Supporting lawyers to support others
The idea that we can work continuously with other people’s conflict while remaining unaffected and unscathed ourselves is now widely discredited. Effective care of the practitioner is seen as a prerequisite to effective care of the client.
Association of Family Law Supervisors
What is a Supervision?
Supervision helps you understand yourself. It is a confidential, safe, non-judgmental and supportive space to support you and enhance your development and growth.
Benefits of Supervision
Supervision gives the space to understand the impact of your work with clients, colleagues and other professionals alike on you and the way you work.
How to find a Supervisor
Our interactive map can link you to a Supervisor near you. Alternatively, our register gives detail of all those who can support you.
Statistics
Wellbeing is a hot topic in the legal world. Too often the personal and financial impact of not supporting professionals is not appreciated. However the statistics speak for themselves. The 2019 survey by the Junior Lawyers Division of the Law Society reported 93% who had experienced stress, of whom 48% experienced mental ill-health. US ABA 2016 published a peer reviewed study reporting 28% lawyers depressed, 19% anxious, 23% stressed in the largest study worldwide on lawyers of its time. HSE 2019/20 reported 17.9 million estimated working days lost due to work-related stress across UK (55% of all working days lost).
%
of junior lawyers reporting stress who also suffered mental ill health
%
of lawyers responding to a worldwide survey reported being depressed
%
Of all working days lost in the UK due to work related stress
Contact Us
If these statistics, and your own experiences ring a bell, contact us to be put in touch with supervisors who can help.
How to become a Family Law Supervisor
In order for more family lawyers to be able to access supervision, more supervisors are needed from within the profession. Could you be one of them?
The answer is ‘yes’ if you’re compassionate, curious, fascinated by difference, intuitive, courageous and, above all, a great listener who would like to become an even better one.
If you are interested in training as a family law supervisor you have come to the right place. The Association of Family Law Supervisors (AFLS) is a group of professionals who have trained through FLiP Faculty.
A supervisee’s story
Those working in Family Law are acutely aware of the emotional and psychological impact incumbent in the role whether this results from increased workloads, the demands of clients or simply getting caught up in the emotional turmoil which is experienced by those whom we represent. It is important to remember the psychological challenges involved in practising family law and the toll it can take on our health if adequate support is not in place and yet there is little in the way of such support available. The Associate of Family Law Supervisors is working hard to address this.
For many professionals working repeatedly with psychological trauma and human distress, supervision is mandatory. Effective care of the practitioner is seen as a prerequisite to effective care of the client. But this is not the case in the field of family law, despite growing awareness of chronic stress, workaholism and burnout among family lawyers.
The benefits of supervision for those working in family law can be profound, both for the practitioner’s own well being and improving the way that they care for the clients.