Wellbeing and vicarious trauma: personal reflections on support for students, practitioners and clinicians in family law

According to the Junior Lawyers Division Wellbeing Survey, 58% of junior lawyers considered taking time off work for mental health reasons and 14% had suicidal thoughts. This chapter will build on existing research by considering the authors’ personal experiences of wellbeing and vicarious trauma during their time as a student and then in practice as family law solicitors, before considering how best to consider and manage trauma and wellbeing with students under their supervision as clinicians, to best prepare them for the transition into a healthy and long career in practice. With experience as clinical legal education students, solicitors in private practice and clinicians supervising students in a university environment, the authors are well placed to assess how effective the support is for those in similar working and studying environments. There are recommendations for additional support, as well as improving the effectiveness of current support. This is particularly important given the greater focus on mental and physical wellbeing in universities and legal practices, as well as the sensitive issues involved in family law.