Tuesday, August 6, 2019

My Vision for Our Legal Culture (Re Mental Health and Trauma)

It can feel pretty discouraging to write about the many ways in which I feel our profession is not doing well at truly holding space for those with mental health challenges (or anything constructed as a vulnerability or weakness) in general and trauma histories in particular. Since I have so far deliberately refrained from sharing my own experiences in relation to this issue, I'm limited in my ability to provide my own insights and critiques in this regard. I've done my best, however, to raise questions and discussion points within the confines of those restraints (though it's often not easy).

Maybe for a change of pace, at a time when I am feeling more disheartened than ever, I will try to frame things in a more positive manner and offer up my hopes for our profession: my own personal vision of how we might someday do better. I can't promise it will come off as optimistic but here goes...

I envision a future in which our profession is capable of not only acknowledging and accommodating the particular vulnerabilities and needs of those with mental health issues and/or trauma histories but at the same time also welcoming and celebrating the strengths, insights and value they add to our profession. Addressing vulnerabilities is important but also dangerous if not accompanied by a simultaneous, substantive and explicit recognition of strengths and value. To achieve this, we need to  recognize that a protective attitude towards vulnerabilities, operating by itself as a remedial measure, can increase stigma and reduce the incentive to accommodate since it reinforces the view (wrongly) that some people are just too fragile to be able to contribute as much without a great cost to all involved. Those invested in the same old ways of doing things will be inclined to resist any such measures and exclude those who need them. Those already harmed by self-blame will be made to feel even more wounded and ashamed.  In my opinion, the best and most authentic way to avoid this danger while accommodating those who need it (the vulnerable) is to never lose sight of how much they offer: of how worthwhile it is for all of us to make some long overdue changes to our professional culture to accommodate their important voices. This requires a sincere and active recognition that without the full participation of those with a broad range of experiences (from the most sheltered and privileged to the most vulnerable and wounded) we are far less equipped as a profession to represent and serve the full range of members of the public in the ways we have pledged to. This acknowledgment of strengths isn't just going to happen on its own. It requires work. It requires learning and listening. My hope is that someday we will truly put in the effort to make it a reality.

This means recognizing that the need for some flexibility and accommodation to make participation in the profession possible is not a sign that someone just isn't cut out for this work and shouldn't be permitted to remain. Rather, it's a sign that the same old ways of doing things need to be revisited and revised to include everyone. It's hard work that should concern us all, not just those who find themselves on the outside looking in, unable to fit within a professional structure that is not necessarily neutral but was designed to meet the needs of those with the greatest power and/or visibility. In my vision for our profession, we will never rely solely on "tradition" and existing structures that developed when many among us weren't welcomed and empowered to meaningfully participate.

It also means eliminating the "us v. them" attitude that in my view has so far afflicted our profession. People who have suffered and struggled aren't just "out there" somewhere waiting to be served by lawyers, who by contrast are above such suffering and struggles. Obviously, our service to the public is motivated entirely by the needs that we serve, not our own, but that doesn't mean it isn't absolutely critical for a reckoning to occur about who we truly are and what we have to offer when the question at issue is the health and adequacy of the profession. Moreover, in my view an "othering" attitude that condescendingly casts lawyers as otherworldly heroes and warriors who serve the fragile masses with sympathy for struggles to which lawyers can't relate doesn't actually help us serve the more vulnerable members of the public in any event. Empathy is strength and empathy comes from acknowledging our own fragility as part of the human condition, which can only be enhanced by properly valuing and empathizing with those who serve alongside us as well as those whom we directly serve.

In my vision for the profession, there are things I definitely want to see happen (as outlined above), but I also know that there are many questions to which the answers won't come easily. So my hope is that we can make room for a lively discussion of different approaches, which may include passionate disagreement, along the way to figuring it all out. In my view, it's a byproduct of a professional culture in which many of us have been fractured and excluded, with the result that we may in many ways begin not from a state of neutrality but of already being in conflict with ourselves. The solutions will rarely be obvious. When people have been made to deny, suppress, and/or hide who they truly are, progress that heals in one way can hurt in another. The way forward will necessarily involve some pain, false steps, and at times bitter disagreement. My hope is that we won't waste any time in taking the next steps forward, although there are days when I'm not confident that it will happen in my lifetime.

As always, please note that I am a lawyer, not a mental health professional of any kind. I have no expertise in trauma or mental health. Also, please note that any opinions and views expressed in this blog are solely my own and are not intended to represent the views or opinions of my employer in any way. For more information about the purpose of this blog, please see here and for a bit more information about my personal perspective on this issue, please see "my story" here

I am very grateful to have received a "Clawbie" Award for this blog (which reflects the importance of this topic): https://www.clawbies.ca/2019-clawbies-canadian-law-blog-awards/

For some of my external writing on this topic, see:  
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