Moral Injury in the Behavioral Health Professions
Navigating Clinical and Ethical Challenges with Resilience
- Speaker:
- Frederic G. Reamer, PhD
- Duration:
- 6 Hours 27 Minutes
- Language:
- Presented in EN, handouts in EN
- Copyright:
-
Mar 06, 2024
- Product Code:
- POS059612
- Media Type:
- Digital Seminar
Description
- The signs and symptoms of moral injury and moral distress in the behavioral health professions
- How to demystify whistleblowing for ethical alignment and strong professional advocacy
- Strategies to buffer against vicarious trauma and leverage post-traumatic growth
- Potential consequences of moral injury, including harm to clients or the risk of malpractice claims
- Strategies to develop and maintain moral courage in the face of ethical challenges
Credit
Program Information
Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationshipsAll members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
NOTE: Tuition includes one free CE Certificate (participant will be able to print the certificate of completion after passing the online post-test (80% passing score) and completing the evaluation). Instructional methods will include PowerPoint, didactic lecture, and others.
Continuing Education Information: Listed below are the continuing education credit(s) currently available for this non-interactive self-study package. Program content is reviewed periodically per accrediting board rules for currency and appropriateness for credit. Credit approvals are subject to change. Please note, your licensing board dictates whether self-study is an acceptable form of continuing education, as well as which credit types are acceptable for continuing education hours. Please refer to your licensing board's rules and regulations. If your profession is not listed, please contact your licensing board to determine your continuing education requirements and check for reciprocal approval.
For other credit inquiries not specified below, please contact info@pesi.com or 800-844-8260 before purchase.
Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of your profession. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your profession's standards.
For Planning Committee disclosures, please see the statement above. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
Earn up to 6.25 CE hours. Please see below, for more details, as credit amounts vary by jurisdiction and profession.
THIS ACTIVITY QUALIFIES FOR 6.25 HOURS OF general ETHICS INSTRUCTION. Not all boards allow ethics credit for on-line programs. If ethics is not specified within your licensing board’s approval statement below, please contact your board to determine the applicability and amount of ethics allowed.
PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association to offer continuing education for counsellors and psychotherapists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This self-study activity is approved for 6.0 credit hours.
PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This program is approved for 6.0 self-study continuing education hours. Full credit statement at: www.pesi.com/cpa-statement

PESI, Inc., #1062, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: January 27, 2026 - January 27, 2029. Social workers completing this course receive 6.25 Clinical continuing education credits.
Course Level: Intermediate Format: Recorded asynchronous distance. Full attendance is required; no partial credits will be offered for partial attendance.
Canadian Social Workers: Canadian provinces may accept activities offered by providers approved by the ASWB ACE program for ongoing professional development.
This self-study activity qualifies for 6.25 continuing education clock hours as required by many national and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your activity advertisement and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific requirements.

PESI, Inc. is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Nurses completing these self-study materials will earn 6.25 contact hours. Expires: 01/26/2027.
Handouts
| File type | File name | Number of pages | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual - Moral Injury in the Behavioral Health Professions (2.73 MB) | 42 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Moral Injury in the Behavioral Health Professions - French (2.73 MB) | 42 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Moral Injury in the Behavioral Health Professions - Italian (2.73 MB) | 42 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Moral Injury in the Behavioral Health Professions - German (2.73 MB) | 42 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Moral Injury in the Behavioral Health Professions - Spanish (2.73 MB) | 42 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Speaker
Frederic G. Reamer, PhD Related seminars and products
School of Social Work, Rhode Island College
Frederic G. Reamer, PhD, has been on the faculty of the School of Social Work, Rhode Island College, Providence, Rhode Island since 1983. Dr. Reamer received his PhD from the University of Chicago and has served as a social worker in correctional and mental health settings. He chaired the national task force that wrote the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and served on the task force that added technology standards to the code. Dr. Reamer lectures both nationally and internationally on the subjects of professional ethics, professional malpractice and liability, and documentation. In addition to ethics, his research and teaching have addressed a wide range of human service issues, including mental health, health care, criminal justice, and public welfare. Dr. Reamer has conducted extensive research on professional ethics and has been involved in several national research projects sponsored by The Hastings Center, Carnegie Corporation, Haas Foundation, and Center for Bioethics of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Reamer has been a witness and formal ethics consultant in more than 160 litigation and licensing board cases throughout the United States. He is the author of many books and other publications on ethical standards in behavioral health, risk management, and documentation.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Frederic Reamer receives royalties as a published author. Frederic Reamer receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Frederic Reamer serves as an advisory board member of Ocean State Stories, Pell Center, Salve Regina University and an advisory editor for the Encyclopedia of Social Work Online. He is a member of NASW Code of Ethics Revision Task Force, National Association of Social Workers, and the Association of Paroling Authorities International.
Additional Info
Program Information
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)Access never expires for this product.
For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com
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Objectives
- Identify the signs and symptoms of moral injury and moral distress in the behavioral health professions.
- Determine the causes of moral injury.
- Identify ethical standards related to moral injury.
- Evaluate the relationship between moral injury and secondary trauma–related constructs (including vicarious traumatization, compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and posttraumatic growth) within professional practice contexts.
- Utilize strategies to prevent and respond to moral injury.
- Appraise ethical considerations and professional boundaries related to clinical, organizational, community, and policy advocacy.
Outline
The nature of moral injury and moral distress
- The danger of perpetrating harm
- Witnessing and learning about harm
- Failing to prevent harm
- Patterns of moral injury
- Signs and symptoms of moral injury
- The role of demoralization
- Research risks and limitations
- Case examples:
- Clinician who witnesses harm inflicted on clients
- Clinician who fails to prevent harm caused to clients
Causes of moral injury in the behavioral health professions
- Professional burnout
- Professional impairment
- Workplace conditions
- Social conditions and policies
- Ethical dilemmas
- Case examples:
- Workplace conditions that cause harm
- Clinician who experiences burnout
Consequences of moral injury: Secondary trauma, compassion satisfaction, and moral repair
- Secondary trauma
- Vicarious traumatization
- Compassion fatigue
- Vicarious resilience, posttraumatic growth, and compassion satisfaction
- Moral repair and apology
- Restorative justice: Addressing harm to individuals and communities
- Transitional justice: Organizational and institutional accountability
- Case examples: A clinician who experiences secondary trauma and vicarious traumatization
Professionals’ ethical responsibilities: Moral choices and whistleblowing
- The nature of whistleblowing: Ethical standards
- Ethics violations that cause moral injury
- Practitioner impairment
- Disclosure of moral injury and defamation risks
- Standards of care
- Case examples:
- Clinician who considers blowing the whistle on misconduct
- A clinician who violates ethical standards
Prevent moral injury: The role of prevention protocols, advocacy, and moral courage
- Organizational change
- Community advocacy
- Policy advocacy
- Alternative dispute resolution
- Moral courage to expose and address moral injury
- Case examples: Clinicians engaging in change and advocacy
Ethical standards as they relate to self-care
- Key concepts
- Codes of ethics and self-care standards
- Barriers to self-care
- Reflective practice
- Case examples:
- Clinician’s efforts to engage in ethicsinformed self-care
- Clinician who engages in reflective practice
Target Audience
- Counsellors
- Social Workers
- Psychotherapists
- Psychologists
- Addiction Counsellors
- Therapists
- Marriage & Family Therapists
- Case Managers
- Nurses
- Physicians
- Other Mental Health Professionals
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