Culture & Community: Why Go to a Holistic Lawyer

A lawyer describes the benefits of holistic way of life and how it can be applied to the practice of law. Did you know there's an International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers?

It is apparent that a new day has arrived in politics, where a more positive focus on the issues and policies is being emphasized, as opposed to the negativity of dirty tactics - although some have found it hard, perhaps out of desperation, to totally forgo the latter. This is due to the public's hunger for not just change, but change that is positive. The electorate, especially the younger generation, is rewarding politicians that are perceptive, and seemingly genuine and adept enough to tap into this emerging consensus. As with politics, so it has increasingly become with medicine, and even with the practice of law - which arguably is the last holdout in which dirty antics and nastiness naturally exist. Practitioners are seeking a comprehensive, more positive approach to solving legal issues.

The concept of holistic medicine has been around for quite some time now, with inroads being made by Western medicine’s acceptance of practices such as yoga, physical and massage therapies, and chiropractic services as effective complementary choices. Perhaps it’s due to the “dawning of the age of Aquarius” - you know, where harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abound - that the field of law is now awakening, as well, to a new way of doing things. As with medicine, holistic law is about helping people beyond their immediate legal needs, by looking at the broader context of their lives to see how it is impacting on their legal issues. A holistic lawyer would then address her clients’ legal issues in a way that benefits them in mind, body, and spirit. In support of such lawyers, there is even an International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers.

Some holistic lawyers emphasize mediation for their clients as opposed to fueling the conflict with opposing parties; some view the rule of law as a means to end strife in the world; while others offer means of becoming centered and transformed to their clients. Another indication from popular culture that the time ripe for holistic lawyers, is the advent of the television show Eli Stone. It is about a corporate lawyer who sees visions about what types of cases he should undertake, and due to his epiphany, acts with integrity toward the other parties, while still serving the needs of his clients. What a novel concept. In medicine, the show Private Practice also epitomizes the concept of a holistic team approach to meeting clients’ medical needs. A holistic lawyer does the same, through the use of a multi-disciplinary approach for her clients’ immediate needs, but also examinning the spiritual, mental, and emotional conditions that caused their legal challenges or dilemmas to arise.

In applying the holistic/metaphysical legal approach to a famous - shall we say infamous - person that we all know, let us examine Britney Spears’ situation (if ever there was an example of someone needing a comprehensive approach to her legal and life challenges it would be Britney Spears). For example, a traditional lawyer in going forward with the case, would focus primarily on Britney’s child custody battle and counsel her client to behave more discretely. Said attorney might then seek to strategize and minimize any negative effects of her clients past “bad” behavior. Indeed, such a traditional lawyer may gather together a team of medical experts and psychiatrists to demonstrate that her client’s behavior was due to post partum depression or some other treatable or temporary condition. The attorney would then argue that custody of Britney’s children should be permanently awarded to her after she has completed the treatment.

A metaphysical or holistic lawyer might take all those steps as well, but would go the extra distance in a way that genuinely benefits her client (and perhaps her parents, children and generations to come), by addressing the spiritual (not religious), energetic, karmic, and emotional context in which her client’s crisis arose. Obviously, there are issues between Britney and her parents, and now some of those dysfunctions threaten to affect another generation of that family. That’s where karmic healing can come in to address and heal individual and generational karma, in order to provide individuals freedom from the vicious cycles keeping them bound. It is also apparent that Britney is emotionally troubled and that her energy, though creative, is chaotic, to say the least. That’s where Reiki and other forms of energy healing can come in very handy to help an individual become, without the help of prescription drugs or alcohol (and to the extent that the individual is open and receptive), calmer, stabilized (grounded) and happier. This is not an overnight process, but with repeated sessions, remarkable strides can be made in months, as opposed to the many years it normally takes a psychotherapist, acting alone to be effective.

The quicker such a client is put in touch with her soul’s true nature, the sooner her personal, familial, and legal concerns would be resolved and restored to harmony. While it is easy to see how someone like Britney Spears might benefit from a holistic approach to her legal and other life challenges, this approach would be just as beneficial for the average person. We all have challenges in life to deal with or handle, it’s just a matter of how well we do so, and whether we learn our lessons the first time so as not to keep repeating them over and over in the same grade.

This kind of approach can be a way of life for: anyone who wants to decrease the amount of stress in his/her life; insomniacs who want to sleep more soundly at night; anyone who wants to lose weight but his/her emotional, karmic, or spiritual blockages are preventing them from doing so; anyone who is preparing for surgery; a parent experiencing conflict with a teenager, etc.; people in toxic romantic relationships who want to transform or end them; people with resentment against their parents, a co-worker, boss, sibling, former spouse, or friend; people who are grieving the loss of a loved one; people who have a serious illness; or people who have had it with being in the same old financial rut and are now ready to break out of it into a new and more prosperous, not to mention successful, life. This is the new paradigm for approaching the legal and other issues confronting people - and dare I say - the most effective one as well.

©Copyright 2008 by AlternativeApproaches.com

About the author: Reva M. Brown is a lawyer, a former Administrative Law Judge, and a metaphysical minister who can be reached through her website at www.spirit-law.com.