While the College of Law’s Law Student Mental Health Week may be ending, wellness and good mental health are twenty-four seven, year round endeavors. Below are a selection of resources that can help you throughout the year, especially as we get closer to final exams. For more resources, visit our Resiliency & Wellness for Law Students & Lawyers Guide.
Law Library Display: Law Student Mental Health Week
Stop by our display for Law Student Mental Health Week. Check out one of the featured resources or explore more resources through our Resiliency & Wellness for Law Students & Lawyers Guide. Play a game, color, or put together a puzzle to relax.
College of Law Resources
Law Student Wellness, Law Student Intranet
The Law Student Wellness page within the Law Student Intranet provides a wealth of wellness resources that are available on-campus and beyond.
Wellness at Cincinnati Law Facebook Group
This Facebook group promotes wellness and self-care at UC Law for students, faculty and staff. They regularly share wellness programming as well as tips and UC campus resources.
UC Law Health & Wellness
Cincinnati Law takes the health and wellness of our students and their families seriously. You can browse this page for a number of resources available to UC students.
University of Cincinnati Resources
UC Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS)
Students and members of the UC community who are concerned about students have access to mental health crisis care and consultation 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The CAPS main office is located at 225 Calhoun St., Suite 200.
Let’s Talk With CAPS
This service is available for all UC students who may not need traditional counseling, but could still benefit from one-on-one support. Let’s Talk is a free, 100% confidential conversation where you can ask questions, learn about mental health resources, and get support from a UC CAPS therapist. A counselor is at the law school each week generally on Mondays 1:00 – 3:00 pm, Room 210E to provide counseling for enrolled students. Students are seen on a first-come, first-served basis. You can also book a virtual appointment other times through Bookings. Virtual appointments can be by phone or via Microsoft Teams. Note that Let’s Talk is canceled at all in-person locations during the week of March 13-17, 2023. Virtual appointments will remain available Monday-Friday of that week.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Support Groups
By engaging in group therapy, students can expect improved overall well-being and connection with others. Groups are free and confidential for all UC enrolled students. Talk to a clinician and ask about group counseling programs to get connected and learn more. A pre-group appointment with the facilitator(s) is needed before attending an online group. Groups may change semester to semester. Groups may be in-person or virtual.
Arise
The ARISE group is a gender-inclusive group for all survivors of sexual and/or relationship violence. ARISE group provides a safe and empowering space for group members to connect with other survivors, talk about their experiences, and identify what they need to move forward in their healing journey.
The Art of Stress Management
The Art of Stress Management is an Art Therapy group for students to engage in art-making activities to develop skills in: expressing emotions, reducing stress, coping with burnout, exploring imposter phenomenon, and enhancing self-awareness. This group will focus on the process of expressing feelings through art making. No prior artistic experience or skill is necessary, only a willingness to experiment and make art. All art supplies provided.
Building Social Confidence
Building Social Confidence supports students in learning skills to assist in becoming comfortable and feeling more natural in social situations. Identifying personal strengths, establishing a clear vision of creating and maintaining relationships, specific steps in initiating conversations, and skills to increase a calm presence will be identified and practiced. Building Social Confidence provides structure and compassion, so students do not feel alone in their social fears and a space to face them together.
Collaging for Values and Soul
A four-week group experience utilizing the art of collaging with magazine images to explore values held and what your soul wants to tell you. Group members engage in vision board exercises as well as SoulCollagetm practice.
Loving Better
This is a psychoeducational and experiential group informed by the Gottman Method with experiences tailored to individuals/partners looking to further develop relational skills that support building romantic connections. Students will walk away with skills that foster relational-awareness, boundaries, listening skills, conflict skills, and foundational friendship and play.
Mindful Self-Compassion
Group members learn effective strategies for a compassionate way to view yourself and others that improves mood, reduces stress, and builds healthy relationships.
Neurodivergent Support Group
College is hard, especially if you have issues related to concentration, building academic skills, and understanding social cues. You are not alone! This group provides a safe and accepting space to connect with others who share your experience and help you identify ways to navigate life as a college student.
Understanding Self and Others
Want to learn more about yourself, how to interact with others, and try new ways of relating? This group provides the opportunity for diverse group members to meet their goals by providing and receiving honest feedback. Topics vary from week to week depending on group members’ needs. There are undergraduate and graduate sections.
Community Wellness Groups
Community Wellness Groups are open to all UC students and do not require an appointment with a CAPS counselor prior to joining. Groups may change semester to semester.
