‘Support is needed in every space, but sometimes we need it more’.
Do you need pit-head time?
“Support is needed in every space, but sometimes we need it more. The British miners in the 1920s fought for what was termed pit-head time – the right to wash off the grime of the work in the boss’s time, rather than take it home with them. Supervision is the equivalent for those who work at the coalface of personal distress and disease.”
"Pit-head doesn’t mean we’re weak, just that we’ve been affected by our work at the coalface. The only way to prevent being affected would be to eliminate human relationships and emotions by becoming a robot. 🤖 This would exclude the best of what we bring to our work – ourselves.”😍
Law can be a challenging and rewarding career. However, no area of law is immune from heightened emotions, stress, and responsibility.
😵 There are many stressors in law: heavy workloads, administrative and financial pressures, public accountability, client accountability (including direct customer/ client, employer, or the wider landscape of the law), limited resources, billable hours, the risk of complaint and reporting. The adrenaline hit can be exciting and fulfilling but the juggling act can be exhausting, confusing, fraught with danger and can lead to a lawyer feeling alone and anxious at the very least.
It is well documented that lawyers suffer from higher levels of distress, depression, and anxiety than the general population.
Professional Supervision can provide the much-needed support for those working at the coalface of law. It gives you pit-head time.
Deirdre May, originally from Scotland, is an admitted and practising solicitor in rural NSW, Australia of nearly 20 years She is also a trained professional supervisor for lawyers of all ages, stages, and practice areas.
Your ability to participate in supervision is not confined by geography with the options of online or telephone supervision as well as face to face supervision.
✅ Want to know more? DM or email deirdre.eaglesupervision@gmail.com
Sources - Daphne Hewson and Michael Carroll (2016) Reflective Practice in Supervision.
