Our Launch – Re-wiring the law
Rachel Spearing introduces the UK’s first Wellness for Law Forum!
March saw the launch of a new initiative to support ongoing work to improve health and wellbeing at the Bar. The Wellness for Law Forum is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to share the knowledge of clinicians, academics and practitioners in a yearly international forum, kindly sponsored and hosted for its first event by the Honourable Society of Inner Temple on 29 – 30th June 2017.
Mirroring the successful Australian initiative developed by Professor Rachael Field, our first UK forum is assisted by an organising board with two international members, Michael Appleby and Judy Bourke (Sydney’s College of Law), alongside myself and Professor Cheryl Thomas QC (University College London). It is hoped that greater international collaboration will support future forums to share global clinical research and practical application to assist education and continuing development for our profession.
The theme is ‘Re-wiring the Law’, inspired by the burgeoning developments of science and human performance. Research suggests that individuals can change long-held negative patterns of thinking and behaviour, thus improving wellbeing. Previous beliefs that our traits and characteristics are somehow fixed are no longer true. This is pertinent given the recent evidence of the challenges facing the profession within the Wellbeing at the Bar research, which highlighted that one in three barristers found it difficult to control or stop worrying, two in three barristers felt that showing signs of stress is a weakness, and one in six felt low in spirits most of the time.
The full article can be downloaded here.