Healthy Headspace
Learn and discuss how to manage stress, regulate emotions and practice self-compassion. Participants will have the opportunity to practice different techniques and strategies as part of group experience.
Talk About It Tuesday
A weekly peer group discussion, led by Debra Love, MSW, LSW, sponsored by the AACRC on navigating spaces at a PWI as Black Students. Students have an opportunity to explore issues that directly impact their social, emotional, and academic well-being while at the same time finding common solutions and support.
Through Our Roots
A peer group for students who were born outside of the mainland United States and/or who identify as International Students within UC. Students have the opportunity to explore their lived experiences adapting to UC and navigating the unique challenges that emerge as a result of their intersections and interactions with the system.
CARE Team
The CARE Team responds to reports about students experiencing difficulties or whose behavior is raising concerns within the University community. The team’s responsibilities include gathering and sharing information, discerning concerns about a student within a setting or across multiple settings, and managing situations that encompass a variety of issues. The committee is charged to devise a coordinated plan for assessment, intervention, and management of the concerns for the students well-being and that of the University community.
UC College of Medicine Center for Integrative Health and Wellness
The Center’s mission is to improve the health of our local and global community through innovative, internationally-recognized research, education, clinical practice, and community engagement efforts focused on integrative health and wellness. The Center offers many programs and resources.
Safe Apartment Program
The Dean of Students utilizes one room within a residence hall to offer as a safe apartment for students who are in crisis and in need of emergency housing. The safe apartment is in a very confidential location. The Dean of Students in partnership with Residence Education and Development offers this living environment on a short-term basis for students who are at risk or perceived risk of harm if they stay in their current housing situation or are currently without a place to stay due to a victimization.
UC Student Wellness Center
The UC Student Wellness Center located in 675 Steger Student Life Center empowers students to make informed decisions regarding their health and wellness by providing evidence-based education, inclusive resources, and non-judgmental support. They offer an extensive collection of resources, information and workshops about various health and wellness topics including sexual health, drugs and alcohol, financial wellness, relationships and more.
Peer to Peer Programs
The University of Cincinnati in collaboration with CAPS and Student Wellness has a variety of peer to peer based support options on campus.
Bearcats Support Network
Bearcats Support Network is a community of students that fundamentally work to destigmatize mental health while holistically working to create a network that is supportive, loving, and inclusive through peer-to-peer support groups and social events.
Bearcats Recovery Community
The Bearcats Recovery Community is a program designed to support UC students in or seeking recovery from alcohol, drugs and other addictions. The BRC and its programs allow students to have an authentic college experience at UC while maintaining their recovery.
LGBTQ Center Affinity Groups
The LGBTQ Center and their PRISM Mentor program recently launched several affinity groups to create connection amongst peers.
Inside Out
A support group focused on positive mental health for the LGBTQ community at UC. Whether you have questions, are working through coming out, looking to build a community, or just want coffee, this is the place for you. This group is provided in collaboration with Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS).
Queer Spirituality
A safe space for open and honest dialogue surrounding the intersections of the LGBTQ+ community and spiritual practices. Members of the queer community who are spiritual or not are welcome to come discuss the impact of spirituality in their lives and meet like-minded individuals. This group is provided in collaboration with the Edge House.
Kaleidoscope
A peer-led discussion group for students who identify as transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and no label.
Shades of the Rainbow
A peer-led discussion group for those identifying as LGBTQ and a person of color. Connect with new friends, build your community, and support each other. This group meets in the AACRC.
Bi/Pan Discussion Group
A peer-led group for those identifying as bisexual and pansexual.
Sky@UC
CAPS and the Student Wellness Center have collaborated with SKY@UC to foster a peer-supported mental well-being bearcat community. Under this initiative, students will be offered scholarships to learn evidence-based SKY Breath Meditation, participate in Silence Retreats, and be trained to facilitate meditation and wellness workshops.
Bar Organization Resources
ABA Mental Health Resources
Explore resources on well being, lawyer assistance programs, and more.
ABA Resources for Law Students and Law Schools
Wellness Community – Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA)
The wellness board’s mission is to support the legal community by promoting mental, physical, and emotional wellness initiatives for the advancement of quality of life, competent representation, and the administration of justice. In addition to providing articles, wellness tips, and hosting wellness events, this platform provides a way for OSBA members who are interested in wellness to connect with one another.
Cincinnati Bar Association Health and Well Being Committee
The mission of this committee, created in 2012, is to promote attorney well-being by providing education, peer-to-peer support and resources to attorneys and law students in the areas of mental health, emotional balance, stress management (including physical manifestations of stress) and addiction.
