Resilience as the Relational Ability to Spiritually Integrate Moral Stress

Doehring, Carrie

doi:10.1007/s11089-015-0643-7

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Interviews with combat veterans considering experiences of MI identified loss, questioning, and disillusionment of faith/a higher power as postdeployment experiences (61). As MI can significantly damage the way a person’s values, beliefs, and spirituality guide daily behaviors, consideration of spiritual or theological perspectives may enhance current psychological and medical understandings of MI (18, 54).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spirituality and Moral Injury Among Military Personnel: A Mini-Review

et al. 2019

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Introduction: Moral injury (MI) results when military personnel are exposed to morally injurious events that conflict with their values and beliefs. Given the complexity of MI and its physical, emotional, social, and spiritual impact, a holistic approach is needed. While the biopsychosocial aspects of MI are more commonly addressed, less is known of the spiritual dimension and how to incorporate it into treatment that facilitates restoration of one’s core self and mending of relationships with self, others, and the sacred/Transcendent. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between spirituality/religion (S/R) and MI as experienced by military members and veterans and to consider how S/R might be better integrated into prevention and treatment strategies. Methods: A mini-review of peer-reviewed articles published between January 2000 and April 2018 regarding the relationship between spirituality and MI among military personnel and veterans was conducted. Results: Twenty-five articles were included in the final review. Five themes were identified and explored, including i) Spirituality: A potential cause of and protective factor against MI, ii) Self and identity: Lost and found, iii) Meaning-making: What once was and now is, iv) Spirituality as a facilitator of treatment for MI, and v) Faith communities: Possible sources of fragmentation or healing. Discussion: Findings identified a cyclical relationship between S/R and MI, whereby S/R can both mitigate and exacerbate MI, as well as be affected by it. Seen as a type of S/R struggle, the use of S/R-specific strategies [e.g., forgiveness, review of S/R beliefs, engagement in S/R practices, and (re)connection with S/R communities], integration of S/R perspectives into general interventions, and help from chaplains may support healing, self-regulation, and mending of relationships, moral emotions, and social connection. Further research is yet needed, however, regarding i) S/R orienting systems, interventions, practices, and rituals/ceremonies that might protect against and treat MI; ii) features of individuals who do/do not experience MI; iii) S/R assessment tools and interventions; and iv) ways to maximize the positive contributions of faith communities.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spirituality and Moral Injury Among Military Personnel: A Mini-Review

et al. 2019

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“…The experience of compassion, along with insight, reveals these shamebased lived theologies of sexism, racism, and classism, whose effects are like environmental pollutants internalized into the very cellular structures of one's body (Doehring 2015c). How does my critical correlational method fit within ongoing methodological reflections in pastoral and practice theology?…”

Section: A Pastoral Theological Methods For Systemic Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moral stress arising from student debt can be understood, then, as a psycho-spiritual stress response to the North American dream that blames students for their financial stress in ways that exacerbate shame and anger about aspects of their identity-their race (Hinds 2014), social class, gender (Doehring 2015c), and/or sexual orientation-with these kinds of selfjudgments: BThere's something wrong with me as a [woman, someone from a working-class family, a racial minority] because I can't manage money, and I can't balance work, family and graduate studies.Ŝ ince the locus of suffering generated by the financial stress due to student debt rests culturally in the oppressive North American dream, then the ultimate purpose of the SIFR Initiative is liberative spiritually integrated financial resiliency. Understanding and practicing the liberative dimensions of the SIFR Initiative will, we hope, align with Iliff's shared core value of social justice.…”

Section: Moral Stress and Religious Strugglesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systemically Exploring Student Debt: Methodological Challenges for Pastoral Theology

Doehring

2016

Pastoral Psychol

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Moral stress arising from student debt is defined here as a psycho-spiritual stress response to the North American dream of achievement through individual hard work, which implicitly blames students for educational debt, exacerbating shame about aspects of their identity (their race, social class, gender, sexual orientation). A critical correlational method brings psychological research on moral stress, moral emotions, and religious struggles into dialogue with pastoral theologies of intersectionality and lived theologies of the North American dream in order to construct a compassion-based relational process of theological reflexivity fostering spiritually integrated financial resilience among students, staff, faculty, trustees, and denominational partners at theological schools.Keywords Critical correlational method . Student debt . Moral stress . Moral emotions Money is now the number one cause of stress for people in the United States, according to the American Psychological Association's annual survey on stress (Bethune 2015, p. 38). In response to the particular financial stresses facing future ministers, the Lilly Endowment invited theological schools to respond to these economic challenges, and many schools launched financial literacy programs for their students focusing on personal and organizational financial planning and budgeting.At Iliff School of Theology, Kelly Arora and I proposed a broader systemic intervention that includes all Iliff stakeholders (students, staff, faculty, trustees, and denominational partners). We wanted to go beyond financial literacy to foster what we are calling the Spiritually Integrated Financial Resiliency (SIFR) Initiative in response to the complex and systemic causes and effects of student debt on future clergy and the institutions they serve. We focused on resiliency as a realistic goal in our current economic context because of the sizable debts that our graduates will bring into religious and non-profit vocations where employment opportunities and financial remuneration are limited. For example, the average educational Pastoral Psychol

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“…Spirituality and spiritual distress have been recognized in the literature as core features of MI ( 11 , 12 ), with some scholars considering MI to be a form of S/R struggle ( 13 – 16 ). Studies examining first-hand experiences of military personnel found that S/R struggles and existential crises were commonly reported following exposure to MIEs ( 17 – 19 ).…”

Section: Spirituality and Moral Injurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiritual Dimensions of Moral Injury: Contributions of Mental Health Chaplains in the Canadian Armed Forces

2018

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Moral Injury (MI) describes the profound distress experienced by military personnel as a result of a violation of personal beliefs. Impacting not only psychological, but spiritual, health, and well-being, MI is associated with spiritual/religious (S/R) suffering and a need to find hope, trust, connection, reconciliation, and wholeness. Addressing spiritual wounds can help military personnel overcome fundamental barriers that may impede them from effectively engaging in or benefitting from traditional trauma therapies and having a more complete recovery. Military Chaplains in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are both embedded with the troops in garrison and theater and work closely with service providers such as the Royal Canadian Medical Services. In their role, they offer front-line support and services to members and their families and facilitate access to care. Specific to the assessment and treatment of MI, Mental Health Chaplains (MHCs) offer S/R expertise and a complimentary clinical skill set to service members and interdisciplinary teams. This perspectives article explores the S/R dimension of MI, discusses the role of MHCs in CAF Mental Health (MH) Clinics, and provides clinical perspectives of a MHC regarding the treatment of MI. Key focuses of MHC interventions include bridging to other mental health services and supports, facilitating S/R coping and grounding, reconciling worldviews, resolving anger at a God-figure (not specific to any S/R perspective) and fostering reconciliation. Based on the literature, Mental Health practitioner's feedback, and clinical experience, MHCs are integral to service provision regarding MI and warrant more widespread inclusion on interdisciplinary teams in CAF MH Clinics.

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Resilience as the Relational Ability to Spiritually Integrate Moral Stress

Cited by 19 publications

References 30 publications

Spirituality and Moral Injury Among Military Personnel: A Mini-Review

Spirituality and Moral Injury Among Military Personnel: A Mini-Review

Systemically Exploring Student Debt: Methodological Challenges for Pastoral Theology

Spiritual Dimensions of Moral Injury: Contributions of Mental Health Chaplains in the Canadian Armed Forces

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