Wyatt R. Evans - The Moral Injury Workbook: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills for Moving Beyond Shame, Anger, and Trauma to Reclaim Your Values

You are not alone, and it is possible to reconnect with who and what is most important to you. This is the hope-filled message of The Moral Injury Workbook . Whether you have done or failed to do something, or something has been done to you, if you have experienced a betrayal of moral values you hold dear, this workbook offers evidence-based strategies for how to move forward and reclaim your life. It is an inspiring and essential resource for anyone facing the complex, painful, and often hidden struggles that result from moral injury.

Jenna LeJeune, PhD , licensed clinical psychologist; president of Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center; and coauthor of Values in Therapy

Providing essential resources for both therapists and clients, this book is a comprehensive and compassionate account of finding a way forward after surviving a range of adverse experiences. Based on science and grounded in the heart, the authors have delivered a text that combines clinical insights, personal stories, and useful exercises for finding meaning in living. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in trauma and moral injury. Both clients and therapists will find support and comfort in these words, which give a sense of purpose to doing the difficult work of addressing moral injury.

Victoria Follette, PhD, PsyD , program chair, director of clinical training, and professor in the school of psychology at Florida Institute of Technology

If you find yourself haunted by a past event where you hurt or injured someone, or witnessed this happening to someone else, then I urge you to consider this book. The authors relate powerful stories and tools that can help you move from alienation and disconnection to repair and wholeness. If your moral sense has been disrupted or damaged, this book is a lifeline.

Jason B. Luoma, PhD , shame and self-compassion researcher, and coauthor of Learning ACT and Values in Therapy

Grounded in the collective clinical and scientific expertise of the four authors, this important contribution is full of compassionate, wise, and much-needed, practical tools for addressing moral injury with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). For persons seeking to heal their lives from the wounds of morally injurious events, they will find a treasure trove of insights and strategies for restoring human connection and meaningful living. For clinicians and trainees who desire to incorporate ACT in their attempts to address moral injury in therapeutic settings, this book is similarly essential reading, and one that will be reviewed again and again.

Joseph Currier, PhD , associate professor of psychology at the University of South Alabama, and lead editor of Addressing Moral Injury in Clinical Practice

This useful resource for anyone suffering from or caring for those with moral injury helpfully brings ACT principles to bear in a manner that invites a fresh, honest, and ultimately hopeful exploration of ones moral identity.

Jason Nieuwsma, PhD , associate director of the VA Mid-Atlantic MIRECC Mental Health and Chaplaincy program, and associate professor at Duke University Medical Center

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2020 by Wyatt R. Evans, Robyn D. Walser, Kent D. Drescher, and Jacob K. Farnsworth

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup

Acquired by Tesilya Hanauer

Edited by Kristi Hein

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

We dedicate this book to the veterans and service members who have served their country and, in so doing, sacrificed and suffered. We are especially grateful to those who shared their stories and pain with us in developing acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for moral healing and teaching us about moral challenges and dilemmas, including those that arise during times of war. We are deeply inspired by their humanity and their desire to return to their values. Without their willingness and bravery to reveal their innermost sorrow, we could not have begun our journey of understanding moral injury, and its function and fallout. Their persistence has assisted us in developing ACT as a path to recovery. They have shared their hopes that through their pain, others lives might be improved. This book is inspired by that hope and is the direct result of their openness and desire to offer healing.

Contents

Acknowledgments

We want to thank our friends and colleagues, Dr. Lauren Borges and Dr. Sean Barnes. Our collaborations with them have been essential in both developing the science of ACT as an intervention for moral injury and cultivating a path to healing for those who suffer with the same. In our deep appreciation for their dedication to the science of and recovery from moral injury, we consider them part of our authorship team. We want to acknowledge their continuing efforts to bring science-based and compassionate recovery to those who are on a journey of rediscovering values in the midst of moral pain.

WRE, RDW, KDD, and JKF

To my husband, Michael, for his love and patient support, and to my parents, for their unending encouragement.

WRE

To my mom, who as always is my hero, and to Bobby and Deon, for their great service and dedication; thank you for doing what you do and being a wonderful support to me.

RDW

To my amazing family, who provide love, encouragement, and joy every day: my wife, Susan, our sons and their wives, and my grandchildren, who provide a lens to see my world with eyes of hope and joy.

KDD

To my wife, Joanna, and our four beautiful children, who together are my greatest moral good.

JKF

Introduction

Freedom, morality, and the human dignity of the individual consists precisely in this: that he does good not because he is forced to do so, but because he freely conceives it

Mikhail Bakunin

You are not alone. Though it may seem that way in the aftermath of situations in which you or others made decisions that led to immensely hurtful outcomes, you are not alone in that pain, and you will not be alone on your healing journey. In reading this book, youll be joined by an incredibly diverse group of people. People who have faced seemingly impossible choices. People who have caused great harm, as well as those who have been harmed greatly. People who have witnessed atrocities and violence. People who have been betrayed, and those whose past behaviors involved betrayal. You may also be joined by therapists, counselors, chaplains, and others who seek to bring healing to those who suffer from the fallout of moral pain. You, they, and we are all connected by pain, and we are all now on this healing journey together.

If you are wondering whether moral injury is an accurate label for your experience (or the experience of someone you care about), first consider what led you to open this book and also know that we will take time to define moral injury and how it grows from moral pain. We will also explore what kinds of events lead to moral injury. It may help you to know that moral injury is not a new experience in the world. Philosophers and theologians have been writing about it for ages, and humans have been struggling with it for much longer than that. We hope that as you read this book and work through its exercises, you will come to more fully understand moral injury, its impact, and how to recover from it.