A newly developed clinical treatment for veterans suffering from Moral Injury will enter into a second phase of testing after receiving funding from Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT).

FiMT had previously funded a team from King’s College London and the veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress to develop and pilot a new treatment to support veterans with Moral Injury. This trial was successful and we are pleased to announce that FiMT has awarded the research a further £260,000 to conduct a randomised controlled trial to formally evaluate this new treatment.

In the preceding study, the researchers developed ‘Restore and Rebuild’ – a treatment for Moral Injury. It was co-produced with veterans and subject matter experts, then successfully piloted with 20 veterans. This second phase will test the feasibility of a pilot to compare the Restore and Rebuild treatment to a control group of UK veterans with Moral Injury-related mental disorders.

The research team is led by Dr Victoria Williamson and Professor Neil Greenberg at King’s College London, and Professor Dominic Murphy at Combat Stress and King’s College London.

Tom McBarnet, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust, said “This is an important step in the process of identifying and testing an effective treatment for moral injury. There was previously no standardised guidance for the effective treatment of moral injury-related mental health problems in UK veterans. We know from the ground-breaking research this team have previously published that moral injury can negatively impact on veterans, and we are pleased to be supporting them in taking the necessary steps to address it.”

Professor Dominic Murphy, Combat Stress & King’s College London, said “We know that many veterans are involved in morally complex events during the course of their military careers, which for some can seriously impact on their mental health. We have been working to address this by developing Restore and Rebuild and are grateful for the support from FiMT to formally evaluate the effectiveness of this new treatment. Following this trial, our hope is that we can start rolling Restore and Rebuild to support veterans across the UK.”

Dr Victoria Williamson, King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR), said “Our extensive research into experiences of moral injury has shown the significant toll it can take on people’s lives. Our Restore and Rebuild treatment has shown very promising evidence in improving veterans’ quality of life and recovery from moral injury related mental health difficulties. With further testing, Restore and Rebuild may be able to help veterans and other occupational groups at high risk of moral injury.” 

More information about the Restore and Rebuild intervention for Moral Injury can be found in this short video.

Moral injury is defined as ‘psychological distress which results from actions, or lack of actions, which violate an individual’s moral or ethical code’. It is not unique to one profession, but can occur in the Armed Forces when an individual is adhering to the rules of engagement, or is following orders which result in challenging situations, such as witnessing human suffering or having a role in the deaths of civilians. For more information on what moral injury is, watch a short animation here.