The Weight of Clients’ Experiences: Vicarious Trauma in the Legal Profession [Panel Discussion]

Shawn Healy, Ph.D. is the Director of Administrative Operations at LCLMA as well as a clinical psychologist on the clinical team. In his clinical role he provides individual clinical consultations and groups to law students, lawyers, judges, and legal professionals. He regularly presents and publishes on all manner of mental health topics germane to the legal community. Shawn is also a certified trainer in Mental Health First Aid and serves as a co-chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Lawyer Well-Being Committee.

Shawn joined LCLMA in March of 2014 following his work in a private group practice in Cambridge. Prior to private practice, Shawn worked at the May Institute, Inc. for 10 years where he initially completed his pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship. He later became the Clinical Director and finally the Director of Clinical Services and Operations for the Behavioral Health Division of the May Institute where he managed two outpatient clinics and four-day treatment programs. Shawn graduated from Suffolk University in Boston, MA in 2006 with his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. His dissertation and research interests are in the field of conflict resolution, and he has been involved in facilitating many conflict resolution workshops, discussion groups, and mediation and private conflict coaching sessions.

Shawn is a member of the American Psychological Association and of the Massachusetts Psychological Association and is licensed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a psychologist.

Shawn coauthored the book The Full Weight of the Law: How Legal Professionals Can Recognize and Rebound from Depression (ABA publication, 2017 – available in our lending library) with another LCL Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Jeff Fortgang.

Shawn runs our ADHD Support Group Meetings & Workshops and co-facilitates Mental Health First Aid certification trainings for legal professionals. Shawn can be reached at (617) 482-9600 or shawn@lclma.org.

Dimple Dhabalia is an author, speaker, facilitator, and human-centered leadership coach with over twenty years of front-line and management experience in the US government. In 2021, she founded Roots in the Clouds, a boutique consulting firm specializing in systemic change and sustainable service in mission-driven organizations. Her cutting-edge work, grounded in mindful performance, spiritual ecology, and applied positive psychology, is focused on healing the deep wounds of individual and organizational trauma, moral injury, burnout, and institutional betrayal across service-driven sectors.

Dimple’s path to becoming a leader of leaders unfolded across continents, shaped by the people, policies, and systems she encountered as she lived, worked, and traveled in over 40 countries. She began her legal career as an Assistant Attorney General at the Colorado Department of Law, representing the Department of Human Services and deepening her commitment to public service. Three years later, she accepted a position as an Asylum Officer for the U.S. government, where she would spend the next 18 years working on refugee and asylum policies and operations in a variety of roles—including Branch Chief for Regional Operations, Field Office Director for USCIS New Delhi, and Senior Advisor to the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate.

Over the course of her career in high-stress, trauma-exposed service environments, Dimple experienced the cumulative effects of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, moral injury, institutional betrayal, and burnout, and noticed a troubling disconnect: organizations that celebrated the resilience of the people they served often failed to extend that same ethos of care to their own staff. In 2019, fueled by these experiences and determined to normalize the mental health realities common in trauma-exposed professions, Dimple developed and launched an in-house workforce well-being program and the Daring Leaders Project—the first mindfulness-based, human-centered leadership development program of its kind within her agency. Her vision and impact earned her Director’s Awards for Innovator of the Year and Pillar of Leadership, and demonstrated—through measurable outcomes—how human-centered leadership could foster trust, psychological safety, and resilience on teams during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dimple holds a J.D. from the University of Denver, College of Law, and a B.A. in Institutions and Policies as well as a P.P.E. degree from William Jewell College and Oxford University. She is an ICF-certified coach, holds a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology, and was among the first federal coaches certified in Mindful Performance Enhancement, Awareness, and Knowledge (mPEAK) through UC San Diego’s Center for Mindfulness.

Dimple is the best-selling author of Tell Me My Story—Challenging the Narrative of Service Before Self which was excerpted by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and named a 2024 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite and a 2025 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite. She is also the creator and host of 2 podcasts: Service Without Sacrifice, featuring honest conversations about moral injury, vicarious trauma, and collective care in a time of polycrisis, and What Would Ted Lasso Do? exploring the popular TV show Ted Lasso through the lens of leadership and positive psychology.  Dimple’s work has been featured in Fast Company, CEO World Magazine, and the Federal News Network.

Dimple is a foodie who enjoys writing, photography, traveling, and exploring new cities and neighborhoods. She currently lives just outside of Washington, DC, where she meditates daily, visits museums often, and finds great joy through connecting with others over shared meals.

Follow her @dimpstory on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Substack.

Steven Shapiro currently serves as FBI New Haven’s Criminal/Cyber Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC). In this role, ASAC Shapiro leads the organized crime, violent crime, and white-collar crime squads across the state of Connecticut. Prior to joining FBI New Haven, ASAC Shapiro served as the Financial Crime Squad Supervisor in FBI New York’s Brooklyn/Queens Resident Agency (RA), where he led a team of Special Agents, intel professionals, and forensic accountants as they investigated healthcare fraud, cybercrime, and money laundering matters. Previously, ASAC Shapiro served as Unit Chief of the Director’s Coordination & Operations Unit (DCOU), where he crafted former Director Christopher Wray’s briefing materials and prepped him for domestic and international travel. ASAC Shapiro also led the FBI’s Intellectual Property Rights Unit, where he provided guidance and support on all FBI theft of trade secrets, counterfeit good trafficking, and online piracy cases. ASAC Shapiro began his FBI career working complex financial crime, domestic terrorism, and violent crime matters in FBI Oklahoma City’s Lawton RA. In Oklahoma, ASAC Shapiro served as Acting Squad Supervisor, backup Chief Division Counsel, and on the Evidence Response Team. Prior to joining the FBI, ASAC Shapiro founded a law firm offering corporate counsel to a variety of entrepreneurs and start-up business clients. ASAC Shapiro received his Juris Doctor and MBA from Suffolk University, by way of Amherst College.