- Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make–and Keep–Friends
By Marisa G. Franco, PhD.
Book Review By: Amy L. Kurlansky, Esq.
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the IWIL Catalyst book review! We’re hoping that this will become a feature of the IWIL Catalyst/Alert that you enjoy as much as we do. We plan to highlight books that have a wellness focus, providing you with even more tools on your own well-being journey.
Amy L. Kurlansky, has served as the Reference Librarian at the Hamilton County Law Library since March 2018.
Prior to joining the Law Library, Ms. Kurlansky, worked as an Attorney at Pro Seniors, Inc., as a GAL for abused children in the foster care system, and as a Child Support Administrative Hearing Officer.
As a Staff Attorney for Pro Seniors, Inc., Ms. Kurlansky presented on the topics of Medicaid and Elder Abuse to community groups, social workers, and other attorneys. Ms. Kurlansky also collaborated on the 2014 OSBA Elder Law Handbook chapters on Medicaid and Elder Abuse.
Ms. Kurlansky belongs to the Ohio State Bar Association and the Cincinnati Bar Association. Ms. Kurlansky is a graduate of the CBA CALL (Cincinnati Academy of Leadership for Lawyers) Program. She serves as an appointed member of the CBA Admissions Committee, and as the Chair of the CBA Health and Well Being Committee. She also participates in the Legal Research & Information Resources Committee, the VOICE committee, Lawyers Connecting Beyond the Law, and is a former chair of CBA Elder Law Committee. Ms. Kurlansky is a member of the American Association of Law Librarians, the Ohio Regional Association of Law Librarians, and served as the immediate past chair of the Ohio Regional Association of Law Librarians County Law Library Special Interest Group. Ms. Kurlansky serves on the IWIL Catalyst committee.
- Affective Forecasting: Understanding the Ways We Think About
Our Future Emotions and Their Impact on Decision-Making
David E. Kouba, Esq.
When advising clients, attorneys often must forecast future developments and predict their implications. These can be high-stakes decisions, and attorneys approach them accordingly—collecting information, evaluating contingencies, deliberating alternatives, and weighing benefits and risks. Forward-looking decisions, however, are not confined to attorneys’ professional lives. Every day, lawyers make decisions that impact their personal lives as well. These decisions depend not only on what might happen in the future, but how the attorney thinks the possible outcomes will make them feel.
Predicting future emotions—a process referred to as “affective forecasting”—is therefore central to the way we evaluate and choose among alternatives. When making a career decision, for example, we are likely to imagine what things would be like if we take different paths, consider how those possible options might make us feel, and factor our predicted emotional response into that decision.
Research, however, suggests that we often miss the mark when predicting how future events will affect our emotions. We tend to exaggerate our expected feelings, and our current emotions, whether they be good or bad, often distort the way we see ourselves in the future. A disconnect between expectations and outcomes can produce disappointment and unmet expectations. Moreover, when our negative emotions discourage us from taking positive actions, they can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Either scenario can challenge and undermine attorney well-being and mental health. Accordingly, this article explores these challenges and possible strategies that might mitigate their effect.
David Kouba is counsel in Arnold & Porter’s Washington D.C. office and spends much of his professional time defending consumer fraud and products liability litigation. In addition to practicing law, David co-chairs the firm’s well-being committee, serves on the Institute for Well-Being in Law’s Research and Scholarship Committee, and has spoken and written frequently on subjects related to attorney mental health and well-being.
