Supporting World Mental Health Awareness Day

Since 1992, World Mental Health Day has been celebrated annually on 10th October, with the objective of raising awareness of mental health issues across the globe.  Blake Morgan is pleased to support the awareness day, by demonstrating how we work with clients and colleagues to support wellbeing and mental health in our roles.

Within the Family team at Blake Morgan, we are acutely aware that a significant number of our clients are living through a traumatic life event. We endeavour to take a holistic approach to providing legal services to them, thinking about all aspects of their life.  When we first meet with clients, we discuss whether attending counselling with their spouse or partner could prevent a breakdown of the relationship and if this is appropriate in the circumstances. We also discuss whether mediation is an option for them. If the relationship has broken down irretrievably and the client is struggling to come to terms with what has happened, then we may suggest to a client that they consider counselling on an individual basis. We are able to provide details for counsellors who can work with couples and individuals in these different circumstances.

If it appears to us that a client may be suffering from mental ill-health, such as an anxiety disorder or a form of depression, then we will suggest the client makes an appointment with their GP to access appropriate treatment. Blake Morgan provide training on mental health, and to support my area of practice, I have also attended Mental Health First Aid training and Christine Plews has recently achieved her Postgraduate Certificate (Oxon) in Psychodynamic Counselling and also is trained in couples and family systemic counselling. This means that as individuals we are specifically trained to identify where a client might be in need of additional assistance and how we can support that client so that they feel comfortable in accessing the help that they need.  In the past, we have also supported clients in need of immediate assistance by giving them the contact details for local acute mental health services, or charities such as the Samaritans or Mind.

If you are experiencing a traumatic life event and need support from a lawyer and perhaps other professionals, please contact our Family Law team and we will do our best to help.