Moral Injury in Service Members

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.