The New Jersey Lawyers Assistance Program (NJLAP) touches hundreds of lives each year and leaves them for the better.
The program is a free, confidential service that provides attorneys, judges, law school students, and law school graduates with resources for handling mental health or substance abuse issues that could impact their professional and personal well-being. The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) provides administrative support.
On this edition of Sidebar, Denise Golonka, NJLAP’s clinical manager, discusses the importance of mental health, how NJLAP can help the legal community practice self-care and makes the case for why well-being is a part of a lawyer’s ethical duty of competence because it affects their ability to make positive, responsible decisions for themselves, their families and their clients.
Well-being has become a bit of a buzzword, Golonka said. It’s important to understand that well-being is a continuous process where lawyers seek to thrive in their emotional and physical health, their occupation and creative or intellectual endeavors; their sense of spirituality or greater purpose in life, and their social connections.
NJLAP helps people identify issues of concern and supports their recovery by providing them with appropriate resources, such as counselors, therapists, treatment or group programs. In addition, NJLAP staff members hold meetings at the state’s law schools, and participates in continuing legal education programming and similar events.
Golonka also highlighted the upcoming Challenges for Women Attorneys seminar on Jan. 27 which features former Supreme Court Justice Helen Hoens; NJSBA President Evelyn Padin; and attorney Nadine Maleski. They will speak frankly about their paths in the profession and the challenges they have faced. It’s the first of four programs NJLAP will hold this year to examine women in the profession.
She also shared information about the kinds of things people should look out for in themselves or colleagues as a sign they may need to get help. Those signs can include a change in personality; loss of enjoyment in things that used to be meaningful; difficulty paying attention; feelings of despair; or using substances to medicate uncomfortable feelings.
Golonka offered a few tips that people can try to incorporate in their lives as a way to care for themselves: setting healthy boundaries; trying to acknowledge emotions and negative thoughts, instead of avoiding them; taking a moment to stretch, breathe deeply or do a short meditation; connecting with like-minded, healthy people, such as through volunteering; and practicing gratitude.
To listen to this edition of the NJSBA Sidebar podcast, tune in here. Members of the legal community interested in NJLAP’s services can visit NJLAP.org or call 800-246-5527. To sign up for the Challenges for Women Attorneys seminar email [email protected].