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Coping with Stress
HUSL Mental Health Contacts
Dr. Jessica Desalu, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist dedicated to law students through the Howard University Counseling Service. To set up a virtual counseling appointment, she can be reached by email at jessica.desalu@howard.edu.
Howard University has hired additional counselors available to the campus generally. They can be reached at 202-806-6870 (9:00 am - 4:00 am).
Additionally, the student telehealth mental health provider, Healthiest You is available both online or by phone 855-870-5858 by phone.
If your circumstances prohibit virtual sessions, students can also try Better Help.
As always, students should reach out to The Office of Student Affairs if they need academic, financial, or personal advising and counseling.
In Crisis? Help is available.
> Call 202-806-6870 (HUCS, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm)
> Call 202-345-6709 (HUCS after hours crisis line)
> Call 855-870-5858 (Healthiest You)
> Call 800-273-TALK (Suicide Prevention Lifeline)
> Call 866-342-6892 (Optum's Emotional-Support Helpline)
> Call 800-799-SAFE (The National Domestic Violence Hotline)
Domestic Violence
> Call 800-799-SAFE (The National Domestic Violence Hotline, open 24/7)
Access information about the D.C. Crime Victims Compensation Program which provides financial assistance and reimbursement to innocent victims of violent crime and their families with crime-related expenses. The D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Robert E. Morin issued an order in April that temporarily raises the emergency shelter spending cap from $3,000 to $9,000 per victim' it also raises the limit on emergency housing from 20 days to 60 days. Read the order here.
Trauma Stewardship
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Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Othersby Laura van Dernoot Lipsky with Connie Burke
Strategies
This list of resources that include selected strategies to consider as you navigate this period. If you find a resource that you think might resonate with others that isn't included, please feel free to share it with us at reference@law.howard.edu.
HEALING
- Self-Love in the Time of Coronavirus
- COVID-19 or not, Black folks are building virtual spaces of joy, intimacy and tenderness
- 15 ways to cope -- through creativity
- Morgan Harper Nichols
- Online Contemplative Resources for Coronavirus Crisis (dynamic, open access Google document to support sharing and discovering online resources that are free/donation based)
- Mindfulness in Law Program for Law Students and Faculty, Practitioners, Judges, and Others in Law, by the University of Miami. All the recordings are available here.
MENTAL HEALTH AND STRESS
- ABA COVID-19 Mental Health Resources
- Cabin Fever Symptoms and Coping Skills
- How To Preserve Your Mental Strength When Everything Is Uncertain
- Practical Ways to Lead Yourself During a Crisis
- How to Stop Feeling So Helpless During Quarantine
- Stress and Coping (CDC guide available in multiple language)
- Free and Confidential Support Resources
- COVID Coach App (created for everyone, including Veterans and Service members, to support self-care and overall mental health during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic)
SUBSTANCE USE
- Resources for drug use and COVID-19 risk reduction
- COVID-19: Potential Implications for Individuals with Substance Use Disorders
- Harm reduction guidance for substance users during COVID-19
ANXIETY, LONELINESS, AND SOCIAL DISTANCING
- Self-Compassion Practices to Deepen Your Resilience
- How to Manage Panic Attacks
- How to Cope with Anxiety About Coronavirus
- What Therapists Tell Patients Who Are Anxious About Coronavirus
- Tips That Can Help Manage Anxiety Around the Coronavirus
- 10 Ways to Ease Your Coronavirus Anxiety
- How to Cope With Loneliness During the Coronavirus Pandemic
- 9 Therapist-Approved Tips for Reframing Your Existential Anxiety
- Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine, and Isolation During an Infectious Disease Outbreak
- Keeping Your Distance to Stay Safe
- The National Jurist included a Coronavirus Survival Guide in its Spring 2020 issue, which includes a Self-Care Guide for Law Students.
- How to Protect Your Mental Health During a Quarantine
ABA Lawyer Assistance Program
DC Lawyer Assistance Program: "A free, confidential program for D.C. Bar members, judges, and District law students who are experiencing problems, such as addiction, mental health symptoms, or stress, which interfere with their personal or professional lives." Analogous programs organized by state can be found here.
Mental Health Resources for the Legal Profession During COVID-19
Good Black News
CALI Lessons
- Mindfulness Practice for Law School (20 minutes)
- Time Management: Creating Your Plan (20 minutes)
- Secrets to Improved Memorization (30 minutes)
- Metacognition (30 minutes)
- Semester Self-Assessment & Reflection (15 minutes)
Podcasts
- The Path to Law Student Well-Being Podcast Series: "a podcast series sponsored by the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and Law Student Division. The series is a response to the call for action in the 2017 Report, The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change, from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being, which sets out action items for the legal community, including specific steps law schools can take, to shift the culture of the legal profession towards one that is focused on well-being."
© Howard University School of Law Library. Questions about this guide should be directed to reference@law.howard.edu.
