It’s OK To Not Be OK: Law Schools Are Expanding Mental Health and Wellness Support, preLaw, Winter 2024, at 16:
Law school can be emotionally taxing and take a serious toll on one’s mental health. Students who are prepared for the added stress can perform better in school and in turn be better positioned to embark on a legal career.
Luckily, law schools are now doing more to help students manage the stress of legal education.
David Jaffe, associate dean for student affairs at American University’s Washington College of Law, is one of the authors of a report titled “It Is Okay to Not Be Okay: The 2021 Survey of Law Student Well-Being.” Overall, he said, today’s students are arriving at law school with much more self-awareness than earlier generations. Although some stigma remains about reaching out when in need of assistance, students are seeing their classmates be more open about seeking help, and they are replicating this positive behavior, Jaffe said.
A recent study by The NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education found that while a majority of 2019 law school graduates are doing well on the employment front, 39% of all grads and 44% of females said the pandemic is continuing to have a negative effect on their mental health and well-being. In 2018, the percentage of law graduates citing such issues was 31%. …
Several other schools such as New England Law | Boston and Pepperdine Caruso School of Law have implemented programs and activities to improve student well-being.
Pepperdine Caruso Law holds a mental health week and provides well-being training during orientation. Activities include massages and spending time with therapy dogs.
The school has started a well-being task force made up of students, faculty, alumni and staff. It works to implement and improve mental health initiatives provided by the school. The school also uses Early Alert, a weekly text check-in service, to monitor students’ mental health and provide individual and group support.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to receive a daily email with links to legal education posts on TaxProf Blog, email me here.
