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The Wellness Docket

The Wellness Docket

Written by: Tim Culbert
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The Wellness Docket is a podcast for lawyers and legal professionals ready to prioritize their mental health. Through honest conversations with guests from inside and outside the legal world, we explore burnout, balance, and the pressures of practice—creating space for reflection, recovery, and resilience in the profession. This is a space where your wellness is always on the docket.©2026 Tim Culbert Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Self-Help Success
Episodes
  • Building a Legal Career Without Sacrificing Your Life: Julia Belanger on Grief, ADHD, and Redefining Success

    Building a Legal Career Without Sacrificing Your Life: Julia Belanger on Grief, ADHD, and Redefining Success
    Jul 15 2026

    Host Tim Culbert welcomes newly called to the bar New Brunswick lawyer Julia Belanger to The Wellness Docket for an honest conversation about mental health, grief, neurodiversity, and building a legal career that prioritizes both professional excellence and personal well-being. After completing her articling year at the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, Julia reflects on entering the profession while navigating one of the most difficult periods of her life—the sudden loss of her mother during her clerkship.

    Julia shares how receiving an ADHD diagnosis during law school transformed her understanding of herself and helped her develop healthier ways of working. She explains how embracing her neurodivergence, asking for accommodations, and being transparent about the conditions that allow her to thrive have strengthened (not diminished) her ability to succeed. Together, Tim and Julia discuss why the legal profession must move beyond outdated expectations and create workplaces where lawyers can openly discuss mental health, family responsibilities, and the support they need to perform at their best.

    The conversation also explores Julia's experience balancing law school and a legal career while raising four children, her passion for access to justice, and her graduate research examining lawyer wellness as an access to justice issue. Through her story of grief, resilience, and intentional career-building, Julia offers an encouraging vision for a healthier legal profession, one where lawyers don't have to choose between meaningful work and meaningful lives.


    About Julia Belanger

    Julia Belanger is a lawyer with Trio Law Offices in New Brunswick. She completed her articles at the New Brunswick Court of Appeal before joining private practice. Julia is passionate about access to justice, lawyer wellbeing, and creating healthier legal workplaces.

    She is currently pursuing a Master's in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of New Brunswick, where her research explores mental health and wellness in the legal profession as an access to justice issue. Julia is also a mother of four and an advocate for reducing stigma surrounding mental health by encouraging honest conversations within the legal community.

    Resources discussed in this episode:

    • Blueberries, Bar Exams, and Breaking the Anxiety Cycle with Dean Michael Marin


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    Contact Tim Culbert:

    • LinkedIn
    • Purvis Culbert Law LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • Facebook

    Contact Julia Belanger:

    • LinkedIn: Julia Belanger
    • Trio Law Offices
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    44 mins
  • Blueberries, Bar Exams, and Breaking the Anxiety Cycle with Dean Michael Marin

