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)
Presenting Problem - Continued
• 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)
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
Spring 2008
– Pilot
program
Fall
2008
Spring 2009
• Invitation letter sent out by the
Dean of Students
• 10 students participated
• 22 student participants
• 5 LIB II participants
• 8 Faculty/Administrators
• 24 participants
• 8 LIB II participants
• 9 Faculty/Administrators
Program Participation - Continued
Fall 2009
• 26 participants
• 10 Faculty/Administrators/staff
Spring
2010
• 27 participants
• 6 LIB II
• 10 Administrators/staff
Fall 2010
• 46 participants
• 5 LIB II
• 10 Administrators/staff
Program Participation - Continued
Spring 2011
Fall 2011
• 26 participants
• 10 Faculty/Administrators/staff
• 27 participants
• 6 LIB II
• 10 Administrators/staff
Spring 2012
• 46 participants
• 5 LIB II
Fall 2012
• 93 participants
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
Facilitators
2008
• 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
2009
• 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)
Initial Stakeholders (cont.)
Facilitators 2010
• Associate Director of Residence Life & Student Programs
• Executive Assistant to Associate Dean – years working at
the Law Center – well respected and connected.
Facilitators 2011
• Director of External Relations, Law Center Graduate
Program
Facilitators 2012
• Director of Academic Enhancement
• Associate Director, Professional Development
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
•INTRODUCTION/SURVEYS AND DRAWING EXERCISE:
•How you are today
SESSION 1 •You with your biggest problem
•How you would like to be
•AUTOGENIC TRAINING OR BIOFEEDBACK:
•Reduces stress and counteracts the “fight or flight” response
SESSION 2
•Body Scan meditation
•EATING MEDITATION
•Promotes harmony between the food we eat and our body’s actual needs
•WALKING MEDITATION
SESSION 3
•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
•INNER GUIDE/WISE SELF IMAGERY
SESSION 5
•Helps to access subconscious information and guidance and foster trust in one’s own inner wisdom
•JOURNALING – DIALOGUE WITH A SYMPTOM
SESSION 6
•Helps access subconscious through stream of conscious writing exercise
•MOVEMENT/SHAKING AND DANCING
SESSION 7
•Raises energy, releases tension, breaks up habitual physical and emotional holding patterns
•CLOSING
SESSION 8
•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