Moral Injury in Service Members
- Average Rating:
- Not yet rated
- Faculty:
- Elizabeth Burgin, PhD, NCC, LPC-S, RPT
- 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
Elizabeth Burgin, PhD, NCC, LPC-S, RPT Related Seminars and Products
Center for Deployment Psychology
Elizabeth Burgin, Ph.D., is a Licensed Professional Counselor serving as a Military Behavioral Health Child Counselor at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. In this role, she supports the DoD Child Collaboration Study to identify best practices for enhancing and expanding accessibility to care for military-connected children and adolescents. Dr. Burgin completed her doctoral degree in counseling at the University of North Texas and her master’s in clinical mental health counseling at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Marist College.
Prior to joining CDP, Dr. Burgin served as an Assistant Professor of Counseling, leading the Military & Veterans Counseling Program at William & Mary. Dr. Burgin’s research has focused on evidence-based practices for military populations across the lifespan, including moral injury, adverse childhood experiences, and bereavement. Dr. Burgin has also worked across diverse clinical settings, including university counseling, home-based and community agency, and public-school settings. She has counseled individuals with addictions, serious and persistent mental health concerns, adults and children within the military community, and in foster and adoption systems of care. Dr. Burgin is a Certified Child-Centered Play Therapy Supervisor and is trained in Child-Parent Relationship Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and EMDR.
As a military spouse and mental health practitioner, Dr. Burgin experiences military life and navigates military systems of care daily, informing her work at CDP.