What Is Well-Being Week In Law?
The aim of Well-Being Week in Law (WWIL) is to raise awareness about mental health and encourage action and innovation across the profession all year-round to improve well-being.
Led by Dr. Anne Brafford, WWIL was launched in May 2020 with the support of multiple organizations and an enthusiastic team. WWIL is now organized annually by the Institute for Well-Being in Law (IWIL). It occurs the first week of May to align with Mental Health Awareness Month.
The event originally was named “Lawyer Well-Being Week.” In 2021, it was renamed “Well-Being Week in Law” to be more explicitly inclusive of all of the important contributors to the legal profession who are not lawyers.
2025 Theme: The Social Rx
This year’s overall theme is The Social Rx: Boosting Well-Being with Connection.
Social Connection is a Chief Source of Well-Being
High-quality relationships and group belonging are chief sources of well-being. On the other hand, workplace loneliness can damage well-being and workplace functioning. So, while “self-care” is needed, our attention to connecting with others is critical. For example, research suggests that doing kind acts for others generally bolsters psychological well-being more than self-care activities.
Social Connection Catalyzes All Well-Being Dimensions
Social connection can bolster all well-being dimensions—including physical, spiritual, career and intellectual, social, and emotional well-being. Social connections:
- Influence our health-related behaviors (e.g., supporting healthy choices and helping hold us accountable)
- Give social support—supporting us emotionally with care and empathy and through guidance, help, and feedback
- Bolster self-esteem and confidence to face challenges and bounce back from setbacks
- Create a sense of responsibility to ourselves and others
- Aid emotion regulation
- Positively impact physiological indicators of health (e.g., immune, endocrine, and cardiovascular functioning)
Social Connections Can Support Positive Change
WWIL 2025 encourages concrete actions toward positive change. Mental health education is helpful. Alone, though, it rarely causes people to make the real-life changes needed to improve their well-being.
We encourage you to actively engage in well-being experiments and activities this week and to recruit others to support your efforts. High-quality social support makes it more likely that you’ll all achieve your goals and is itself a well-being booster.
What Are WWIL’s Daily Themes?
Each day of WWIL focuses on a distinct dimension of holistic well-being for legal professionals:
Monday – STAY STRONG
Physical Well-Being
Striving for regular activity, good diet and nutrition, enough sleep and recovery. Limit addictive substances and seek help for physical health when needed.
Tuesday – ALIGN
Spiritual Well-Being
Cultivating a sense of meaning and purpose in work and life. Aligning our work and lives with our values, goals, and interests.
Wednesday – ENGAGE & GROW
Career & Intellectual Well-Being
Seeking personal satisfaction, continuous learning and growth in our professional and personal lives, and financial stability. Engaging in creative or intellectually challenging activities that foster ongoing development and monitoring cognitive wellness.
Thursday – CONNECT
Social Well-Being
Building connection, belonging, and a reliable support network. It is contributing to our groups and communities.
Friday – FEEL WELL
Emotional Well-Being
Valuing emotions. Developing an ability to identify and manage emotions for health, to achieve goals, and to inform decisions. Seeking help for mental health when needed.