    Blueberries, Bar Exams, and Breaking the Anxiety Cycle with Dean Michael Marin
    Jun 15 2026
    Host Tim Culbert welcomes Dean Michael Marin, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick, for an insightful conversation about anxiety, mental health, and wellness in the legal profession. Michael shares his personal “blueberries and bar exam” story, which illustrates how anxiety shaped much of his academic and professional life before he finally sought help. For years, he believed that anxiety was the key to his success, only to discover through therapy that it was actually holding him back. Michael discusses the lessons he learned about catastrophizing, imposter syndrome, and the importance of self-awareness, routine, and seeking support.Tim and Michael also explore how lawyers can better support colleagues experiencing mental health challenges, why empathy is often more effective than problem-solving, and the role of community in fostering resilience. Michael shares insights from his work on the Law Society of New Brunswick’s Mental Health and Wellness Task Force, including efforts to create resources that help lawyers navigate workplace challenges before they become larger crises.Throughout the conversation, Michael emphasizes that while the legal profession faces real wellness challenges, its core values of service, ethics, lifelong learning, and collegiality are deeply compatible with well-being. This episode is a thoughtful and hopeful discussion about anxiety, recovery, mentorship, and building a healthier future for the legal profession.About Michael Marin, KC | Dean and Associate Professor, UNB Faculty of Law Dean Marin joined the UNB Faculty of Law in 2016, after teaching at the University of Ottawa for four years. He was appointed Associate Dean in 2018, Acting Dean in 2020 and Dean in 2021. In 2022, he was appointed King’s Counsel.Dean Marin’s focus is the implementation of UNB Law’s Strategic Plan, a bold agenda that will affirm UNB Law as one of Canada’s top law schools. The Plan includes new experiential learning opportunities, a graduate program, research chairs, an intensive term, a pre-law program and upgraded facilities.Dean Marin is active in the legal profession through service on administrative tribunals, professional organizations and continuing legal education. He currently serves as Vice-Chairperson of the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board and previously served as Vice-Chairperson of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal (WCAT). In the latter role, he authored nearly 100 decisions on the rights and obligations of injured workers and their employers.Dean Marin also serves on the Atlantic Regional Committee of the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, which provides support to lawyers appearing before the country’s highest court. He is a member of the Councils of the Law Society of New Brunswick and the Canadian Bar Association New Brunswick Branch, as well as the Executive Committee of the Council of Canadian Law Deans.Dean Marin is a frequent presenter at conferences organized by the Canadian Bar Association, the National Judicial Institute and other professional organizations. His teaching and research focus on administrative law, workplace law, corporate governance and torts.Before entering academia, Dean Marin practiced civil litigation at an international firm in New York City and clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for the Hon. Ian Binnie. He has a law degree from the University of Ottawa, an MA in Public Policy and Administration from Carleton University, and an LLM from the University of Cambridge, where he studied as a Gates Scholar. Dean Marin was named a Fellow of Action Canada, a program that supports the development of Canada’s public policy leaders.He is a member of the Law Society of New Brunswick, the Law Society of Ontario and the Bar of New York.Resources discussed in this episode:University of New Brunswick Faculty of LawLaw Society of New BrunswickNational Study on the Psychological Health Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada (Université de Sherbrooke)Supreme Court Advocacy InstituteCanadian Bar Association – Wellness ResourcesCanadian Mental Health Association—Contact Tim Culbert: LinkedInPurvis Culbert Law LinkedInInstagramFacebookContact Dean Michale Marin | University of New Brunswick: University of New Brunswick - Department of LawLinkedIn: Michael Marin
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Justice Facility Dogs: Bringing Comfort to the Courtroom

    Justice Facility Dogs: Bringing Comfort to the Courtroom
    May 15 2026

    In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Tim travels to Shediac, New Brunswick to visit the Courage Centre and meet the incredible team behind Justice Facility Dogs New Brunswick.


    Joined by CEO Kristal LeBlanc and Winston, a highly trained justice facility dog, Tim explores how these remarkable dogs support vulnerable victims and witnesses navigating the criminal justice system. From RCMP interviews and forensic medical exams to court testimony and sentencing hearings, justice facility dogs provide emotional grounding, trauma support, and a sense of safety during some of the most difficult moments in a person’s life.


    Kristal shares the origins of courthouse dogs, the extensive training required for justice facility dogs, and the science behind how canine support helps regulate stress, reduce cortisol, improve memory recall, and increase feelings of safety and trust.

    The conversation also dives into trauma-informed justice practices, testimonial aids in Canadian courts, domestic violence and sexual assault cases, jury considerations, and the broader evolution of victim support within the legal system.

    Tim also reflects on his own experiences with anxiety and the calming impact dogs have had throughout his life, making this one of the most heartfelt and unique episodes of The Wellness Docket to date.

    In This Episode:

    • What justice facility dogs actually do
    • The difference between therapy dogs and accredited facility dogs
    • How Winston supports victims during court proceedings
    • Why dogs help improve witness memory recall
    • The science of cortisol, oxytocin, and trauma response
    • Supporting children and adult victims in criminal proceedings
    • Domestic violence and sexual assault cases in New Brunswick
    • The training process for accredited justice facility dogs
    • Testimonial aids in Canadian courts
    • Trauma-informed approaches to the justice system
    • Jury trials and the role of facility dogs in courtrooms
    • The future of victim support legislation in Canada


    About Kristal LeBlanc


    Kristal is the CEO of Justice Facility Dogs New Brunswick and the Courage Centre in Shediac, New Brunswick. She is an advocate for improving victim supports within the legal system and increasing awareness around trauma-informed justice practices in Canada.


    Kristal has played a leading role in expanding the use of justice facility dogs across the province to support vulnerable victims and witnesses involved in the criminal justice system. Under her leadership, the program has grown from a regional initiative into a province-wide service offering trauma-informed support.


    Resources discussed in this episode:

    • Assistance Dog International (ADI)
    • Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides
    • Courthouse Dogs Foundation


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    Contact Tim Culbert:

    • LinkedIn
    • Purvis Culbert Law LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • Facebook

    Contact Kristal LeBlanc:

    • Website: Courage Centre
    • Facebook: Courage Centre
    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
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