Moral injury occurs across occupations and is a trauma response to witnessing or participating in workplace behaviors that contradict one’s moral beliefs in high-stakes situations. While the ultimate responsibility for preventing moral injury rests on the employer, several strategies for coping with it can be implemented to prevent moral injury.
A Continuum of Harm
Morally injurious situations are high stakes and carry the potential of physical, psychological, social, or economic harm to others – for example, allowing workplace bullying to damage employee health, manipulating customers into overspending that could leave them in financial peril, and denying lifesaving care to patients.
- The emerging scholarship on reconciling the various terms used to describe responses to moral events points toward a continuum of moral harm.
Change your situation
If it’s not possible to do your job without continuously violating your values, leaving the situation or organization is a necessary step.
Strategies for Coping with Moral Injury
While the ultimate responsibility for preventing moral injury rests on organizational decision-makers, individual employees are often forced to deal with the consequences on their own
- Our advice is directed to those who must take care of themselves while their employers put them into moral harm
Determine what role forgiveness can play
Forgiveness is not the restoration of trust, it simply means letting go of your bitterness and desire to retaliate for the harm incurred.
- It’s a forfeiture of your anger as a source of motivation and it’s not a one-time event where you declare, “Fine, I forgive them.” It’s daily set of deep choices to engage the emotions that flood your mind at inopportune, unexpected times and then release them.
Confront denial and listen to your pain
Denial can be a comforting mechanism for coping and enduring. But over time, that instinct to survive can lead to organizational Stockholm syndrome.
- If a pattern of behavior leads to destructive outcomes for others, it’s time to acknowledge to yourself that you’re in harm’s way.
Shed shame to restore your moral center
One of the most painful discoveries of grappling with moral injury is the harm we’ve inflicted
- Ron coached had been responsible for setting up surveillance software and monitoring the productivity of employees working from home during the pandemic
- He confessed: I felt horrible. I should have pushed back on my boss when they wanted to implement this, knowing it was wrong.
- Over time, he was able to separate out what was his responsibility and what was the organization’s
Moral injuries can leave lasting impacts on our psyche, but they don’t have to remain debilitating
We can grow from them.
- Sometimes we’re able to take the environments along on that journey, and sometimes we have to leave them.
- Either way, if you’re carrying the weight of moral injury, don’t wait until it overtakes your whole outlook on life, and yourself. Find the courage to face what you’ve experienced and done, and with it, reclaim the values you hold most dear.
Engage in “soul care” as self-care
One of the greatest releases of emotional pain comes from a vulnerable, honest conversation with a trusted professional
- A coach, therapist, or other mental health professional trained in dealing with trauma responses can help guide you through an exploration of the pain you’re feeling
- Journal a detailed account of your struggle
Avoid vengeful and entitled reactions
In some moments, you may risk reaching a boiling point and reacting to someone responsible for causing your moral harm. Learning to self-regulate is critical to steering clear of acting impulsively.
- Deep-breathing regimens for reducing stress can be very helpful in these moments.
- Having a close confidant or coach to call on short notice can also be useful.
