How to Deal with Mental Health and Substance Use Issues: Practical Tips and Strategies Lawyers Need to Consider

Carolyn Reinach Wolf is an Executive Partner in the law firm of Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara, Wolf & Carone, LLP and Director of the Firm's Mental Health Law practice. She is the only attorney in the country with a family-focused practice dedicated to serving individuals and families struggling with serious mental illness and/or alcohol/drug addiction. Supported by a team of expert clinicians, she specializes in navigating the complex landscape of legal issues utilizing her mental health legal toolkit to coordinate services for those in need. She also represents institutions, mental health, healthcare and addiction professionals, and higher educational institutions. Ms. Wolf is a regular contributor to Psychology Today and was profiled by The New York Times in a 2013 story entitled, “A Guide in the Darkness,” which ran on the front page of the Sunday Edition Metro section.

Mark Yacano is the co-host of “Erasing the Stigma, Conversations About Mental Health in the Legal Profession” podcast.  He cares deeply about the well-being of attorneys and staff in the legal profession and is passionate about addressing that systemic mental health issues that put the profession at risk.

Mark’s legal career spans more than thirty years.  In private practice he was an accomplished product liability lawyer and a nationally prominent expert in eDiscovery.  Also, Mark co-managed a national litigation firm and guided it through a strategic merger. Today, he consults with in-house legal departments, helping them work smarter and better.

Mark is a devoted advocate for promoting mental wellness in the legal profession and the host of Erasing the Stigma: Conversations in Mental Health, on the Legal Talent Talk Network

Christal E. Carmichael is a Transformation Therapist, Keynote speaker, and a Success Strategist. Christal's mission began as a passion to serve and treat those with mental health challenges so that they may have the privilege of living an emotionally balanced lifestyle. Her passion serves as a guiding foundation for her counseling, coaching and consulting firm, ChristalClear Worldwide.

Christal is a serial entrepreneur, serving also as president and CEO, managing one of the most authentic and transformative mental health organizations in the Carolinas. Serving others has been a natural inclination for Christal and she has made it her lifelong commitment to serve God, her family and her community. Her gentle, yet strong and teachable spirit has afforded her numerous opportunities to mentor and inspire others to make an impact on today's global society. She and her husband have been married for almost a decade and have three beautiful children. Christal enjoys traveling the world with her family, running half marathons, reading and sitting on the beach, watching the sun rise.

In her highly productive career as an entrepreneur, therapist, professor, and mentor, Christal prioritizes and successfully mentors students and professionals at all levels, to reach their personal, academic and professional potential; most of who have gone on to prominent positions of their own.