Build Inner Capacity for Sustainable Well-Being
Attend the D.C. Bar Well-Being Summit, held in recognition of Well-Being Week in Law and Mental Health Awareness Month. This year's theme, Building Inner Capacity: Strategies for Sustainable Wellness, focuses on practical approaches to maintaining well-being in a demanding profession.
The flexible, virtual format allows you to engage with sessions that fit your schedule and individual needs.
While designed for legal professionals, the Summit is free and open to anyone interested in improving their well-being.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026
Time: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Cost: FREE
Sponsored by: D.C. Bar Communities Office and the D.C. Bar Lawyer Assistance Program
Related Community of Interest: D.C. Bar Lawyer Well-Being Community
Agenda
9:50 a.m. | Zoom open for check-in and introductions
10:00 a.m. | How to Build a Heightened Sense of Inner Control Under Pressure
This skills-based wellbeing session is designed specifically for lawyers and legal professionals who routinely operate in high pressure environments. Participants will learn practical, repeatable techniques to build calm, focus, and cognitive clarity in moments of stress. The session emphasizes tools that can be applied immediately—in court, negotiations, client interactions, and difficult professional conversations—to help participants feel more grounded, centered, and in control when it matters most.
Speaker: Carlos Garcia, Co-Founder, True Progress Lab
11:00 a.m. | Mindfulness and Acceptance to Increase Internal Capacity for Attorneys
Attorneys today are often stretched thin, balancing demanding legal work, personal responsibilities, and ongoing external stressors. When internal capacity feels depleted, sustaining effectiveness and wellbeing can feel out of reach. This session explores how mindfulness practices and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles can help attorneys restore and expand internal capacity—even in the midst of ongoing pressure. Participants will receive a grounded introduction to mindfulness, including its foundations and research-based benefits, along with ACT informed tools for changing how they relate to stress. Guided meditation will be woven throughout the session, offering opportunities to access the "quiet observer," a steady internal presence that supports resilience and clarity.
Speaker: Dr. Nicole Hedrick, JD, PhD, Founder & Licensed Clinical Psychologist (VA, PsyPact), Arlington Rooted Wellness LLC
12:00 p.m. | Hormones, Performance & the Future of High-Stakes Professional Work
This session explores the biological and hormonal factors driving midlife performance decline among high-performing professionals. Drawing on two decades of research in neuroscience, pharmaceutical science, and hormonal health, the session explains how predictable physiological changes affect cognitive resilience, decision-making, and leadership capacity at the height of professional careers. Attendees will gain practical, immediately applicable tools to restore mental sharpness, sustain productivity, and protect long-term performance as a strategic talent and human-capital priority.
Speaker: P. Charlie Harris-Reid, Founder & CEO, Charlie Reid Wellness
1:00 p.m. | News Consumption, Social Media, and Capacity
Constant exposure to news and social media can quietly erode emotional capacity, concentration, and resilience. This session explores how information overload, doom-scrolling, and digital engagement impact mental health and professional functioning. Participants will discuss strategies for developing healthier relationships with news and social media while remaining informed and engaged without becoming depleted.
Speaker: Ami Lynch, PhD, LCSW, LICSW, Owner & Psychotherapist, Rising Sun Therapy & Wellness, LLC
2:00 p.m. | Rewiring Resilience: A Life Design Plan for Legal Professionals
High-stakes legal work measurably takes a toll on the brain by narrowing perspective, amplifying negativity, and eroding resilience. This training builds awareness of the subconscious habits that undermine our ability to recover from setbacks, then delivers concrete, evidence-based tools to reverse them. Each technique is embedded directly into a personal Life Design planning activity, so participants leave with something tangible: a practical, accountable roadmap for rewiring the brain toward healthy optimism and lasting capacity. Participants will end in a guided breathing exercise.
Speakers:
Michell Stanley, Moksha Living
Brett Blake Jr., District of Columbia Bar Communities Office
