D.C. Bar Virtual Well-Being Summit Focuses on Building Capacity During Challenging Times
May 11, 2026
Counteracting the impact of stress hormones, news cycles, and setbacks was the focal point of the D.C. Bar’s annual Well-Being Summit on May 7, cosponsored by the D.C. Bar Communities Office and D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP). Now in its sixth year, the free summit is held during Mental Health Awareness Month and Well-Being Week in Law to foster engagement and reinforce awareness of well-being in the legal profession.
With the theme “Building Inner Capacity: Strategies for Sustainable Wellness,” the event brought together approximately 170 participants into sessions that explored finding the grit to persevere during challenging periods, strengthening psychological flexibility through mindful acceptance, understanding the impact of hormones on performance, managing the effects of news consumption on mental health, and rewiring the brain toward healthy optimism.
Jose (Carlos) Garcia, True Progress Lab cofounder, discussed techniques intended to increase an individual’s capacity to contend with stress. “Capacity means increasing your tolerance for chaos, for stress, so that the load you are carrying doesn’t impact you the same way,” he said. “Coping is not the same as leading.”
Garcia presented several exercises that could be used to address stress and increase capacity, referencing his military and JAG service training’s use of similar techniques. These “protocols” included breathing exercises such as box breathing and the physiological sigh, both of which are backed by research.
“Your breathing functions as a remote control for your autonomic nervous system,” Garcia explained. “So, when you are using slow, structured exhales, you are activating your parasympathetic calm response. When your breathing is shallow or fast, your prefrontal cortex is not being optimally activated … and that affects your judgment.”
Additional protocols included “rational optimism,” the deliberate disruption of negative rumination by methodically interrogating the cause of mental distress, and “vantage point” analysis, where upcoming stressful situations are analyzed through developing models for the best, worst, and most likely scenarios.
Dr. Nicole Hedrick, a licensed clinical psychologist and former trial attorney, led a session focusing on how mindfulness and acceptance can help build internal capacity for attorneys. Hedrick acquired an instructor certification in mindfulness and founded Arlington Rooted Wellness, where she specializes in providing individual therapy to attorneys. “People in the legal profession are unable to turn off,” Hedrick said. “This can have consequences on physical health as well as mental health.”
Hedrick employs acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). “Acceptance and commitment therapy is a third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy, meaning that it is not just about cognition and behaviors, [but] it’s [also] bringing this new element of mindfulness. It tells us that we should accept our suffering,” she said. “We can see suffering as a two-sided coin. One side is the unpleasantness of the suffering, but on the other side it’s giving us a clue about what it is that we value.”
“We wouldn’t suffer if there wasn’t something that we wanted different, or something that we really care about. Suffering can give us a roadmap to our values and tell us where our energy needs to be directed to live a life in line with those values,” Hedrick added.
‘Always On’ Work Culture
P. Charlie Harris Reid, a dedicated wellness entrepreneur who studied public health and epidemiology and worked in the pharmaceutical industry, dove deeper into the physical elements of stress and well-being. Harris Reid asserted that although the way we work has changed, the reality of the billable hour has not. She explained that the fact that a significant amount of work is now either hybrid or remote does not impact the strain these pressures can place on the individual.
“The nervous system cannot tell the difference between always-on at home or at work,” Harris Reid said, sharing a chart showing the cortisol response during a typical workday.
The hormone is intended to be activated for brief periods to respond to danger or crisis, Harris Reid explained, but the long-term activation of cortisol in a typical work week doesn’t leave time for recovery. “What do hormones have to do with it? Absolutely everything. Cortisol is the CEO of your body’s stress response. It is designed to be a fight or flight response. It is not designed to be on all the time. It should spike when you need focus, energy, or fast decisions,” Harris Reid said.
“However, the problem is, if we’re in the professional services business, we have cortisol on all the time. It’s supposed to fall when the threat passes and our energy returns to baseline, but the fact is, because of the nature of legal work, the recovery never gets to happen. Your sleep never gets restored,” she added.
Harris Reid also noted that hormones are particularly relevant for women in the profession as they age and face significant hormonal shifts that impact their well-being. “What you actually need, instead of typical solutions, is sleep repair, energy regulation, hormonal support, and recovery systems,” she said.
Digital Burnout
Ami Lynch, founder of Rising Sun Therapy & Wellness, discussed how constant exposure to news and social media can quietly erode emotional capacity, concentration, and resilience. Participants discussed strategies for developing healthier relationships with news and social media while remaining informed and engaged without becoming depleted.
“The same behaviors that make you a strong attorney, like tracking developments, anticipating risks, or staying mentally engaged, are the exact behaviors that make you vulnerable in a 24/7 news environment,” Lynch said. “For those of you doing complex analytical work, this isn’t a small issue. It is directly impacting your performance. It can lower productivity. It can lower billable hours or make you have to work many more hours to get the same task done. Any small interruption can significantly reduce your ability to sustain attention.”
Lynch said attorneys can mitigate the stress and distraction of the digital world without eliminating it altogether. She suggested turning down the volume on media by consuming with greater intentionality and setting boundaries. For example, choose fewer, higher quality sources; avoid algorithm-driven feeds; and assess why we want to stay informed and interrogate how much engagement and information would be useful to meet that purpose.
Michell Stanley, founder and CEO of Moksha Living, a licensed clinical social worker, professional coach, and somatic therapist with more than 15 years of experience, works one on one with corporate lawyers navigating the demands of law firm culture. She led a life design planning activity to help participants generate a practical, accountable roadmap to rewire their brains for healthy optimism and lasting capacity.
A form prompted participants to consider aspects of their well-being such as self-care, relationships, and other areas that relate to health, stress, and priorities. She also introduced some tools to contend with setbacks. Stanley indicated that it could be helpful to understand that the setback is not personal, pervasive, or permanent. By understanding that others experience similar setbacks, that they are limited in the scope and durability of their impact, people can put themselves back on track to pursue their goals.
The D.C. Bar offers wellness events throughout the year to support members’ efforts to achieve a productive and healthy lifestyle within the profession. Upcoming events include Meditation Monday on May 18 at 11:30 a.m. and Spring Wellness Walk from the D.C. Bar headquarters to the Judiciary Square corridor on May 19.
