Moral Injury in Service Members
- Average Rating:
- Not yet rated
- Faculty:
- Heather Tompkins
- Course Levels:
- Introductory
- Duration:
- 4 Hours 15 Minutes
- Media Type:
- Webinar
- License:
- Access for event date only.
Description
While moral injury is not a recognized mental health disorder, it is well-known to have impacted the lives of many throughout time. Recent military conflicts and worldwide events, like COVID-19, have brought the construct of moral injury more to the forefront in the behavioral health professions as we work to better understand how to identify how it is both similar and different from other issues our clients face, like depression and PTSD.
This training will define moral injury, describe how it develops, and examine various assessment and treatment methods. The focus will be on moral injury in the military population, while recognizing that it also occurs in the civilian population. The presenter will encourage participants to consider challenges they face in identifying and treating moral injury, including how to create a nonjudgmental, safe space for clients to talk about it, and how to distinguish moral injury from common co-occurring problems such as PTSD. Military cases will be introduced to demonstrate approaches for assessing and addressing moral injury. While specific treatment modalities will not be taught in detail, participants will gain tools for assessing and interacting with increased competence, and general treatment methods will be explored. This training is aimed at behavioral health providers and trainees working with service members and veterans as well as clinicians interested in trauma.
Credits
Faculty
Heather Tompkins Related Seminars and Products
CDP
Heather C. Tompkins, PhD., MS-ATR, LCMHC is a Military Behavioral Health Psychologist with the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. In this role, she provides oversight and fosters collaboration for creative arts related research projects in partnership with the Defense Intrepid Network.
Dr. Tompkins received her BS in comprehensive psychology and art from Troy University, MS in Art Therapy at Florida State University, and post-graduate certification in Substance Abuse Counseling from East Carolina University. She completed a MA and PhD in clinical psychology with a concentration in neuropsychology from Fielding Graduate University. She is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and registered art therapist.
Prior to joining CDP, Dr. Tompkins served as a psychologist at the Department of Veteran Affairs providing assessment and treatment to Veterans with co-occurring substance abuse, mental health, and medical conditions. She has worked across diverse settings in both clinical and non-clinical capacities, including outpatient/community agencies, state hospitals, and military installations providing counseling, training development and facilitation, and consultation. She is trained in EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Written Exposure Therapy and Art Therapy. Her education and training have allowed her to work with individuals and groups ranging the lifespan to treat, manage, and cope with persistent and severe mental illness, substance abuse, brain injury, PTSD/trauma, and co-occurring disorders, within and outside of the military community.
Complimentary to her professional roles, being a military spouse has provided a unique perspective to the culture, day-to-day life, and stressors of the military family that further informs her work at CDP. Professional interests include moral injury, biopsychosocialspiritual impacts of military life/culture on military spouses, creative arts therapies, mindfulness, and integrative treatment approaches for co-occurring disorders.