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Getting some help with mental health

Survey results from the JCR Weekly

What are you doing to make time for yourself and provide self-care?

4.5% — I meditate.

24.2% — I try to eat healthfully.

40.6% — I exercise regularly.

10.7% — I make sure I take a lunch break.

20.1% — Chocolate!

Providing self-care right now is more important than ever, and NCRA members are finding different ways to make it happen.

Christina Diaz, RMR, CRR, CRC, a freelance reporter from Lindenhurst, N.Y., is practicing mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).

“I started a daily practice of MBSR, and although there are many variations, what has been extremely helpful for me is simply sitting quietly for about 10-12 minutes each day,” Diaz said. “During this quiet time, I direct my attention to a simple short phrase, repeating it over and over again. If my mind wanders, which it inevitably and constantly does, I simply begin again. Following my quiet time, I write in a notebook everything that comes to mind, whether or not I think it makes sense, just let it flow, without editing, without judgment. I just clear out all the extra chatter that floats around.”

Diaz said that within the first couple weeks she felt more clear-headed and balanced, and she has even noticed it has benefited her work.

“I was less reactive, and I felt like I was better handling the daily stress and the uncertainties of life,” Diaz said. “What a welcomed gift!”

Read her story here.

For NCRA Mental Health Awareness Week, being held Oct. 5-9, members can learn more about how to take care of themselves through a series of free sessions that range from a discussion of the ramifications of working in the legal industry to strategies to create more resilience in your everyday life with better self-care.

Registration is open now for these free, members-only webinars.

  • Oct. 5 An Honest Discussion on Mental Health Issues in the Legal Field from All Stakeholders
  • Oct. 6 Back to Basics: Mental Health Essentials during the Pandemic
  • Oct. 7 Balance and Self-Care in a World of COVID-19, Deadlines, and Virtuality  
  • Oct. 7 (special for students) Self-Care: Managing Life with School, Family, Work – and a Pandemic 
  • Oct. 8 Practicing Mindfulness
  • Oct. 9 Self-Care 101

Some members shared on NCRA’s social media how they are making time for themselves and providing self-care:

Trying to exercise minimum 30 minutes per day. Going to bed earlier … although that means I am getting up even earlier.

Rich Germosen, RDR, CRR, a freelancer in North Brunswick, N.J.


Stepping away from editing to go for a walk, using a meditation app, reading about an inspirational person every day. That’s how I try to stay positive.

Jessica Shines, a student in Chicago, Ill.


This is so timely! I just wrote a little something about how I combat Zoom gloom.

Lynette Mueller, FAPR, RDR, CRR, a freelancer in Memphis, Tenn.


I am taking care of myself by working out, meditating, and eating as healthy as I can when I can. It’s super hard to do that with juggling all of these jobs as a mom, court reporter, biz owner, and fiancée.

Denee Vadell, an official in Edison, N.J.


Not only do I love my job as a CART captioner, but my other love is yoga. I’m a certified yoga instructor just about to complete 500 hours of training. I have a regular yoga and meditation practice every morning to help me seize the day. And I leave my mat out all day to remind myself to take breaks in between classes and meetings to stretch or to just breathe.

Anna Castle, RPR, a CART captioner in Mokena, Ill.


I’m volunteering my services for affinity groups and social activism that I believe in, which helps me feel more connected and part of my communities. Part of my mental health is transgender advocacy and language justice work, outside of the standard university and museum and conference spaces of CART — even as I enjoy those, too. By distributing my time across the work that earns money, the work that feels socially generative, and my close nourishing relationships, I feel more productive, balanced, and rejuvenated than when I worked less overall.

Cory Dostie, a CART captioner in Albany, Calif.