Erasing the Stigma

For the fourth time, I have had the honor of speaking with Gina Passarella about ALM’s Mental Health Survey of the Legal Profession. This year, I had the opportunity to include Dan Roe, one of the industry's best business of law journalists, and Paul Hodkinson, The Editor and Chief of ALM Publications in Europe. We engaged in a broad-ranging discussion about the survey, the challenges of an intergenerational workforce, and the power of storytelling to normalize mental health issues.

Join me for an in-depth conversation with Patrick Krill and Paula Davis about the state of mental wellness in the legal profession, the recent and unfortunate death of a big law partner, and a groundbreaking program they developed to help firms build effective wellness programs.

, Conversations About Mental Health in the Legal Community by

Erasing The Stigma, Conversations About Mental Health in the Legal Community by

Erasing The Stigma, Conversations About Mental Health in the Legal Community by

Deep conversations with Andy Hilger, the former president of Allegis Group, on the meaning of leadership in this turbulent new age.

A former attorney, Megan O’Neill turned a casual interest in health and wellness into a lifelong passion and mission. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, Megan talks to Mark Yacano about living a healthy lifestyle from maintaining proper nutrition to the importance of self-care. They dive into the emotions tied to nutrition, exercise and sleep and discuss how small changes can make a big difference.

Despite the belief that lonely people are introverts, the reality is that even when surrounded by people all the time, someone can still be lonely. Dr. Gabriella Rosen Kellerman explores loneliness with Mark Yacano in this episode of Erasing the Stigma. They look at what creates a sense of loneliness, why the legal profession ranks high on the loneliness scale and how the billable hour weighs factors into the conversation. They also discuss strategies for both law firms and individuals to combat the loneliness crisis.

Each year, ALM releases a survey that looks at the mental health of lawyers around the globe. This year, the results revealed some unexpected—but not shocking—truths about the stress and burnout levels of today’s law firm attorneys. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, Gina Passarella, Michael Kasdan, Diane Costigan and Paula Davis sit down with Mark Yacano to review the findings and explore how law firms can help their people.

Optimal performance doesn’t just apply to athletes on a sports field. Intellectual athletes need to operate at their own peak levels of performance, too. Dr. Brian Yu shares with Mark Yacano the ACT therapy approach for accepting, acknowledging and working through problematic behaviors. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, they discuss how these techniques can be applied to build resilience at work.

What role does sleep play in your performance at work? How about in your mental health? Dr. Jessica Payne, sleep and stress neuroscience expert, talks to Mark Yacano about the power of sleep, why we need it, how it impacts our mental health and the importance of the power nap.

Paula Davis, like so many, experienced burnout while practicing law, which led her to leave the practice and explore new avenues for helping people. She found her passion and turned it into a practice of helping law firms and organizations cope with stress and build resilient teams. Paula shares her ABC framework with Mark Yacano and digs into how to cultivate office relationships in a hybrid world.

When Libby Coreno was a young lawyer, she realized she was suffering mentally and emotionally in her career. She also noticed that her colleagues were, too. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, Libby shares with Mark Yacano her personal journey and how she found her voice to speak up about mental health and well-being. She also discusses how she began the Humanized Lawyer Project.

When Dan Lukasik was introduced to St. Luke’s Mission, he hoped this would be a special place where he could find deeper meaning in his life. A simple ask to become a mentor was the answer. The relationship that he has development with a boy named George has changed Dan’s life. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, Dan tells Mark Yacano the story of his relationship with George and explores how seemingly innocent acts can help combat mental health.

We’re only at the start of our mental health awareness journey—which is evident if you look at the results of the ALM 2022 Mental Health Survey. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, Michael Kasdan and Gina Passarella join Mark Yacano to review the survey’s findings and discuss the current state of mental health in the legal industry and workplace.

By taking several small, simple steps, you can become happier in your legal career—just follow the lessons Nora Riva Bergman and Chelsy Castro share in their new book, 50 Lessons for Happy Lawyers. Mark Yacano explores some of the steps he found particularly impactful—including getting clear on your why—with Nora and Chelsy in this episode of Erasing the Stigma.

Burnout is a very real thing whether you are an associate or a partner. Career coach and former lawyer Annie Little knows firsthand and now helps lawyers navigate through the symptoms. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, she discusses the systematic causes of burnout and gets to the root of the problem with Mark Yacano.

Men’s mental health is often a taboo topic in society. Michael Kasdan has experienced firsthand how nerve wrecking and embarrassing it can be to feel not right. Since taking his first steps in his mental health journey, Michael has learned he isn’t alone and that the stigma around males owning their mental health is long from erased. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, he shares his story, experiences and advocacy with Mark Yacano.

Kristen Uhl Hulse, Senior Director of Attorney Development & Recruiting for Snell & Wilmer, believes there are new ways of developing young lawyers in this day and age of remote work. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma with Mark Yacano, she discusses reimagining mentoring, using strengths to build self-awareness and finding joy in your work by improving your mental health practices.

For Jay Williams, a mindful sales leader, thriving means figuring out what you value most and making sure the company you work for is giving you everything you need to get there. In this episode of Erasing the Stigma, he explains what thriving in the workplace looks like as he chats with Mark Yacano.