How an advocate can avoid burnout at work: a psychologist shares her advice

The war and related challenges have significantly increased the psychological burden on lawyers. They face human grief, uncertainty and stress on a daily basis. It is not surprising that statistics show a high level of emotional burnout among human rights defenders.

On January 31, the Ukrainian National Bar Association, with the support of the International Bar Association (IBA), held a webinar «Emotional Burnout: How to Burn and Not Burn». The event was held within the framework of the project «Supporting the Mental Health of Ukrainian Lawyers in Time of War».

The speaker of the webinar was an invited psychologist, Gestalt therapist Yulia Kudela, who shared practical tips to help lawyers maintain their mental health and emotional stability.

According to her data, two-thirds of lawyers have experienced symptoms of professional burnout at least once. About 28% suffer from depression and 19% from anxiety.

Yulia Kudela spoke about how professional burnout manifests itself and what consequences it can have. She also explained how stress works and why it is important to be able to resist it.

Particular attention was paid to practical methods of burnout prevention. The speaker emphasized that, in addition to general recommendations, attorneys-at-law can apply special (taking into account the peculiarities of the profession) methods to prevent burnout:

• Planning and organization of working time. Establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life, the ability to delegate authority and set priorities will help reduce the feeling of overload;
• development of self-regulation skills. Learning relaxation, meditation, or breathing exercises will help you quickly relieve stress and restore emotional balance;
• seeking professional help. If you feel that you cannot cope with emotional burnout on your own, do not hesitate to contact a psychologist or psychotherapist;
• Participation in activities to improve mental health: Webinars, trainings, and other events can help you gain new knowledge and skills to support your mental health.

«The webinar was an important step towards raising awareness of lawyers about the problem of burnout and the necessary support, - said Hanna Udovenko, coordinator of the project «Supporting the Mental Health of Ukrainian Lawyers during the War». - And the UNBA continues to work on creating favorable conditions for the professional activities of advocates, in particular by supporting their mental health».