Larry Starr-Karlin, JD, MA, LMFT Psychotherapy - Couples Counseling - Group Therapy      MFC44427

Attorneys and Depression, Substance Abuse, Career Dissatisfaction

To paraphrase the opening remarks of the dean of my law school on our first day at UCLA:  “Look to the right of you; look to the left of you.  One of you will suffer from depression or substance abuse, or both, due the demands of this profession.”  According to studies cited in the May 2008 issue of the California Bar Journal, lawyers suffer the highest rate of depression among workers in 104 occupations, and many times the rate of depression compared to the general population.  In treatment, almost twice as many suffer from substance abuse as from depression alone.  Causes mentioned include the success orientation of the typical attorney, the win or lose, competitive, adversarial nature of law practice, and the resulting personal isolation, the belief [heroic, individualistic paradigm] “I have to deal with this alone.”  Also, job dissatisfaction.  I’ve read elsewhere that out of all professions, attorneys have the highest rate of disappointment in their careers.  When I started law school, many of us were attracted to the law in the belief we would have some impact toward righting the wrongs of our society, creating a better world for our children. How many of us can now claim that kind of accomplishment?  Disillusionment, resignation, a feeling of entrapment due to family obligations, student loan indebtedness,  the need for some indicia of financial success, fear of starting over…all these do not make for a happy professional.

 I understand these stresses from the inside.  I find satisfaction now in helping others achieve more happiness and satisfaction as a result of my own mid-life career change. I bring my own experience and, of course, the opportunity to share in complete confidence.  I will help you explore your options and choices, discover and offer support for the things that can be changed and for ways to cope with what cannot. The answer is always individual, as unique as you are yourself, but you do not have to go it alone.

With regard to substance abuse, many practitioners and treatment centers require complete abstinence as a precondition of admission to treatment.  This may be a powerful approach for those who can comply and, not incidentally, more comfortable for the practitioner, but it has the effect of excluding many who can nevertheless benefit from the support that compassionate treatment can provide.  My philosophy is a harm reduction approach, working always toward awareness of what the client is really reaching for, an appreciation that the client is self medicating, and finding less destructive ways of coping.  Abstinence may be an appropriate goal, not a prerequisite.