Transcript

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[Text on screen] Mental Health and Wellness in the Legal Profession

[Text on screen] In any given year, one in five Canadians will experience a mental health problem significant enough to require treatment.

Michele H. Hollins, Q.C. – President, Canadian Bar Association

I know that those feelings are... are still there. You know, there are... a stone's throw away. And so I think I have certainly a new respect for my mental health and the fragility of my mental health. The importance of being mindful and taking care of that part of my life, like I do every other part of my life.

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[text on screen] Legal professionals face a core stigmatization challenge by perceiving themselves as one of the only members of the profession dealing with their particular issue.

Rebecca Lockwood – Jackman, Nazami & Associates:

The techniques that I employ now comes very much from me and from my own rituals because I realized that part of the problem with my depression and my struggles were the fact that I was looking to everybody else for everything. For my happiness, for my validation, for my support. And I wasn't... getting any of that from myself.

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[Text on screen] Building resilience through proactive wellness habits erects a foundation of wellness which increases one’s ability to cope with the stresses of life.

Orlando Da Silva – Counsel at Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General:

Just this term as President of the OBA, making this an issue, and seeing how many people care about it because of their own condition or someone they know and love. That is more therapeutic than anything I've ever done before. I feel like it's a worthwhile cause and it makes me feel very good about what we're doing.

Michele H. Hollins, Q.C. – President, Canadian Bar Association:

The stigma of mental illness and the lack of insight into depression, anxiety, and stress, is still very prevalent in the legal profession. The Canadian Bar Association is very pleased to be partnering with the Mood Disorder Society of Canada and Bell Let's Talk to develop this online education program in an effort to eliminate the stigma and to provide educational tools to members of the legal profession in areas related to mental illness, mental health, and addictions.

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[Text on screen] Here’s to your mental health. Start the course today at: www.cba.org/wellness