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In January I said that wellbeing would be one of my priorities this year. My goal is to facilitate better practice habits, enable barristers to spot problems early on, avoid harm and offer help to one other.
As Chair of the Bar, I speak about wellbeing whenever possible. Relentless pressure, high expectations, competitiveness and fear of showing weakness can easily lead to chronic fatigue, burnout and illness. Too often we think we are the exception – it won’t happen to us – until it is too late.
The Bar Council has been exploring how to offer additional support to practitioners via coaching or supervision; promoting regular, confidential check-ins with a professional as an essential component to improve working life, akin to having an accountant or insurance.
The benefit of reflective supervision is worth exploring at the Bar. A reflective approach provides a space to analyse and evaluate professional experiences and debrief after enduring difficult or challenging encounters or projects.
The focus is on experiencing work as a learning opportunity and reflective support has been proven to lead to better wellbeing and professional resilience. From a practice development perspective, all the evidence suggests it leads to better ways to manage the impact of work.
Adopting this new approach is a shift away from wellbeing as a form of crisis management where the Bar Council already has lots of resources and support available through Wellbeing at the Bar (www.wellbeingatthebar.org.uk).
Developing reflective practice is the next step in offering more support to the Bar. We know this won’t be easy. Many will shy away from the term ‘supervision’ or anything suggesting psychological assistance. Affordability will also be a key factor for many. That is why we are exploring ways to make reflective practice tax deductible, and my thanks go to our Tax Panel for its assistance so far.
Over the next few months, we will be discussing reflective practice at our Bar Conference in June and the Bar Council team under Charlotte May KC will pilot different delivery models including 1:1 support and working in groups.
Our first pilot will be in partnership with Balint Legal and will be a group model. We are going to run two groups starting in early summer – one group is for family/crime and the other for commercial/Chancery. Groups will meet once a month for 90 minutes (after court) and participation in the pilot is free.
The crime/family group will be based on the Western Circuit in person in Bristol and the Chancery/commercial group will be in person in London. We’re also planning to run an employed Bar group – look out for more information which will be announced soon.
The pilots will be evaluated, and I hope to report back on the project and the potential for scaling up before the end of the year.
Balint Legal’s model has been tested through decades of global research and the Law Society of Ireland has run a successful project for the legal profession in the Republic. Positive outcomes include improved self-awareness, increased productivity, better emotional regulation, improved listening skills and less isolation. I am keen to see what this model can achieve for us in England and Wales.
While I acknowledge that this is an ambitious project which will require a changed attitude in some quarters and will not happen overnight, I am determined to do it – we have to start somewhere to improve practice and change the working culture for the better.
This article was updated on 20/05/25 to make clear that the Law Society of Ireland ran the project (including a Balint group) for the legal profession in the Republic.
To attend the Bar Conference session ‘Reflective practice: a powerful tool for barrister wellbeing’ on 7 June, sign up here.
See also:
www.balintlegal.co.uk
www.wellbeingatthebar.org.uk
‘The use of clinical supervision’, Marc Mason, Counsel December 2024
Barbara Mills KC is the 2025 Chair of the Bar. She is a specialist family practitioner at 4PB and former Co-Chair of the Bar Council’s Race Working Group.
In January I said that wellbeing would be one of my priorities this year. My goal is to facilitate better practice habits, enable barristers to spot problems early on, avoid harm and offer help to one other.
As Chair of the Bar, I speak about wellbeing whenever possible. Relentless pressure, high expectations, competitiveness and fear of showing weakness can easily lead to chronic fatigue, burnout and illness. Too often we think we are the exception – it won’t happen to us – until it is too late.
The Bar Council has been exploring how to offer additional support to practitioners via coaching or supervision; promoting regular, confidential check-ins with a professional as an essential component to improve working life, akin to having an accountant or insurance.
The benefit of reflective supervision is worth exploring at the Bar. A reflective approach provides a space to analyse and evaluate professional experiences and debrief after enduring difficult or challenging encounters or projects.
The focus is on experiencing work as a learning opportunity and reflective support has been proven to lead to better wellbeing and professional resilience. From a practice development perspective, all the evidence suggests it leads to better ways to manage the impact of work.
Adopting this new approach is a shift away from wellbeing as a form of crisis management where the Bar Council already has lots of resources and support available through Wellbeing at the Bar (www.wellbeingatthebar.org.uk).
Developing reflective practice is the next step in offering more support to the Bar. We know this won’t be easy. Many will shy away from the term ‘supervision’ or anything suggesting psychological assistance. Affordability will also be a key factor for many. That is why we are exploring ways to make reflective practice tax deductible, and my thanks go to our Tax Panel for its assistance so far.
Over the next few months, we will be discussing reflective practice at our Bar Conference in June and the Bar Council team under Charlotte May KC will pilot different delivery models including 1:1 support and working in groups.
Our first pilot will be in partnership with Balint Legal and will be a group model. We are going to run two groups starting in early summer – one group is for family/crime and the other for commercial/Chancery. Groups will meet once a month for 90 minutes (after court) and participation in the pilot is free.
The crime/family group will be based on the Western Circuit in person in Bristol and the Chancery/commercial group will be in person in London. We’re also planning to run an employed Bar group – look out for more information which will be announced soon.
The pilots will be evaluated, and I hope to report back on the project and the potential for scaling up before the end of the year.
Balint Legal’s model has been tested through decades of global research and the Law Society of Ireland has run a successful project for the legal profession in the Republic. Positive outcomes include improved self-awareness, increased productivity, better emotional regulation, improved listening skills and less isolation. I am keen to see what this model can achieve for us in England and Wales.
While I acknowledge that this is an ambitious project which will require a changed attitude in some quarters and will not happen overnight, I am determined to do it – we have to start somewhere to improve practice and change the working culture for the better.
This article was updated on 20/05/25 to make clear that the Law Society of Ireland ran the project (including a Balint group) for the legal profession in the Republic.
To attend the Bar Conference session ‘Reflective practice: a powerful tool for barrister wellbeing’ on 7 June, sign up here.
See also:
www.balintlegal.co.uk
www.wellbeingatthebar.org.uk
‘The use of clinical supervision’, Marc Mason, Counsel December 2024
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group
Modernising communication and collaboration at a leading Chancery set. A Zexi case study
How to build profile without compromising professional duties. By Naumaan Farooq, Co-Founder of Inked PR
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the role of cut-off levels, and the wider range of factors that must be considered when interpreting results for family court proceedings
Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
The case against judge-only justice – and why efficiency is not enough. By Professor Leslie Thomas KC
Jemima Coleman and Zoë Leventhal KC on the evolving global movement seeking to reframe how we view nature: to recognise that nature possesses inherent rights and to enshrine these rights in law
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Seeing the full picture – Baljit Ubhey OBE outlines the CPS action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, offering insights directly relevant to courtroom practice
Lauren Fullerton examines the how, what and why of setting up a second chambers base
