IBC Lunchtime Webinar: Vicarious Trauma

Following our in person event in October, we are pleased to say we are running our Vicarious Trauma event again, this time entirely online, to maximise the number of members who can join the event.

Vicarious Trauma is becoming a ‘hot topic’ at the Bar – how can we help our members protect themselves against some of the daily challenges they are presented with?

It’s not just a ‘barrister’ problem though is it? Clerks come in to contact with distressing images, topics and material regularly. We take calls and receive emails that are full of other people’s trauma (and we can’t always help them). Members come to their clerks, support staff and senior management teams with their problems, or to talk about difficult cases. Then we and our teams have to work out how to process the information we’ve been given, the emotions we’re feeling and move on to the next challenge waiting just around the corner.

Whether you’re new to the sector or environment, a seasoned pro, or anywhere in between, there will be certain things that stick with you.

What is the right way to react? To brush ourselves down and move on, or stop and process and show our emotions? Is there a ‘one size fits all’? It’s not as easy as it looks, and even some of the most experienced clerks and staff amongst us can still be affected by the traumas we encounter on a day to day basis.  

We have invited Camilla and Rebecca from Trauma Informed Law to provide a talk for the IBC, discussing the fundamental principles of vicarious trauma and why we have the responses we do. This will help us all to better understand our own emotions surrounding our exposure to trauma. This will also help us to grow as individuals, both in understanding ours, our colleagues (and our barristers) reactions to trauma, and to grow as teams. It’s also a great opportunity to share your experiences with your colleagues and understand how different things affect different people – you are not alone!

With a combined 35+ years’ experience as barristers (covering family, general/white collar crime, commercial, contentious regulatory and FS litigation) and 20+ years’ experience working with trauma and distress, Camilla and Rebecca both now run coaching and consultancy businesses and have launched a nationwide collaboration under the umbrella of Trauma Informed Law. Their specialisms include the provision of education and support in respect of trauma within the legal profession – both in terms of trauma-informed practice and vicarious trauma. Their lived experience of the legal world, combined with their specialist somatic coaching skills, means that they are able to approach these topics in a way that is safe, relatable and empowering, allowing space for discussion and response.

Please do join us for what promises to be a very interesting introductory session surrounding the topic of vicarious trauma for clerks and support staff. All members of the IBC are welcome to attend.

We actively encourage sets to sign up in groups – you’re welcome to join as a conference room so that as many of your staffing team as possible can take advantage of this excellent talk. This will largely be presented as a webinar, so perhaps you can encourage your fellow clerks and staff to pop along and have a learning lunch time.

** If you’d like to join as a conference room with multiple attendees, please can you let us know by email, including details of a member of your team to take the lead on receiving joining details and an estimate as to how many attendees you might expect from your set.