Psychological awareness is key to the practice of law

Annmarie Carvalho wrote for The Scotsman

I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with Turcan Connell, one of Scotland’s leading law firms, to host our ground-breaking “What’s Psychology Got To Do With It?” training day in January. It was a truly exciting event for me, as it marked a significant step in expanding the reach of my agency, The Carvalho Consultancy (TCC), into Scotland.

I founded TCC in 2018 after retraining as a counsellor, having spent many years as a family law solicitor at Farrer & Co in London. My goal has always been to provide specialist training, counselling, and coaching to lawyers – an area I’m passionate about because I’ve been there myself. I understand how challenging it can be to navigate the emotional complexities of the legal world. Our motto, “because we’ve walked in your shoes,” reflects this: we’re a team made up of former lawyers turned therapists and coaches, and we’re on a mission to bring more psychological awareness into the practice of law.

When I worked as a divorce lawyer, I regularly spoke with people experiencing high levels of stress, anxiety, and sometimes anger. I quickly realised that trying to help clients in these emotional states without psychological skills was like trying to eat soup with a fork – legal expertise alone just isn’t enough. It’s crucial for lawyers to have the tools to manage those emotions and build rapport with clients during such a difficult time.

That’s why partnering with Turcan Connell for this training day made so much sense. Their expertise in family law, particularly in areas of distress like relationship breakdowns and child-related disputes, made them the ideal fit for this event. The day covered key psychological topics, such as working with stress, distress, and trauma, as well as managing vicarious trauma – all essential skills for modern lawyers. We also explored psychological concepts like projection and transference, and how to handle resistance and high emotion – things that any lawyer, especially those working with emotionally charged cases, needs to understand.

One of the most important messages I wanted to convey was how crucial it is for lawyers to put clients at ease and communicate complex legal concepts in ways that are accessible, particularly when clients are experiencing emotional upheaval. Law is ultimately a people business, and no matter what type of law you practice, emotional intelligence is vital.

It was also a particularly exciting time for TCC as we continue to grow. We’ve recently welcomed Katie McKenna, our first Scottish lawyer-turned-psychotherapist, to the team, and I’m currently working on my first book on the psychology of law. The future of law, both in Scotland and across the UK, is clearly heading towards a more psychologically informed approach.

The feedback from the event at Turcan Connell was overwhelming. Gillian Crandles, Managing Partner and Head of Family Law, commented “: “We were thrilled to be able to host Annmarie Carvalho’s “What’s Psychology got to do with it” training for family lawyers in our offices recently. We had over 30 delegates, mostly practising family lawyers across Scotland, and the feedback has been tremendous – we all got a great deal from the training and Annmarie herself was so engaging, warm and credible that the day passed in a flash. As one delegate said “I need Annmarie in my life!” She manages to cover really difficult subjects with compassion and humour – it made our roles seem more doable, and all the more important – I have already put some of the learning to practical use and know that I am not alone in that.”