Moral Injury

Upcoming studies

Our study to evaluate a treatment for moral injury- related mental health difficulties is currently underway. This treatment was co-designed with military veterans and subject matter experts. If you would like more information on how you can get involved in this research - contact: Dr Victoria Williamson at [email protected]

Our latest publications

Impact on wellbeing

1. Williamson, V., Stevelink, S. A., & Greenberg, N. (2018). Occupational moral injury and mental health: systematic review and meta-analysis. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 212(6), 339-346. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2018.55
2. Williamson, V., Greenberg, N., & Murphy, D. (2021). Predictors of moral injury in UK treatment seeking veterans. Child Abuse & Neglect. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104889
3. Williamson V, Murphy D, Stevelink SA, et al. (2021) Family and occupational functioning following military trauma exposure and moral injury. BMJ Mil Health. doi: 10.1136/bmjmilitary-2020-001770
4. Williamson, V., Murphy, D., Stevelink, S. A., Allen, S., Jones, E., & Greenberg, N. (2020). The impact of trauma exposure and moral injury on UK military veterans: a qualitative study. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11(1),1704554. doi: 10.1080/20008198.2019.1704554
5. Williamson, V., Murphy, D., & Greenberg, N. (2022). Experiences and impact of moral injury in UK veterinary professional wellbeing. European journal of psychotraumatology, 13(1), 2051351.https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2022.2051351
6. Greenberg, N., Docherty, M., Gnanapragasam, S., & Wessely, S. (2020). Managing mental health challenges faced by healthcare workers during Covid-19 Pandemic. BMJ, 368. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1211
7. Williamson, V., Murphy, D., Stevelink, S. A., Jones, E., Allen, S., & Greenberg, N. (2022). The relationship between of moral injury and radicalisation: A systematic review. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 45(11), 977-1003. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2021.1961706
8. Hegarty S, Lamb D, Stevelink SAM, Bhundia R, Raine R, Doherty MJ, Scott HR, Marie Rafferty A, Williamson V, Dorrington S, Hotopf M, Razavi R, Greenberg N, Wessely S. (2022). 'It hurts your heart': frontline healthcare worker experiences of moral injury during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eur J Psychotraumatol. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2022.2128028.

Implications for treatment

1. Williamson V, Murphy D, Phelps A, Forbes D and Greenberg N. (2021). Moral injury: the effect on mental health and implications for treatment. Lancet Psychiatry. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00113-9
2. Williamson, V., Murphy, D., Stevelink, S. A., Allen, S., Jones, E., & Greenberg, N. (2021). Delivering treatment to morally injured UK military personnel and Veterans: The clinician experience. Military Psychology. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2021.1897495
3. Williamson, V., Murphy, D., & Greenberg, N. (2020). COVID-19 and experiences of moral injury in front-line key workers. Occupational Medicine. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqaa052
4. Williamson, V., Murphy, D., Stevelink, S. A. M., Jones, E., Wessely, S., & Greenberg, N. (2020). Confidentiality and psychological treatment of moral injury: the elephant in the room. BMJ Mil Health. doi: 10.1136/bmjmilitary-2020-001534

Support for moral injury

• IAPT
• Veterans Gateway
• Samaritans
• NHS Our People
• NHS Armed Forces Healthcare

Headline photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash.