Confronting Emotional Depletion: Making the Case for Rational Compassion

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

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This session will consider how to confront emotional depletion among student attorneys in a clinical setting, especially in light of the increasing number of rights violations and legal uncertainties student attorneys are witnessing. Drawing on the work of Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at Yale, whose book, “Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion,” argues that rational compassion could be a tool to address emotional depletion in these volatile times. The session will begin with panelists highlighting examples of emotional depletion, the risks of becoming desensitized to the suffering of others, and a discussion of the relationship between empathy and anti-racism, in the clinical setting, and then proceed to an exploration of rational compassion as one possible antidote to confronting structural racism and inequity. Through a quick write and group discussion, the panel will discuss how to operationalize rational compassion in the context of client-based work, projects, classroom teaching, scholarship and student self-care. Participants will leave the session with an understanding of the case against empathy, the argument for rational compassion and strategies for integrating this tenet into clinical supervision, teaching, and practice. In the end, our hope is that a critical perspective on empathy can further cultivate resilient, mindful law students and lawyers.