Since 2014, Leanne Paynter has provided case management services as an independent living coach for Volunteers of America in St. Petersburg, Florida. Leanne Paynter also conducts psychoeducational groups that explore issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury.
Moral injury occurs when individuals participate in or fail to prevent something that contradicts their deeply held values or moral beliefs. Common in combat veterans, moral injury can cause psychological stress that interferes with normal life long after the event. Because the individual feels personally responsible for the transgression, self-forgiveness may be difficult. The lingering guilt may contribute to self-sabotaging behaviors in professional and personal relationships.
While moral injury has some symptoms in common with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it typically does not involve the hyperarousal that marks PTSD. Patients may benefit from treatment options such as Prolonged Exposure (PE), which allows individuals to process emotional trauma through imagined exposure, and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), which helps individuals reframe negative beliefs that form the foundation of their guilt and shame.
