FAQS
WHO WE ARE
Why The Legal Burnout Solution?
Our programs facilitate conscious connection with self and others to manage the chronic and day-to-day stressors of practicing law. Overall, we empower legal practitioners to get out of "survival mode" and ultimately form healthier habits that foster productivity and well-being.
As practicing attorneys, Becky Howlett (age 34) and Cynthia Sharp (age 69) each experienced and overcame some of the all-too-common ills of the legal profession, including mental health concerns, addiction, and lawyer burnout. By sharing our stories, we hope to inspire individuals and organizations to take the necessary steps to protect and prioritize lawyer health and wellness.
What is unique about The Legal Burnout Solution?
A good lawyer is a healthy lawyer. Part of our mission is generating conversations about the rampant social ills plaguing the legal community, especially substance use and mental health concerns.
By actively implementing targeted strategies to manage chronic and day-to-day stressors among attorneys and their staff, we can create purposeful work environments that safeguard and support our ability to be happy and productive legal advocates and human beings!
Our programs focus on healthy means to manage stress, recognize implicit bias, promote civility, as well as protect against the distress symptoms of vicarious traumatization and attorney burnout. CLE courses feature live mindfulness practices led by attorney and certified meditation instructor Becky Howlett. Finding strategies that work for each individual person lends to long-term sustainable and consistent practice that maximizes the cumulative, neuroprotective effects of mindfulness meditation.
What does your brand stand for?
Our brand represents the eternal flame or divine spark within each of us. Fire is one of the most powerful tools we have as human beings, yet fire that is not under control or properly managed can have dangerous and even disastrous consequences.
The flame on our logo speaks to the journey of extinguishing burnout and stress by neutralizing emotional reactivity and actively cultivating our ability to live mindfully. This is an ongoing process and we seek to honor wherever you are on your individual journey. Ultimately, we empower our clients to effectively harness that inner flame and facilitate expansion, transformation, and growth.
WHAT WE DO
What services do you offer?
We offer a variety of customized programs to help lawyers achieve peak performance, including:
Do you offer mindfulness-based CLE courses for credit?
Yes, fully accredited CLE programs qualify for 1 hour of Ethics, Elimination of Bias, Substance Use, or Mental Health CLE credits:
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Mindful Ethics: How Mindfulness Can Help You Avoid Legal Burnout, Continue to Competently Perform Legal Services, and Remain Ethically Compliant
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Elimination of Bias: (1) Learn Mindfulness to Curtail Implicit Bias and Make Ethical Decisions and (2) Combating Ageism in the Legal Field
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Substance Use: Cheers to a Mindful New Year: Overcoming Substance Use Disorder and Avoid Legal Ethics Issues
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Mental Health: The Mindful Approach to Addressing Mental Health in the Legal Field
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Secondary Trauma: (1) How Secondary Trauma Affects Attorney Mental Health and (2) Strategies for a Trauma-Informed Law Practice
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Technology: (1) How to Take Charge of Technology - Ethically & Mindfully and (2) ChatGPT in the Legal Field: Benefits, Pitfalls, and Ethical Considerations
WHY WE'RE HERE
How can lawyers benefit from mindfulness?
As lawyers, we use our minds significantly more than we use our bodies. Yet, how many of us train our mind on a regular basis? How many of us would even know where to start? No surprise if we don’t know since most of us were never taught.
Our mind is constantly wandering – reliving and sometimes regretting the past or worrying about future events that may never happen. Through mindfulness, we learn the skill of paying attention to the present without judgment by noticing when your mind wanders off and bringing it back to your current experience.
Instead of being overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on, we live in awareness and acceptance. A significant amount of scientific research has shown that mindfulness can reduce stress, curb depression and anxiety, improve focus and concentration, and more.
How does meditation impact mindfulness?
While there is more than one way to cultivate mindfulness, the most effective way is through a formal meditation practice. It is like a fitness routine to strengthen your mind.
A formal meditation practice—where we intentionally set aside time to practice meditation—ultimately supports our ability to live more mindfully in our day-to-day life.
Do I have to meditate every day?
The effects of meditation are cumulative, such that you will experience more profound, far-reaching effects with regular practice. We recommend you set aside a particular time each day to meditate however briefly. Even one minute or less of deep breathing can stimulate your relaxation response, helping you feel more calm and relaxed.
What if I’ve never meditated?
Welcome to learning a new skill set! Like learning any new skill, it requires time, consistency, dedication, and practice, practice, practice. They don’t call it meditation practice for nothing…
What if I can’t stop my mind from wandering during meditation?
Your mind was designed to think. So when you have thoughts arise during meditation—Congratulations! Your brain is working.
Every time a thought inevitably arises during meditation, we strive to notice and observe the thought without judgment, and then let it go.
So if your mind is particularly busy in some sessions, think of it as simply getting more “reps” in. We ALL experience “monkey mind” at times—even your instructors! Above all, be kind to yourself wherever you are.