Lawyers and Justice Involved Workers

Tamar has a special interest in working to support lawyers and other justice involved workers. Many people drawn to law and humanitarian work are committed to working against injustice and yet work within systems that struggle to provide justice and may themselves be traumatic. These systems can trigger unexamined relational patterns within lawyers (such as the individualisation of the problem: I must solve this injustice, this situation is my fault, I have to be perfect) and result in the internalisation of harm that they and their clients are exposed to.

Through individual psychotherapy and group reflective practice Tamar supports lawyers and others to develop greater self and system awareness, solidarity and resilience within harmful systems, helping to reduce the risks of burnout, depression, and secondary trauma. Tamar’s approach is informed both by her legal background and her clinical Gestalt psychotherapy training, and is attuned to the realities of legal practice.

Tamar practised law in the ACT from 2000-2003 and in Victoria from 2004-2016 working primarily as a community lawyer. In 2010 she was awarded LIV Community Lawyer of the Year and in 2023, the Legal Research Awards Prize for Best PhD.  Tamar has personal experience of the critical voice’s power in singling us out - ‘this is your fault, you are not good enough, you are a failure.’ By blaming ourselves and other individuals, we become isolated from the support and solidarity we need to do systemic work, meet our own needs and those of our relationships. Through working together and having the support to work through our own relational struggles, and identify our own needs and boundaries, we can bring health and sustainability to our work, lives and relationships within the context of our unique self, intergenerational history and structural contexts.