Introduction to the Special Issue on Military Moral Injury

2019

Pastoral Psychol

The transition from military to civilian life includes a multitude of challenges for service members and their significant others. This transfer from one context to another can include, but is not limited to, a need for an identity shift, cultivation of an alternate mind-set, social reorientation, a search for employment, grief and sadness due to the loss of camaraderie, and/or experiences of alienation and estrangement from civilian society. Although the social sciences dominate this research field and dub it 'transition,' the ambiguity of the process can be further advanced through pastoral psychology. This article rethinks and reinterprets qualitative data to develop a pastoral psychological understanding of veterans through Capps and Carlin's lens of living in limbo. This pastoral psychological construct embraces the ambiguity of the transition to civilian life and addresses it as a potentially complex and acute limbo situation. This construct can resonate with both veterans and significant others while also assisting pastors in providing care and counseling. Keywords Military. Veteran. Transition. Living in limbo. Pastoral psychology Entry into military service often implicates a dramatic culture and identity shift as individuals leave civilian society behind to dedicate their lives to service, including deployments to war zones (Beder 2012; Devries et al. 2012; Hall 2012a, b; Strachan 2006; Verrips 2006; Wilson 2008). Military cultures shape robust military identities that enable personnel to perform extremely taxing actions in high-stakes deployment situations (Ben-Ari 1998; Bryan and Morrow 2011). However, war zone stresses and acts can violate one's moral code. Participation in war zone activities, or even merely bearing witness to transgression and violence, may mark the human psyche in several ways. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as described by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (American Psychiatric

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Revisiting Living in Limbo to Illustrate a Pastoral Psychological Understanding of Transition from Military to Civilian Life

2019

Pastoral Psychol

“…In turn, such a recovery is not only a matter of personal development and growth because it includes another dimension, for instance, God. Experiencing God’s forgiveness, renewed dialogue, and/or reconciliation with self and/or others may be a prerequisite to soul repair (Brock & Lettini, 2012; Doehring & Ramsay, 2019; Liebert, 2019).…”

Section: Conceptualization Of Si and Spiritual Integritymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, spiritual and religious elements or dimensions in both the understanding and treatment of moral injury (MI), as presented by both Shay (2002, 2003) and later Litz and colleagues (2009), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders/DSM by the American Psychological Association (APA, 2013) have received increasing attention over the last decade, especially from a clinical perspective (Harris, Park, Currier, Usset, & Voecks, 2015; Koenig et al., 2017; Wortmann at al., 2017). Furthermore, research within the pastoral, spiritual and religious field(s) has also taken on challenges that MI and PTSD pose in various ways through myriad perspectives (Doehring & Ramsay, 2019; Drescher & Foy, 2008; Graham, 2017; Moon, 2019; Rambo, 2010; Stallinga, 2013). These amassed efforts have resulted in a growing spiritual/religious (S/R) toolbox that can, among other things, be utilized in pastoral and spiritual care and counseling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Widening The Gallery Of Biblical Combat Veteran Types With Gideon

J Pastoral Care Counsel

2020

This spiritual-psychological exegesis continues to expand the gallery of biblical combat veteran types by shedding light on a new biblical combat character. Gideon from the Book of Judges was an experienced combat veteran and military commander. The findings include the proposal of a new categorical type of a combat veteran who illustrates both spiritual integrity and resilience. The article engages in conversations of what the findings may mean for pastoral care and their connections to theology.

“…During the recent decade, there has been a growing interest to explore and advance the potentials within the spiritual/religious (S/R) domain in the pursuit of developing better tools to promote growth, health, and well-being among military personnel and veterans with inner conflicts and existential ruminations, especially regarding moral injury. This quest has not only been advanced by frontrunners within pastoral psychology and theology (for instance see Doehring & Ramsay, 2019;Graham, 2017;Moon, 2015Moon, , 2019Rambo, 2010) but also within the field of psychology and therapeutic counseling and treatment (Bobrow et al, 2013;Koenig et al, 2017;Wortmann et al, 2017). This exploration and advancement of approaches, models, and practices stemming from the spiritual/religious domain can be understood as a development of tools organized within a wider S/R toolbox.…”

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confidence: 99%

Can service members and veterans find parallels between biblical combat veterans and their own lives?

Spirituality in Clinical Practice

2022

The purpose of this article is to introduce the health care services potential parallels between biblical combat characters and modern understandings of posttraumatic stress disorder, moral injury, and spiritual injury. A gallery of biblical combat veteran types is presented as a potential tool to help serve spiritual/religious (S/R) service members. This article presents a condensed conceptualization of these types and further discusses why it can be helpful for some service members and veterans to explore parallels between biblical combat characters and their own lives. For some this illustrates an unrecognized landscape of biblical combat veteran types with a variety of S/R dimensions/challenges which are potentially related to their own. It also demonstrates a previously unrealized resource for health care providers. This article contributes to S/R-related considerations of war zone deployment and combat a novel biblical and hermeneutical approach. At this point, however, the gallery of biblical combat veterans has only reached a conceptual or theoretical stage. The value of an intervention to real-life cases is unknown because it has not yet been tested or explored in either clinical practice or research studies.