What Can You Expect When You Call LAP?

It depends on where you live, and the size of your state bar LAP.

Small programs may have just one person with a desk and a telephone line, but that person is likely a lawyer or mental health professional who can offer reassurance, information, and referrals to mental health professionals or substance abuse treatment facilities. Some may even provide crisis intervention over the phone. The more heavily staffed LAPs offer information and referrals plus individual or group counseling (provided by licensed mental health professionals). In some states, LAPs are even connected directly to an employee assistance program that facilitates the actual services, which include assessment, a limited number of counseling sessions, information about medical or financial conditions, and referrals to resources outside the EAP network.

Many LAPs also coordinate a network of volunteer lawyers who serve as peer counselors to colleagues in distress. Peer counselors are the backbone of some lawyer assistance organizations, highly effective because they understand the stressors within your professional life and often because they have been in your shoes themselves. Typically, the volunteer peer counselors have had life experiences similar to yours and want to give back by helping others down the line.