I first began to understand moral injury as a therapist working in a residential trauma treatment program for military veterans. I had quite a bit of experience working with active service members in outpatient settings prior to taking this position, and that may be why moral injury didn’t present so clearly to me before. Like PTSD, moral injury may not set in clearly until a person has gotten out of the environment associated with the disturbance. Veterans in this residential program...

In Ivan Krylov’s 1814 tale “The Inquisitive Man,” we read about a man quite struck by the wide array of tiny creatures he encountered on a museum visit, even as he failed to notice the enormous elephant displayed amongst them. The phrase “the elephant in the room” has become a common metaphor for something that is noticed but not named or discussed. We can allow ourselves to wonder...

Bandaids are harmful when an underlying wound needs attention and I'm simply using the bandaid to avoid dealing with it, but that specific scenario doesn't indicate that bandaids are never helpful. When it comes to psychological well-being, the most safe and manageable approach may include applying a bandaid for a period of time...