Question Via Anonymous Q+A: Are there any addiction recovery peer support groups for judges in Western Massachusetts? Answered in detail here.
Our organization has been answering questions about lawyer well-being since 1978. In our Q+A blog post series, we’ll be featuring answers to recent, recurrent, and other important questions we’ve received via our website Anonymous Q+A feature. The following question was submitted in July 2019.
QUESTION:
Are there any recovery support groups for judges in Western Massachusetts?
ANSWER:
Thanks for this great question! While judges are welcome at our Springfield meeting, we do not currently run a recovery peer support group that is exclusively only for judges.
Our addiction recovery peer support group meeting in Springfield is exclusively for lawyers, judges, law students, and other legal professionals. It meets on the third Tuesday of every month at the Springfield Sheraton — find more here. Judges are welcome and encouraged to attend this, and all attendees are made aware at the start of every meeting about the strict confidentiality of our groups.
While we encourage judges to attend our Springfield meeting, we understand that this can be difficult. Judges may feel that their struggles are different than attorneys’ and be hesitant to share, or they worry about sharing personal concerns or questions with lawyers who may end up appearing in front of them.
If you would like to discuss these types of challenges and explore starting a judges group in Western Massachusetts or just talk with someone, we encourage you to contact our executive director, Anna Levine, who has a lot of experience in the area of recovery and who lives in Western Massachusetts. Although Anna is a licensed attorney, she is not currently practicing and therefore there would be zero risk of her appearing in front of judges that might participate in such a group. Anna will hold in strictest confidence the content of any meetings you or anyone else might have with her.
Anna can be reached at anna@lclma.org or 617-482-9600.
We encourage others in the legal profession to contact Anna (above) to express interest in forming an addiction recovery peer support group meeting in a new location — whether for judges or the legal profession generally.
We also encourage lawyers, judges, and law students in Massachusetts to talk with one of our clinicians to help find the right support. Find more on scheduling a Free & Confidential appointment here.
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The question above was submitted via our website Anonymous Q+A feature for lawyers, judges, law students, and other legal professionals in Massachusetts.
