Wellness for the Legal World
Legal professionals spend careers shepherding clients through their darkest moments, navigating a system that often compounds their harm. This work demands a steep price: chronic stress from relentless deadlines, sleepless nights replaying cases we can't shake, and the weight of stories that follow us home.
The Gap: Legal professionals master complex law, but receive little training in managing the emotional weight that comes with the profession. The resulting impacts are well known: high attrition, unaddressed career dissatisfaction, burnout, compassion fatigue, and professional disengagement.
Who We Help
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HR + Employee Relations
Caught between harm and healing in workplace crises.
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Attorneys + Judges
Carrying the weight of every case and client story
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Law Firms + Corporate
Breaking cycles of isolation and disconnection
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Interpreters + Social Work
Processing trauma while maintaining professional neutrality
Our Value Proposition: Incomparable Experience
Our strength is in our people. Our nationally recognized experts don't just understand burnout—they too have lived the unique pressures of your high-stakes profession. Our proof is in our clients; healthier professionals, stronger organizations, and sustainable practices that keep professionals in the work they chose.
Meet the Team
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Kiana S. Joersz, JD, TIPC, SCP
Principal & Founding Partner
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S. Tennaile Timbrook, JD, TIPC
Principal & Founding Partner
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Kemia M. Sarraf, MD, MPH, CCC, TIPC
Principal Advisor + Lodestar CEO
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Ann V. Deaton, PhD, PCC, TIPC, CTPC
Director, Faculty Development
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Michael Forlenza, PhD, MPH, PCC, TIPC
Director, All Of Us Program
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Antoinette DuBois Ayers, CPCC, RCC, TIPC, CTI
Director, Training
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Greg Pawlson, MD, MPH, FACP, AGSF
Senior Faculty
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Kerri Lockhart, MD, FAAP, TIPC
Director, Client Engagement
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Sunny Nakae, PhD, MSW, TIPC
Director of Professional Development
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Jean Johnson, PhD, RN, FAAN, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Ken Jenkins, MA.S, ACC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Floyd Carlson, MS, ORSCC, TIPC, CNTC, PCC
Senior Faculty
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Lynn Black, MD, MPH, CHWC, TIPC, CEC
Senior Faculty
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Michael Hersh, MD, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Dianne Rizzo, RN, PCC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Kate Deaton, MS, PCC, TIPC, CPCC, OTR/L
Senior Faculty
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Liz Peintner, MSW, PCC, CPCC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Stephanie Byerly, MD, CLC, ACC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Lydia Johnson, MD, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Laura Berenstain, MD, FASA, ACC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Steve Wendell, PhD, ACC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Debbie Beardslee, RN, BSN, TIPC
Senior Faculty
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Ann-Gel Palermo, DrPH, MPH, TIPC, ACC
Senior Faculty
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Kelly Hurst, Ed.D., M.Ed, TIPC
Director of Data Analytics
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Eliza Humphreys, MD, MPH, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Ashlea Winfield, MD, MSPH, TIPC, TMMC
Associate Faculty
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Jill Wener, MD, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Eliotte (Ellie) Hirshberg, MD, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Julia Huber, MD, TIPC, ACC
Associate Faculty
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Ivy Grisham
Administrative Assistant
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Rikeesha Phelon, MA, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Neil Gordon
Director of Communications
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Suzanne Maxwell, PhD, PCC, TIPC, CTPC, CTIPC, WBECS, CCIC, CCM, ACC
Associate Faculty
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Joseph Goldstein, BA
Senior Associate
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Tyler Moore
Technology
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Maiysha Claireborne, MD, TIPC, MCNP
Associate Faculty
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Jo Deaton, MS, APRN-BC, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Sookyung Suh, PhD, TIPC
Associate Faculty
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Samuel Collins, BS
Special Assistant to the COO
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Luis Rodriguez, JD, LLM, TIPC, MS, USArmy COL (Ret.)
Senior Faculty
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Lawrence Henderson PhD, MSHRD, PCC, TIPC
Senior Faculty
Burnout Gets Blamed
And burnout is not the (only) problem
The Irony Explains Itself: Professionals who dedicate their lives to protecting others often lack strategies to protect themselves from the harm inherent in their work.
The Cost of Ignoring Professional Burnout: High turnover, compromised client care, substance abuse, and careers cut short. It is not just exhaustion - it is talented attorneys leaving the profession, impaired judgement in critical moments, and a legal system weakened by the very people it depends on. The ripple effects touch every case, every client, every courthouse.
The Attorney Wellness Project provides what's been missing: practical education, ongoing support, and proven resources—delivered to change your career trajectory.
Billable hours won’t pay for your wellbeing.
OUR SERVICES
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Custom programs that deliver required credits and learning you'll actually both want and use. Available in-person and online across Wellness, Ethics, Diversity, and General tracks.
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Leadership through a different lens. Our flagship course exploring the neuroscience of professional stress and secondary trauma. Most participants continue to full Trauma Informed Professional Coach certification.
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Coaching is not therapy, and great coaching can be incredibly therapeutic. One-on-one coaching with 40+ experienced professionals who understand your unique pressures.Coach with professionals who genuinely understand the pressures of your profession.
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Trauma-responsive programs that dig in and genuinely help rebuild a team from the inside outward. Deeply experiential and transformative.
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Leadership through a different lens. Our transformative 3-day intensive with our senior faculty. 98% satisfaction rate with ongoing monthly support and CLE credits included.
“Talking about trauma on the bench is nothing new. It is rare to find training that combines the depth of content and instructors presenting in a way that it actually resonated and felt like something we could talk about and address. ”
Client Impact & Success
“The small-group discussions with other attorneys were invaluable. A year later and we all still keep in touch. ”
The depth of content exceeded my expectations. By far the best CLE I attended in the past few years, and was one that I registered as a one-off. Original and authentic and compelling speakers. — Criminal Defense Attorney
“I’m surprised by the sheer number of actionable tools packed into three days. The guide provided will serve as a long-term resource throughout my career.”
“They really understood the secondary trauma we interpreters experience each time we are working. I left with more hope ”
“The originality of this curriculum really stood out. ”
The methodology was rigorous yet felt deeply human and familiar. I have attended countless judicial trainings, but never one that gave me practical, repeatable techniques to de-escalate stress and build sustainable resilience. The faculty’s expertise is unparalleled. — Anonymous
“What impressed me most was the faculty’s credentials - and everything they did for us was centered on what we needed. ”
“I’ve changed how I lead my team. Understanding the symptoms of secondary trauma in a workplace context shifted how all of us work together and we are in a more positive place.
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This entirely reframed how I view employee disengagement not as lack of interest, but as possible stress or trauma.
— HR Director
REACH OUT & CONNECT
Spend some time with us to see if we are the right fit for your team
