Bench & Bar September/October 2026

LAWYER WELLBEING

BY DR ERIC Y. DROGIN STRESS If this is beginning to sound like something akin to inoculation, that’s no accident. In fact, mental health professionals—intriguingly, mostly those whose day-to-day clinical roles would never involve actually giving shots—have developed over the last few decades an intervention called “Stress Inoculation Training,” or “SIT.” Accord ing to commentator and volunteer counselor Emma Didbin, this technique, as described at https://tinyurl.com/SIT-psychcentral, is designed “to help you build resistance to sources of stress and anxiety” as “it teaches your mind to react to possible stressors in healthier ways” and “aims to help you better cope with stress, so it doesn’t further impact your physical and mental health” when applied in three distinct phases:

I s it possible to lose too many cases? Yes. The law affords relatively few absolutes—and, clients might grumble, even fewer straight answers—but this is one of them. In an adversarial system, an over abundance of losses will eventually scatter a firm’s partners and associates to the winds. Is it possible to win too many cases? No. A win-loss ratio with the tiniest conceivable denominator is the holy grail of legal practice, be it civil or criminal. In this situation, the notion of “balance” amounts to little more than a distraction. Not every aspect of our work lives lends itself to such all-or-nothing characterization. Perhaps strangely, although stress can operate as not just a buzzkill but an outright killer, social scientists have long asserted that to eradicate it entirely would be to weaken us as people, as practitioners, and as a profession.

• Education: The therapist helps you identify your main stressors and information about how the stress response works and any underlying conditions you might be living with, such as PTSD or anxiety. • Skills Development: The therapist helps you build on your existing coping skills and teaches you new techniques to manage stressors. These skills include emotional regulation, setting boundaries, and relaxation techniques. • Application: In the final phase, the therapist encourages you to use specific coping skills in real-life stressful situations. You then report back on your progress. Before ending train ing, the therapist will discuss techniques to help you avoid experiencing your symptoms again.

30 september/october 2026