Selected Books
The Anxious Lawyer by Jeena Cho; Karen Gifford
The Anxious Lawyer is a straightforward introduction to meditation and mindfulness for those engaged in the practice of law. Readers will be guided through an eight week program, the aim of which is to assist in establishing an ongoing meditation practice. The book will: -Provide an overview of the history of meditation and the scientific evidence of its benefits -Introduce the reader to simple meditation techniques -Offer concrete guidance for establishing meditation practice
How to Be Sort of Happy in Law School by Kathryne M. Young
Each year, over 40,000 new students enter America’s law schools. Each new crop experiences startlingly high rates of depression, anxiety, fatigue, and dissatisfaction. Kathryne M. Young was one of those disgruntled law students. After finishing law school (and a PhD), she set out to learn more about the law school experience and how to improve it for future students. Young conducted one of the most ambitious studies of law students ever undertaken, charting the experiences of over 1000 law students from over 100 different law schools, along with hundreds of alumni, dropouts, law professors, and more. Young teaches students how to approach law school on their own terms: how to tune out the drumbeat of oppressive expectations and conventional wisdom to create a new breed of law school experience altogether. Young provides readers with practical tools for finding focus, happiness, and a sense of purpose while facing the seemingly endless onslaught of problems law school presents daily
Lawyers Anger and Anxiety by Rebecca Nerison
This book first examines how anger and anxiety are related and the symptoms and costs associated with them. You’ll also find advice on seeking happiness through all the stages of your career, and discover valuable tips for staying satisfactorily employed during the most stressful of times. There’s also help for those living with a stressed-out lawyer, both at home or at the office.
Mindfulness for Law Students by Scott Rogers
Mindfulness for Law Students is specifically designed to introduce law students to fundamental contemplative practices as well as the cutting-edge research that shows how incorporating mindfulness techniques can alter the physical structure and function of the brain to reflect decreased levels of stress, increased levels of productivity and improved mental health. This book is based on the Jurisight(R) program – which uses legal terms and concepts to teach lawyers what they need to know about mindfulness and neuroscience to lead more balanced and effective lives – and written with input from law students, law professors and recent law school graduates to ensure that the lessons are accessible to law students and can be easily integrated into their busy schedules.
Selected Videos
ABA Law Student Division, In Support of Law Student Mental Health Playlist
As part of Law Student Mental Health Week 2022, the ABA Law Student Division and the ABA’s Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs reached out to professors, administrators, lawyers, and law-focused mental health professionals to share a word of advice to law students who may be feeling the pressure felt by many of their peers.
Jennifer Riggs, Rewiring Your Brain for Stress Resilience
Sponsored by the ABA Law Student Division and the ABA’s Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, this webinar teaches you how stress affects the brain; how you can change the brain; how common coping strategies do not serve; and what strategies can be used to improve your brain’s stress resilience as well as how to apply these strategies to your own situation.
Jeff Fortgang & Shawn Healy, The Weight of Law School: Recognizing and Rebounding from Depression
Sponsored by the the ABA’s Law Student Division, Young Lawyers Division, Law Practice Division, and the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, this webinar, led by Drs. Fortgang and Healy – two psychologists with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Massachusetts – will discuss the high rates of depression among law students, the various contributing factors, ways of recognizing distress, and suggestions for getting help and staying healthy. Lawyers report much higher rates of depression, anxiety, stress, and alcoholism than the general public. These problems usually start, or escalate, in law school. Tune in to learn tips on how to prevent, recognize, and address depression in law school.
Lawyer Well-Being (YouTube Channel)
Anne Brafford (www.aspire.legal) created the Lawyer Well-Being Channel to support Well-Being in Law Week, which is an annual event for which Anne led the launch in 2020. The week is dedicated to heightened attention to the well-being needs of lawyers and to the growing “lawyer well-being movement.” While Well-Being in Law Week lasts only a handful of days each year, resources will be available year-round to aid lawyers and their support teams in their efforts to boost health and happiness.
Dr. Scott Weinstein, Stress, Burnout…and Humble Pie
This CLE program from the Florida Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Division, covers stress and burnout. The legal profession is fraught with pitfalls that can negatively impact a lawyer’s sense of well-being. While a small amount of stress can actually bolster one’s efficacy, too often we do not possess the tools needed to stop the continuing build-up of negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that can lead to questioning our career choices. This webinar covers understanding and identifying sources of stress, learning to manage stress before it leads to burnout, identifying stress and burnout in colleagues, and increasing your overall level of life satisfaction.