Our partners at Gamble-Skogmo Chair in Child Welfare and Youth Policy developed a course accessible to the community on moral injury in child welfare. This self-paced course is free and available to the public. The course is divided into five learning modules on moral injury and healing for mental health, addictions, social work and child welfare professionals.
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.
This course will provide participants with the knowledge and confidence to develop an understanding of moral injury. 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.