might relate to your work, your workplace, the legal system itself, or other parts of your life. You might be feeling burnt out, or even thinking of leaving law, or perhaps you just want to talk about life balance, and ways of coping with the everyday life of working in law. It’s worth checking-in before you check-out of the profession.
Support for Lawyers can assist you by connecting you discreetly with one of our highly experienced psychologists and counsellors, who have direct experience of the stresses of working in law firms and the law generally.
Lawyer mental health
According to research, lawyers are more prone to mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety disorder, sleeplessness, panic disorder, and even possibly PTSD. Are you suffering one of these?
Lawyer substance use
A lawyers drinking might start off as harmless but can spiral out of control. Lawyers turn to drugs and alcohol to try to cope. Over time, this can become an addiction that is quite often hard to kick on its own.
Lawyer burnout
Lawyer burnout is a state of mental, physical, and emotional tiredness caused by chronic and excessive working stress. Billable hours and client expectations are arguably the most important factors.
Here’s how Support for Lawyers can assist you
Support for Lawyers can assist you by connecting you discreetly with one of our highly experienced psychologists and counsellors, who have direct experience of the stresses of working in law firms and the law generally. We know there are many stressors that you may be experiencing, as a partner of a firm, an employee or as in-house counsel. Some of those most commonly reported are:
- Workload
- Billing
- Demanding clients
- Client complaints
- The burden of responsibility
- Perfectionism
- Imposter syndrome
- Fatigue
- Life balance
- Peer relationships
- Fear of failure
- Judgement
- Employee/employer issues
- Lack of mentoring
- Fear seeking support will affect your career
- Loss of motivation
- Trauma
- Burnout
We've helped legal professionals just like you.
We know there are huge problems and we're here to support you.
Confidential online counselling sessions for lawyers
Confidentiality
- All sessions are online
- When you book a session, you can be sure it is confidential
- You will be anonymous to every aspect of the service except your relationship with your counsellor
- Your sessions are online so you are not seen attending a location
- Your manager and HR department will be unaware of your access to the service
- Your law society and complaints authority will not have any awareness of your access to Support for Lawyers.
- Session times include regular work hours, after hours and weekends
Expertise of our psychologists and counsellors
- Support for Lawyers engages counsellors with a minimum of ten years’ experience, and many have decades of experience
- Our psychologists and counsellors have a minimum of a tertiary degree, and most often a post graduate qualification
- They are members in good standing in their required professional organisation
- They have direct experience of working with lawyers, the legal profession and the legal system
The benefits of counselling or checking in for a debrief
- It is a private non-judgemental space
- It can prevent a tricky situation, whether new or ongoing, from becoming a crisis
- You will have the chance to reflect on a different perspective
- You can work through your stresses with complete privacy, making you stronger in your personal and professional life and career
- This is about you looking after you
- You can think of this kind of reflective practice the same way as CPD, that is normal and necessary
Case study - "Ryan"
“Five years ago, I left my position as a senior associate in a city law firm. I had got to such a crisis that I planned to leave law. I was crushed by the hours, the billing expectations, and the responsibilities both to clients and within the firm. The lawyer I replaced had identified some of the same issues, especially around billing practices (that were ethically dubious.) I assumed that my conversations with the partners ensured that I would not have to grapple with the same issues, but despite assurances, nothing within the firm changed.
Leaving law wasn’t the most logical option, but I was so focused on escape that I wasn’t able to think clearly. I knew I needed some kind of coaching or guidance. The firm did have an EAP, but I knew a colleague had accessed the program, not directly from her, but from gossip around the office, so it was never an option. The sad thing about that colleague was that she left, and all the internal talk was kind of pitying, and critical of her that she couldn’t handle the job.
I was lucky enough to find another role in law that is a good fit, but that search took a while. I feel sure that if I’d known a counsellor or coach who understood the culture of law firms, and who was accessible, my return to work would have been faster and made with more confidence.”
Anonymous Male. Mid-career
Get started with your initial session today...
1.
Book a session
2.
Make a payment
3.
Select a time
7 days or more in advance.
If you need an urgent appointment, click here
How long is the session?
Your session is 60 minutes to allow you time to tell your story and for you and your counsellor to get to know each other a little.
How do I book a further session or a package?
This is done via Book a Session the same as for your first appointment, whether you are booking a package of sessions or a further single session.
Pricing
Your initial session is AUD$420 inclusive of GST.
A 4 Session pack is priced at $1,540.00, discounted from $1,680.00
A 6 Session pack is priced at $2,310.00, discounted from $2,520.00