Growing from Shame: Positive Psychology Interventions as a way to treat Moral Injury informed by acts of Commission and Omission

Abstract

Moral injury is a condition that can occur after incidents in which individuals perform an action that violates their own deeply held moral beliefs, or fail to prevent such actions from occurring. In the wake of these incidents, negative self-evaluations can lead to intense feelings of shame and self-loathing; hallmarks of the condition of moral injury. Unfortunately, potentially morally injurious circumstances are plentiful for the modern-day service member and veterans of recent conflicts. Existing treatment options for moral injury are currently insufficient, and there is a lack of attention paid to the condition in psychology research due in part to moral injury’s absence in the DSM 5. Moral injury has been erroneously conceptualized as an element of PTSD, and is commonly treated by trauma-processing modalities that, while effective in trauma-focused treatment, are ineffective in reducing symptoms of moral injury. The present article details how Positive Psychology interventions may be effective in the treatment of moral injury (heretofore untested and unexplored), and is a call for such research to be conducted.

Keywords:

• Moral injury
• positive psychology
• shame
• pessimistic attributional style
• growth mindset
• flourish

Disclosure statement

The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, Defense Health Agency, the U.S. Government, or any other institution with which the author is affiliated. Neither the Department of the Navy nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed, or authorized this product.