Sidebar

Mar 01 2024 16

Sidebar Podcast artwork

Welcome to Sidebar, brought to you by North Carolina’s Lawyer Assistance Program, where lawyers help lawyers by sharing their experience, strength, and hope as they delve into their personal journeys of recovery. We’ll initiate and guide the conversation with lawyers and judges, who will share stories, insights, lessons, and tools discovered along the way with the intention of relieving the stress and stigma of talking about how life, mental health, and the practice of law have affected them, both personally and professionally. We encourage you to listen to a few episodes, subscribe to our newsletter, and peruse the resources at www.nclap.org. And, if you know a lawyer who could use a hand, please share this podcast with them today. Remember, at Sidebar…you are not alone, in fact, you are in quite good company. Tune in for the conversations, community, and camaraderie. Stay for the shared hope and humanity you discover.

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Are you inside your window of tolerance?

Mar 01 2024 18 mins

"Window of tolerance (WOT)" is a concept that is extremely useful when teaching attorneys and judges stress reduction and emotional regulation tools. It helps conceptualize a zone in which we have the bandwidth to tolerate the stressors and emotions inherent in the legal field. It also helps us identify alternate zones into which we get pulled when we are outside of this bandwidth.

Frozen Slushies - Not Frozen Tweens

Mar 01 2024 38 mins

What began as a quick Practice Perspective about the perils of having an attorney as a legal client evolved into a thoughtful reflection on this lawyer’s childhood trauma and resolution.Read the full article.

Transform Limiting Beliefs

Nov 10 2023 25 mins

Are subconscious beliefs informing your decisions in the legal field? Read full article here.

The Bona Fides

Nov 10 2023 15 mins

This lawyer knew about LAP for years, but she hesitated to reach out because she thought she didn’t have “the bona fides.” She suspected her perfectionism and catastrophic thinking might be an issue, but those issues had been plaguing her since her childhood - long before she ever became a lawyer. Read the full article.Research study mentioned in this episode related to gende

50 Lessons for Happy Lawyers

Aug 11 2023 47 mins

In this podcast episode, we interview Nora Rivas, co-author of the 50 Lessons book series. The lessons in the book provide a jumping off point for deeper study and each is aligned with our well-being mission at NC LAP. Ms. Rivas is a consultant in the well-being space. She offers coaching, CLE, and law firm consulting.

Grab an Anchor

Aug 11 2023 23 mins

Grabbing an anchor is a simple yet effective tool to release us from our reactive survival strategies and return us to feeling and acting like our best selves. Read the full article.

Mastering Your Mind with Mantra

May 19 2023 25 mins

Have you ever caught yourself thinking something negative over and over again and thought, “Why am I saying that to myself?” What if you could take that same unconscious, unhelpful looping pattern and turn it into a conscious, positive, self-help habit? Welcome to the world of mantra! Read full article here.

David vs Goliath - A Defenders Perspective

May 19 2023 36 mins

Little David, with his pitiful slingshot, vs. the mighty Goliath. In a nutshell, that's how it felt to me for much of my career as a public defender. Now, with years of recovery in Al-Anon, I realize that so much of my perception of my role as a defender was tied up in my codependency, my need to rescue, and my need to prove myself worthy. Not all defenders feel as I did and not al

Procrastination Buster

Mar 01 2023 21 mins

Alison practices real estate law during the day, goes to graduate school at night, and raises young twins around the clock. At times she gets so overwhelmed with the many directions in which she’s pulled that she gets stuck deciding what to do first. In those moments, she finds herself procrastinating. Instead of doing something, she ends up doing nothing of value, like scrolling

Skating Through and Looking Good

Mar 01 2023 23 mins

This lawyer skated through life and always managed to get out of trouble. Faced with some real legal consequences, this lawyer worked with LAP to “look good” when the reckoning came but instead wound up with an amazing life. Read full article here.