Module 6: Identity, Meaning, and the Practice of Law
Facilitate deeper therapeutic work around values, identity diffusion, and disconnection from purpose.
Helping clients examine who they are beyond the role of “attorney”
Addressing moral injury and disillusionment with the profession
Exploring alternative narratives and sources of meaning
This module examines how attorneys often conflate professional identity with personal worth, leading to challenges around meaning, purpose, and self-concept—especially during career transitions, burnout, or perceived failure. The legal profession’s emphasis on external validation, achievement, and adversarial thinking can crowd out deeper exploration of intrinsic values, emotional fulfillment, and non-performance-based identity. Clinicians will learn to identify and address the psychological toll of this identity fusion, including symptoms of emptiness, disillusionment, and existential anxiety. Therapeutic approaches introduced in this module include values-based interventions from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), narrative therapy to help reconstruct meaning beyond the legal role, and mindfulness techniques to foster psychological flexibility. The module also addresses how therapists can create a safe space for attorneys to explore identity without judgment, and guide them toward integrating professional life with a more expansive and authentic sense of self.
