Wednesday, November 18 12:00 – 1:00 PM EST
Presenter: Dr. Brett Litz, Ph.D.
Description:
Moral injury has attracted substantial clinical and research attention, but the field continues to face problems of construct definition, measurement, causal explanation, and premature claims about treatment (Litz, 2025; Litz & Walker, 2025). Moral harms can arise from perpetrating or failing to prevent acts that violate fundamental moral expectations, witnessing the inhumanity of others, or being directly affected by others’ serious moral violations. Exposure to such experiences is not synonymous with moral injury. Moral injury refers to a clinically significant and functionally impairing outcome that develops in some individuals following moral harm (Litz et al., 2025).
This presentation describes a social-functional model of moral harms and moral injury. Building on social-functional theories of emotion and morality, the model assumes that human beings possess evolved capacities that support cooperation, care, fairness, trust, accountability, and social belonging (Keltner & Haidt, 1999; Litz & Walker, 2025). Serious violations of this social contract can generate powerful and relatively automatic moral and social pain. Moral emotions such as guilt, shame, anger, and disgust are functional in the short term because they regulate behavior and relationships. Moral injury may arise when moral harm produces enduring disruptions in these social-functional processes and in the person’s capacity to participate safely, compassionately, responsibly, and with a sense of worth in the social world.
The presentation will consider implications of this framework for assessment, case formulation, and treatment. The social-functional approach is a rehabilitation model that emphasizes identifying how moral harm has altered functioning, relationships, valued social roles, trust, belonging, and opportunities for reciprocal care and contribution. Treatment follows from these hypotheses and prioritizes corrective learning through action, including compassion, disclosure and witnessing, accountability and repair when appropriate, reengagement in valued roles, and experiences that restore belonging and shared humanity. Evidence from the development of Adaptive Disclosure and Adaptive Disclosure-Enhanced will be discussed as an empirical foundation for this approach (Litz et al., 2009, 2024).
CE Information
1 hour of CE
Cost
SCP Member: FREE
Non-member: $40
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