1st Edition
The Thriving Lawyer A Multidimensional Model of Well-Being for a Sustainable Legal Profession
The Thriving Lawyer: A Multidimensional Model of Well-Being for a Sustainable Legal Profession is based on an innovative model, grounded in science. This book serves as a resource for promoting well-being and culture-change in the legal community by educating about pertinent issues impacting lawyers, and how to address them. It is a roadmap, highlighting the many over-arching and inter-connected aspects of well-being, and enabling readers to identify and target the issues most relevant to their unique situations.
Along with practical strategies, the book provides a big-picture framework, illustrating how the many intersecting individual and organizational factors which influence well-being are all related, yet separate and distinct. The framework provides a foundation for creating change, and where you focus first will depend on the needs, the situation, and any unique challenges faced by you or your organization.
The Thriving Lawyer explains why, in addition to self-care, change is needed on the organizational level in terms of workplace culture and policies, as well as normalizing self-care and eradicating stigma. This book is intended to benefit individual lawyers, their organizations, and professionals who support them, by educating, motivating, and promoting self-care and healthy work environments.
1 Introduction to Lawyer Well-Being and a Guide to Reading this Book. 2 Introducing The Multidimensional Model of Lawyer Well-Being, a.k.a., The Honeycomb Model of Well-Being—A Way of Being. 3 Attention to Overall Physical and Mental Health: The Mind-Body Connection and Impact of Stress on Health and Performance. 4 Self-Care Strategies and Overcoming Barriers to Healthy Routines. 5 Understanding and Addressing Workplace Issues Which Impact Well-Being. 6 Managing Work-Life Balance for Well-Being. 7 The Impact of Financial Resources on Well-Being. 8 The Essential Role of Personal Relationships and Social Supports in Well-Being. 9 Cultivating Meaning and Purpose for Well-Being. 10 Creating Change
Biography
Traci Cipriano, JD, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and formerly practicing attorney who has been utilizing her education, training, research, and experience to address and promote well-being and culture change within the legal community since 2005. In recognition of her contributions to lawyer well-being, she was named a 2022 Connecticut Legal Awards Game Changer Honoree. Dr. Cipriano is in independent practice and is also an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Law and Psychiatry Division, and a former Consulting Clinical Supervisor in the Yale Psychology Department. She has held leadership and governance positions in the American Psychological Association, the Connecticut Psychological Association, and the Connecticut Bar Association. She was the recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Contribution to the Practice of Psychology Award from the Connecticut Psychological Association.
"Through accurate insights and analysis that demonstrate an intimate understanding of the challenges so many committed attorneys face, The Thriving Lawyer offers a helpful roadmap for critical individual and institutional change needed to improve lawyer well-being. This book is a must read for both attorneys and HR professionals across all legal organizations." – Claire Coleman, State of Connecticut Consumer Counsel; former Biglaw firm associate, non-profit and government attorney.
"The interest in wellness and self-care has gained unprecedented momentum among professionals in general and lawyers, in particular. The available resources, however, tend to be repetitive and non-directive. With this book, Dr. Cipriano has filled a critical void through a scientifically based model wellness as a way of life, the basis for decision-making, and the guide for actions. She has seamlessly integrated philosophy, psychological research, and pragmatic interventions within a persuasive narrative about making a commitment to wellbeing. Although this book will be of interest to any professional, Dr. Cipriano incorporates her education and experience as an attorney to address the unique challenges in the practice of law. Practicing attorneys, law students and law schools, and mental health professionals who advise and counsel the legal community will gain insights and strategies for promoting genuine well-being.
Dr. Cipriano introduces a model of wellbeing that goes far beyond usual stand-alone recommendations for specific behaviors. After reading her book, I realized that I cannot attain wellbeing through any routine of meditation and yoga or any other add-on activity. True wellness is a state of being that affects all life domains, true wellness encompasses all aspects of professional and personal life.
Dr. Cipriano does not stop with her unique theoretical model of wellbeing; she incorporates in an informative, compelling narrative, pathways for translating the concept of wellbeing into pragmatic actions. Lawyers, law students and law schools and those who give counsel and treatment to the legal community will find this book a valued and lasting resource." – Madelon V. Baranoski, PhD, Yale School of Medicine"As a former lawyer herself, Cipriano has intimate knowledge about the way that law firms function and about the legal culture itself.
Dr. Cipriano presents this book's information in a clear, informative, and conversational tone, which highlights the relevance of the material and her masterful command of the topic."Eileen Kohutis, Independent Practitioner, Winter 2024, USA
"What makes The Thriving Lawyer a resource that will be read and referred to over again, is the way Cipriano marries statistical information with psychological impacts. She then goes a critical step further to offer everyday techniques to offset the stress and pressure inherent to the legal profession. This book provides a psychologist-curated list of real-time methods that anyone can implement. It is one of the reasons that I continuously return to this book – both as a tool for my own wellbeing journey, but also as a key part of my interaction with law students in distress. I’m certain its value easily translates from use in an educational setting to the legal field."
Jennifer Cerny, Associate Dean of Students, Yale Law School, NALP Bulletin, February, 2024, USA
