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Assistance Programme

Wellbeing support available to the entire self-employed Bar, kindly funded by Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund (BMIF)

The Bar is a high-pressure profession, and self-employed status can often lead to a lack of support for wellbeing. To help tackle this, the Bar Council Wellbeing at the Bar initiative (sponsored by the Inn), has partnered with Health Assured* to provide the profession with a free confidential** telephone support and counselling service offering help and advice on issues including:

  • Counselling and emotional support
  • Family issues
  • Bereavement
  • Trauma
  • Relationship issues
  • Stress-related conditions
  • Addictions
  • Tax information
  • Legal information
  • Medical information
  • Money management and debt

The service also includes access to a range of wellbeing factsheets, videos, self-help programmes, interactive tools and educational resources including webinars, mini-health checks and four-week self-help programmes covering topics such as sleep, smoking cessation, hydration and healthy eating.

The Criminal Bar Association successfully pioneered the Assistance Programme for its members and the new Bar Council programme enhances this support and extends coverage to the whole self-employed Bar.***

The service is also available to members of the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks and members of the Legal Practice Management Association (who are covering costs for their members).

To find out more about the service, visit www.wellbeingatthebar.org.uk/eap

*All Health Assured staff are appropriately qualified and experienced and are governed by and adhere to the respective Code of Ethics and Practice of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the British Psychological Society.

**The Service is entirely confidential. No personal details are provided to the Bar Council or the regulator. You will be asked to identify as a self-employed barrister, member of the IBC or member of the LPMA for cross-billing purposes by Health Assured, who are running the service. The Bar Council will only receive anonymised data showing which groups have used the service and how. In order to provide the support services, Health Assured will collect Personal Data such as name, address, date of birth and in the case of structured counselling, GP contact details. All Personal Data is stored securely and will not be shared with the Bar Council or the regulator.

***At this time the service does not cover undergraduate or BPTC students, who should be directed to their academic institution or student union for wellbeing advice.