Welcome to the 2nd edition of Labyrinth, the Shay Moral Injury Center Newsletter. Since our first edition in March, much has changed: more people are vaccinated and society began to "reopen," but as the Delta variant has surged in the unvaccinated, much uncertainty about reopening remains. Systemic inequities in health care, the economy, policing, and incarceration persist and climate change disasters continue.
Recognizing that the emotional tolls and suffering of COVID will affect people for months and years to come, the Shay Center has launched a new program: Moral Injury Recovery in the Aftermath of COVID (MIRAC). This online course on moral injury and moral distress processing is a resource for chaplains, clergy, and spiritual care providers. We are grateful for the over 50 MIRAC participants thus far, and we are committed to continue work that responds to the realities of moral injury as experienced in a myriad of ways by diverse communities.
with heart,
the Shay Center team
Register for a Fall MIRAC Course Today
Moral Injury Recovery in the Aftermath of COVID is an experiential, trauma-informed, interfaith, and interactive space for spiritual and religious leaders to learn and apply moral injury processing methods. It is a daylong, online live session course responsive to the emotional and psychological fallout of COVID-19 and socio-economic inequities.
Trainings are from 12 pm to 8:30 pm Eastern time, with breaks included. Cost: $25 – $150 (sliding scale).
The in depth information provided by Dr. Brock was very helpful and I'm able to imagine how to apply it to populations I serve. I was very moved by the facilitators and the willingness of participants to engage in the experiential portion of the program.
I think that this program is significantly important in this era of the aftermath of COVID. I hope that this program can continually develop so that people in other countries can approach moral injury and its recovery processes. Thank you so much!
by Rita Nakashima Brock and Kristine Chong, Thrive Global
Moral injury is a break in our relationships, so recovery from moral injury and distress is a relational process. People who can receive our sharing and confessions without judgment, who can offer open, empathetic, and compassionate listening presence to process moral suffering, can be transformative. Releasing moral pain gives relief that creates space to process the pain, while listening to others’ experiences restores our capacities for empathy and compassion.
'The Line' refers to the precarious moral boundaries that are distorted over and over in the heat of battle. And as host Dan Taberski explores throughout a six-part series, that constant warping morality often leaves destructive effects on the psyches of soliders sent into war . . . The concept of moral injury plays a heavy role into Taberski's examination. How do repeated forays into murky gray areas impact a soldier's sense of themselves as moral actors?
An "album of songs based on the experiences of Vietnam era veterans . . . [released by] Warrior Songs, a non-profit helping veterans heal from the trauma of war through the creative arts." – read more here
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