We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
We need to talk about trauma: Integrating trauma‐informed practice into the family law classroom.
- Abstract
The reality of law schools being hotbeds of toxic stress is not new. Most law schools already have instituted student wellness initiatives focused on supporting students through the rigors of law school, and spotting outside stressors which impact students' legal education and providing support. While these initiatives are crucial, lessons about healthy boundaries, combating toxic stress and the role of trauma, need to be further integrated into law school curricula. The field of trauma‐informed practice presents a rich set of tools from which to accomplish these goals. While trauma‐informed practice has implications for all of legal education, the focus of this essay is on the teaching of family law. Law school family law courses create an ideal platform for incorporating a trauma‐informed perspective and introducing law students to trauma‐ informed skills. While some law school clinics introduce and implement principles of trauma‐informed practice to law students, it is less common that trauma‐informed practice is introduced through traditional doctrinal or skills classes. This article will explore how an understanding of trauma and trauma‐informed practice can inform how family law courses are taught in United States law schools. Key points: As a profession, we have a tradition of taking pride in surviving the sometimes toxic levels of stress imposed by law school and the practice of law. And yet hiding away our emotional responses comes at a cost.Law schools need to tackle the role of trauma in legal education—both the trauma that students bring with them to law school, and the ways in which legal education can exacerbate and further cause trauma, particularly for Black and brown students, and other vulnerable students. The field of trauma‐informed practice presents a rich set of tools from which to accomplish these goals.Law school family law courses create an ideal platform for incorporating a trauma‐informed perspective and introducing law students to trauma‐informed skills.Effective family law attorneys must balance well‐honed interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence, knowledge of self and others, and the ability to empathetically listen to painful difficult information, all while spotting and analyzing legal issues, and maintaining appropriate professional boundaries and self‐care.This article explores how an understanding of trauma and trauma‐informed practice can inform how family law courses are taught in United States law schools.
- Subjects
CHILD abuse laws; DOMESTIC relations; MINORITY law students; LEGAL education; LAW schools
- Publication
Family Court Review, 2022, Vol 60, Issue 4, p757
- ISSN
1531-2445
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/fcre.12674