Georgetown University Law Center

Implementing a contemplative

“Lawyers In Balance”

Practice for Law Students

Chris Hall, MA, Director of Residence Life and Student Programs, Georgetown University Law Center

Amy Cavanaugh, Assistant Director of Residence Life and Student Programs, Georgetown University Law Center

Goals

Educate students on the neuroscience of chronic stress and how mindfulness practice can work to change how one

responds to stress.

Build community and enhance wellness by cultivating mindfulness among members of the Law Center

community.

Presenting Problem

• A 1990 Johns Hopkins University study of 104 professions indicated that lawyers were the most likely to suffer from depression.

Eaton, Mandel, and Garrison, “Occupations and the Prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder,” 32 J. Occupational Med. 1083-1132 (1990)

• Study reported by 2 institutions (2004) indicate that 20 - 40% of law students exhibited significantly higher levels of depression in their final year than in their 1st year.

Kennon M. Sheldon and Lawrence S. Krieger, Does Legal Education Have Undermining Effects on

Law Students? Evaluating Changes in Motivation, Values, and Well-Being, 22 Behav. Sci. & L. 261 (2004) (longitudinal study of entering law students at two law schools conducted by a psychologist and a clinical law professor)

Presenting Problem - Continued

Law Students “Risk Factors”

• Grade competition

• Job opportunities – economic climate

• Financial Difficulties – student loans

• Relationship problems

• Concerns about seeking counseling could adversely affect career opportunities and acceptance into the Bar Association.

NEEDED: A Collaborative Approach to implementing a

campus-wide Mindfulness program

• How to establish the members of the collaborative:

– Identify the individuals capable of initiating the program

• Presented the Dean of Students with a proposal including:

– mission

– program plan

– financial details

Mission

• To prepare students to cope with the stressful lifestyle that often accompanies a career in the legal profession.

Program Plan

Lawyers in Balance (LIB)

• Adapted from the Georgetown School of Medicine – “Mind, Body Medicine” Course.

• NIH grant enabled the medical school to hire a certified mind, body/medicine professional.

• LIB created under the guidance of MBM creator.

Program Plan (cont.) Course adapted for law school calendar (8-week

course instead of 12-week course)

Original 1-2 year plan

• 6 Groups of LIB I: 3 groups/semester

• 2 Groups of LIB II: 1 group/semester: second level

• Total Students Served: 80 per year

• Total Faculty/Staff Served: 20 per year

3 -4 year plan

• 10 LIB I: 5 groups/semester 100/yr

• 2 LIB II: 1 group/semester 20/yr

• 2 faculty group – 1/semester 20 per year

• 2 staff groups – 1/semester 20 per year

• Total Students Served: 120 per year

• Total Faculty/staff served: 40 per year

Program Participation

• Invitation letter sent out by the Dean of Students

• 10 students participated

Spring 2008 – Pilot

program

• 22 student participants

• 5 LIB II participants

• 8 Faculty/Administrators

Fall 2008

• 24 participants

• 8 LIB II participants

• 9 Faculty/Administrators Spring 2009

Program Participation - Continued

• 26 participants

• 10 Faculty/Administrators/staff Fall 2009

• 27 participants

• 6 LIB II

• 10 Administrators/staff

Spring 2010

• 46 participants

• 5 LIB II

• 10 Administrators/staff Fall 2010

Program Participation - Continued

• 26 participants

• 10 Faculty/Administrators/staff Spring 2011

• 27 participants

• 6 LIB II

• 10 Administrators/staff Fall 2011

• 46 participants

• 5 LIB II Spring 2012

• 93 participants Fall 2012

Program Cost To begin the program at the Law Center the following

initial costs were:

• Basic Training for 2 facilitators/yr $3,000

• Advanced Training for staff/yr $2,000

• Supplies $1,000

• Total Cost $6,000

Today, we operate on a budget of $3,500/yr, training one new facilitator and reducing our advanced training costs.

Initial Stakeholders

• Director of Campus Ministry – Jewish Chaplin (Law School Alumnus)

• Director of Continuing Legal Education (Law School Alumnus)

• Director of Residence Life and Student Programs (responsible for overseeing the Center for Wellness Promotion) – retired in 2011

• Catholic Chaplin – retiring in 2013

• Public Interest Counselor

Facilitators 2008

• Law Professor: directs the Law Center's D.C. Street Law Project and specializes in educating the public about the law.

