May is Mental Health Awareness Month — and if you practise criminal defence, family law or immigration and refugee law, this is for you.
The legal profession prizes resilience, analytical thinking, emotional control and a relentless focus on clients. But behind that professional armour, the impact is real. Lawyers experience mental health challenges at more than three times the rate of the general population, and substance use issues at double the rate. For those practising in criminal defence, family or immigration and refugee law, the risk is even higher.
The unique burden you carry
Your work puts you in close, sustained contact with trauma — violent crime, domestic abuse, family breakdown and refugee experiences. Over time, this exposure can lead to vicarious trauma, a well-documented occupational hazard that can affect your outlook, energy and sense of control. Lawyers have reported feeling powerless to adequately help their traumatized clients, which makes it difficult to remain optimistic about their work.
In family law, pressure builds over time as lawyers navigate ongoing conflict, high emotion, and decisions that affect children and safety and can shape people’s lives long after the file closes. In criminal defence, it can be immediate and intense, reviewing graphic evidence or carrying the weight of a client’s liberty. For immigration and refugee lawyers, seeing your clients removed from Canada can be a heavy burden. If your work includes victim statements, crime scene photos or autopsy reports, your risk is even higher. Confidentiality limits what you can share with others, and for sole practitioners, there may be little opportunity to decompress.
This is not weakness. It’s a predictable result of doing the work you do.
Know the early warning signs
Vicarious trauma and burnout often develop slowly and can be easy to dismiss … until they can’t be. Lawyers are skilled at compartmentalizing, which can mask growing distress.
Watch for patterns across these areas:
Emotional and psychological
- Persistent numbness, detachment, or emotional exhaustion and disconnection from loved ones
- A growing sense of hopelessness, frustration or irritability doesn’t lift between files
- Increased sadness, anxiety or isolation and intolerance toward colleagues or clients you would normally handle with ease
- Loss of empathy — finding that clients’ distress no longer moves you, or that you’re going through the motions without genuine engagement
Cognitive and work-related
- Difficulty sleeping or concentrating
- Intrusive thoughts about clients’ trauma that disrupt daily focus
- Uncharacteristic errors, missing deadlines or reduced capacity to manage files
- Inability to “turn off” after leaving the office
Physical
- Chronic fatigue, headaches and other physical manifestations of stress
- Aches, pains, lowered immunity or disrupted sleep patterns
Behavioural
- Changes in coping, including alcohol use, disordered eating, gambling, or risk-taking
- Withdrawing from people or activities that used to restore you
- Dreading court or client interactions in ways that feel different from ordinary work fatigue
If several of these feel familiar and have persisted, it’s worth reaching out for help. The earlier you do, the easier it will be to reset the path forward.
Alberta resources built for you
The good news: Alberta’s legal community has invested in supports tailored for lawyers. The Law Society of Alberta’s Well-Being Hub provides resources on burnout, addiction, and workplace wellness, and the Canadian Bar Association – Alberta Branch offers free programming on topics including suicide awareness and improving mental health, as well as a free online continuing professional development program on mental health and wellness in the legal profession.
Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society, or “Assist” is a free service that provides legal professionals and students with well-being education, mental health resources, and safe, supportive communities tailored to their life or career stages to combat isolation.
Assist provides confidential support, including:
- Mental health and crisis counselling
- Addiction and recovery support
- Burnout and career transition guidance
- Peer support and community programs
Every lawyer, articling student, law student and their dependent family members can access four hours of professional counselling per issue per year with a registered psychologist. Crisis counselling is also available 24/7.
Call 1-877-498-6898 or visit lawyersassist.ca.
What you can do this month
Mental Health Awareness Month is not just about awareness — it’s about action. A few places to start:
- Name it: Notice when work is affecting you more than usual
- Use what exists: Calling Assist is confidential and built for you
- Talk to a peer: Peer-to-peer conversation is a valuable form of decompression
- Consider whether your firm has a plan: If you lead others, ask whether your office has any framework for recognizing and responding to vicarious trauma.
The goal is simple: prevent stress from becoming distress and distress from becoming crisis. Early intervention is easier than recovering later.
Your clients rely on you to be present, clear-headed and resilient. That version of you requires care.
May is a good time to start.