Thriving in the Midst of Moral Pain: The Acceptability and Feasibility of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Moral Injury (ACT-MI) Among Warzone Veterans

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Moral Injury (ACT-MI) is a novel treatment protocol detailing the application of ACT for recovery from moral injury. ACT-MI is designed to help Veterans learn to interact differently with moral emotions and engage meaningfully in their lives. The intervention is group-based and spans twelve, 90-minute sessions. The current ACT-MI protocol was developed through an iterative process in which authors generated and refined the intervention based on clinical interactions with Veterans currently reporting moral injury.

Present Centered Therapy (PCT) will include 12 group sessions, but will focus on problem solving daily life difficulties related to moral injury rather than the experiential focus on moral emotions presented in ACT-MI. Because PCT has been established as an evidence-based active control condition, it is likely to serve as a beneficial transdiagnostic intervention in its own right.