Preventing compassion fatigue: Strategies to reduce burnout and improve lawyer wellbeing 

Immigration lawyers often enter the profession with a strong desire to help people and a passion for justice. When lawyers are able to help those in need, they can feel a strong sense of satisfaction, which can motivate them to continue to work long hours which can lead to  difficulty with work life balance. In addition, working with high numbers of clients in distress, particularly with the changes since the pandemic, many immigration lawyers are struggling with compassion fatigue. If left untreated, this can lead to anxiety, secondary trauma, and burnout. This session will review strategies to support immigration lawyers on an organizational and individual level, including how to create a compassionate boundaries, recognize the signs of compassion fatigue, and ways to enhance self-care and resiliency in daily life.

Tracey Meyers, Psy.D., clinical psychologist

Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, MA

Dr. Tracey Meyers is a licensed clinical psychologist in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. She is a clinician with the Massachusetts lawyer assistance program, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) Inc, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping lawyers, judges, and law students with many personal and professional issues of life in the law.  Prior to this, Tracey worked for the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services where she spent over 15 years working in inpatient and outpatient mental health settings. Tracey has a strong commitment to integrative medicine for mental health and wellness and leads mental health,  mindfulness and yoga programs for groups, individuals, and professionals in the workplace.