Two recent surveys have highlighted the prevalence of stress in the legal workplace. Insurance firm, Protectivity, has surveyed 1,000 British workers and found that, after those in human resources, lawyers are the most stressed professionals in the country: 63% of respondents active in the legal industry reported stress on a daily basis (https://www.protectivity.com/stress-in-the-uk/). In addition, the latest findings of the Law Society Junior Lawyers Division’s annual resilience and wellbeing report reveal that one in 15 junior lawyers have experienced suicidal thoughts. Of more than 1,800 respondents, 48% said they had experienced mental ill-health in the last month, up from 38% last year. 93% of respondents said they experienced stress in their role and a quarter of those experienced severe or extreme levels of stress.
In this context, I spoke with experienced executive coach Katie Rowland, of Rowland & Associates Ltd, about Havening Techniques, a relatively new psycho-sensory approach, and how it can be used in the legal profession to alleviate stress, strengthen resilience and promote wellbeing.