Families
Watching a loved one struggle with alcohol or drug use, depression or other mental health issues is devastating, yet we know that lawyers experience these problems more often than the general population and other professions. These problems have severe consequences not just for the afflicted attorney but also cause immeasurable emotional pain and suffering to family members. These illnesses and conditions affect the entire family and create dynamics within the family system that unwittingly perpetuate the illness. You know better than anyone the severity of their loved one’s problems. As someone who spends time with them outside of their workplace, you know better than anyone the severity of their symptoms and the ripple effect their behavior is having in your home and among your family. It is possible that your repeated efforts to encourage your loved one to get help have failed. You may have reached a point of frustration, maybe even a breaking point, and want to know what to do and how best to help your loved one.
Please reach out, LAP can help!
In order to best help your loved one, the LAP can guide you as to how to begin to stop the destructive cycle of disease within the family. The person afflicted with the illness often cannot begin a recovery process until the family has begun the recovery process and leads the way. There is not a quick fix or magic silver bullet. Recovery is a process, not an event.
The LAP can provide family members with experienced guidance about how to intervene with your loved one who is thus far unwilling to get help. The LAP can refer you and your family member to providers and community resources in your area that can help you while we focus our attention on helping the lawyer. The LAP can reach out to the lawyer in distress via our volunteer network and offer an opportunity to initiate recovery and receive support. Many family members become exhausted trying to pick up all the balls the ill person is dropping, and it is natural to get angry and feel hopeless. Although no one can make someone else get well, it is profoundly possible that if we change the way we respond, it will cause your loved one to re-evaluate their choices as well. LAP provides short-term counseling and crisis management, intervention, assessments, referrals to outside resources (such as therapists and treatment centers), follow up and on-going support, or just a safe space to discuss your issues.
HELP IS AVAILABLE, PLEASE REACH OUT:
- Call the LAP Helpline 888-408-6222
- Call LAP Director 516-512-2618
- Email LAP@nassaubar.org