Moral injury refers to the lasting psychological, spiritual and social harm caused by one’s own or another’s actions in a high stakes situation.

The injury comes from the transgression of deeply held moral beliefs and expectations. Moral injury can occur when there is a troubling mismatch between one’s core, moral beliefs and morally troubling events that leads to a “breakdown in global meaning, or “threat to the integrity of one’s internal moral schema”. If unaddressed, this loss of meaning, guilt, shame, rage, depression, loss of trust and sense of betrayal can persist for years. Although moral injury was initially applied to combat veterans, it clearly can also occur in other populations experiencing substantial conflicts in values.

Expectations:

Completion of this course will provide you with the knowledge and confidence to develop your understanding of moral injury.  Selected video-based instruction led by Dr. Haught will guide your learning experience. This self-paced course is divided into five learning modules on moral injury and healing for mental health, addictions, social work  and child welfare professionals.

Each module consists of a brief lecture and videotaped discussion of working professionals reflecting on the lecture, focusing on the implications for their own practice, and a quiz. You must score 80% on the quiz before you are allowed to move on to the next module.