• Director of LL.M. Academic Services. (Law School Alumnus)

• Law Professor: well-known for her work in clinical legal education and evidence. (Now an associate dean)

Facilitators 2009

• Associate Director of Residence Life & Student Programs

• Executive Assistant to Associate Dean – years working at the Law Center – well respected and connected.

Facilitators 2010

• Director of External Relations, Law Center Graduate Program

Facilitators 2011

• Director of Academic Enhancement

• Associate Director, Professional Development

Facilitators 2012

Initial Stakeholders (cont.)

Objectives

• Students will:

Understand the importance of self-awareness and self-care for personal health and well-being and of maintaining a balance between the intellectual, emotional, physical, social and spiritual aspects of their lives.

Objectives – Continued

• Further develop the skill of metacognition

• Appreciate the value of an ongoing commitment to personal growth as fundamental to the practice of law.

EATING MEDITATION

Class Sessions SESSION 1

•INTRODUCTION/SURVEYS AND DRAWING EXERCISE:

•How you are today

•You with your biggest problem

•How you would like to be

SESSION 2

•AUTOGENIC TRAINING OR BIOFEEDBACK: •Reduces stress and counteracts the “fight or flight” response

•Body Scan meditation

SESSION 3

•EATING MEDITATION

•Promotes harmony between the food we eat and our body’s actual needs

•WALKING MEDITATION

•Increases both self awareness and establishes a connection with one’s environment

SESSION 4

•SPECIAL PLACE IMAGERY

•May promote making peace with past, fostering connection rather than isolation and strengthens the capacity to draw on one’s own emotional resources

SESSION 5

•INNER GUIDE/WISE SELF IMAGERY •Helps to access subconscious information and guidance and foster trust in one’s own inner wisdom

SESSION 6

•JOURNALING – DIALOGUE WITH A SYMPTOM •Helps access subconscious through stream of conscious writing exercise

SESSION 7

•MOVEMENT/SHAKING AND DANCING •Raises energy, releases tension, breaks up habitual physical and emotional holding patterns

SESSION 8

•CLOSING •Drawings

•Career Purpose Meditation

•Surveys

Long-term Vision

• Course offered for credit

– Option 1: Semester-long course meeting approx. 11 weeks

– Option 2: Intensive 1-week course offered during January “Week One” program

• Admissions recruitment – marketing

• Alumni Program

Lawyers in Balance (LIB) Mindfulness for Law Students Program

LIB was introduced at the Law Center in the Spring semester of 2008. Thus far, approximately 215 have taken the course and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The following testimonials capture the students’ favorable sentiments:

• “In many ways I am more relaxed, happier, a better listener, and feel like I can take on anything that comes my way.”

Lawyers in Balance (LIB) Mindfulness for Law Students Program

LIB was introduced at the Law Center in the Spring semester of 2008. Thus far, approximately 215 have taken the course and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The following testimonials capture the students’ favorable sentiments:

• “Overwhelmingly wonderful. This experience showed me the human side of lawyers, law students, and others who work in our Law Center. I think about the lessons I learned during the seminar daily and try to instill them into my everyday life.”

Lawyers in Balance (LIB) Mindfulness for Law Students Program

LIB was introduced at the Law Center in the Spring semester of 2008. Thus far, approximately 215 have taken the course and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The following testimonials capture the students’ favorable sentiments:

• Exceeded my expectations by providing me with a safe space to be vulnerable in addition to providing me with the tools to recreate that safe space for myself in the future.”

Lawyers in Balance (LIB) Mindfulness for Law Students Program

LIB was introduced at the Law Center in the Spring semester of 2008. Thus far, approximately 215 have taken the course and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The following testimonials capture the students’ favorable sentiments:

• “LIB provided a wonderful opportunity to connect on a truly meaningful and unparalleled level with students and staff at the Law Center. To have the opportunity to reflect each week and to learn the importance of staying in the moment was invaluable.”

Recommended Reading

• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression. Zindel V. Segal, Williams, Mark, Teasdale, John (2002) The Guilford Press.

• Full Catastrophe Living (1990) Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.

• The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician’s Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration. Siegel, J. Daniel (2010) , W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

• Mindfulness for Law Students: Using the Power of Mindfulness to Achieve Balance and Success in Law School Scott L. Rogers M.S. (2009) Mindful Living Press