Lawyers who are unhappy at work often tell themselves they'll feel things later. When they retire, maybe. The sense is that feeling the full weight of what's happening would make it impossible to keep functioning, so the feelings get pushed down and the grinding continues.

The problem is that feelings aren't actually optional. The physical sensations that come with emotional states are nervous system responses, not choices. Suppressing them doesn't make them go away. They get smashed down until the nervous system forces the issue, regardless.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about why lawyers operate as though their feelings are optional, where that belief comes from, and what it costs them over time. She covers how to start noticing whether this is happening to you, why irritation at other people's feelings is a flag worth paying attention to, and why therapy is often the most effective place to start unraveling something that didn't develop overnight.

0:53 - Why so many lawyers believe their feelings are optional

2:13 - Why feelings are nervous system responses and not actually a choice

2:48 - Where the belief that feelings are optional comes from and how it gets reinforced

4:16 - "I'll feel things when I retire" and why this is probably how you're functioning even if you'd never say it out loud

6:19 - What happens when the nervous system finally says no and why it goes the way it does

7:21 - How to notice if you're treating your feelings as optional and why irritation at other people's feelings is a flag

8:44 - Why therapy is especially useful here and what to do if this resonated

Mentioned In Why Lawyers Think Feelings Are Optional and What It Costs Them

Why High-Achieving Lawyers Stay in Jobs That Are Hurting Them

First Steps to Leaving the Law

The Former Lawyer Collaborative