
Framework
Our focus is on ending moral injury in Systems. To do that, we assist deconstruct the presented narrative around systemic harm, fact check and where necessary help leadership reform practices, laser focusing on organisational justice and construct new helpful narratives that support psychological safety, encourage healing from a whole of organisation perspective and putting lived and living experiences front and centre of everything we do.
What Is Moral Injury
Moral injury is the social, psychological, and spiritual harm that arises when workers experience a betrayal of their core values, such as justice, fairness, and loyalty. In systems such as Workers' Compensation, this can occur when the system meant to heal actually harms or fails to protect the injured or, system worker through error or inaction. Saying sorry is often not enough. It is the betrayal that often needs to be addressed. Understanding the consequences of mistakes by a system on the injured is vital to rebuilding trust, engagement and healing. Left unaddressed these experiences can wound a worker's conscience, leading to lasting anger, guilt and shame, fundamentally altering their worldview and impairing their ability to trust others and engage with life.
Resources:
The Current Status Of Moral Injury - A narrative review and Rapid Evidence Assessment


Recognising Moral Injury
First identified by Psychiatrist Jonathan Shay his work on Moral Injury can be found in his books, Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character and the Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the trials of Homecoming.
Today Moral Injury is a multidisciplinary field.
Dr. Brett Litz, a pioneer in the study of moral injury, points out that, “The key precondition for moral injury is an act of transgression, which shatters moral and ethical expectations that are rooted in religious or spiritual beliefs, or culture-based, organizational, and group-based rules about fairness, the value of life…” The injury can arise in a variety of forms ranging from “….perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.”
Recently, researchers and therapists on the frontlines of care have started to identify what may be a critical factor in the overall suicide crisis – a sort of “missing link” – a condition called “moral injury”.
Thus we are beginning to understand the link between moral injury and mental health, particularly in trauma-related outcomes like PTSD and depression. Addressing organizational justice is crucial for front-line workers such as police, paramedics,child protection workers, journalists, firefighters, and healthcare professionals. Morally conflicting experiences can exacerbate the effects of trauma, making it essential to explore how moral injury influences these conditions.
Key Differences:
Trauma: Intense emotional response to a harmful/threatening event, causing emotional instability, relationship changes, and physical symptoms.
PTSD: Ongoing fear/anxiety response to trauma, including hypervigilance, triggers, memory loss, dissociation, and depression.
Moral Injury: Conscience's response to moral violations, can complicate mental health treatment. In severe cases, can impede treatment of PTSD, depression, and bipolar disorder, potentially leading to suicidality. Involves post-event emotions like guilt, shame, and grief.
Key Difference: Psychological disorders require fixing distorted reality, while moral injury starts by validating the experience.
Real World Applications and Healing Approaches
Moral Injury at Work and in Systems is caused by the target's deliberate disruption with 'belonging.' We are all evolutionary wired to belong and this is often why workplace bullying can cause such profound harm. It interferes with our very identity. It is also morally difficult for the target to make sense of this behavior as it ravages entire lives.
Addressing moral injury begins with recognizing the power of listening and acknowledgment. Michael L. Purdy, a scholar and expert in the field of communication with a particular focus on listening, notes, "Listening is the artful practice of caring for human beings, and how well we listen is a measure of how civilized we have become." Having suffering heard and validated is crucial for recovery. Active listening emphasizes genuine engagement with individuals' experiences.
Remember though your engagement with the target themselves should evidence empathy and compassion. Your very words can heal or harm.
A lack of social support, negative thought patterns, and struggles with meaning-making can worsen moral injury. Conversely, cultivating self-compassion, mental health education, and mindfulness can moderate its effects. This is crucial for those injured at work, whose unacknowledged moral injuries need addressing to prevent further harm. When systems meant to heal instead cause harm and moral injury, it underscores the need for compassionate systems reform and leadership training to truly support those in need.


01
Environmental Analysis
Examine wider community and identify audiences and assumptions playing into existing narrative. Fact Check. Is it true?
Framework
The Shattered DocuSeries presents truth-based stories of lived experiences, engaging the audience and helping to foster community education to address the needless stigma surrounding a Workers' Compensation claim. Stigma harms. The DocuSeries also aims to help businesses strengthen their social impact footprint and employee engagement. When we care for our people it is noticed and embedded throughout the entire organisation.
03
Show New Story
People are wired for stories. Use memes, images, metaphors and channels of communication that resonate with audience. Keep it human and authentic.
02
Strategic Storytelling
Facts tell, stories sell. As necessary correct the backstory with facts, evidence and stories.
04
Journey With New Story
It takes time to change a dysfunctional story. Stay the course. Measure and adjust. Build collaborative partnerships of care to embed new story.