Mental health practitioners' development of vicarious resilience working with military families with a moral injury

Abstract: The development of vicarious resilience among mental health practitioners is essential to protect these workers from the indirect trauma they are exposed to from their client’s stories. A gap in the literature exists as no prior studies have examined the development of vicarious resilience among mental health practitioners working with military families where the soldier has endured a moral injury. This generic qualitative research study aimed to explore how vicarious resilience develops among mental health practitioners working with military families where the soldier has endured a moral injury in either Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), or Operation New Dawn (OND) through the lens of Bandura’s social learning theory. The development of vicarious resilience is significant within the behavioral health field as mental health practitioners are exposed to a wide range of trauma stories that can directly impact their ability to provide care to clients and function within their daily roles. This study utilized a sample of twelve mental health practitioners who were currently working with military families with a moral injury. The data produced three major themes: military trauma work, safeguarding practices, and the impact of an empathic response. Military trauma work highlighted the importance that mental health practitioners placed on understanding the military culture and how this military culture impacts treatment. Subthemes were identified by the participants as the lack of knowledge that existed among military families about the concept of a moral injury and the lack of knowledge that existed among mental health practitioners about the terminology utilized within the field. Safeguard practices encompassed those practices that assisted mental health practitioners in protecting themselves from and recovering from the indirect trauma they become exposed to through their client’s stories. The subthemes of safeguard practices included self-care activities, career fulfillment, and the importance of training. The impact of empathic response encompassed the resilience of the mental health practitioner, cognitive changes made by providing empathic care, and the negative symptoms associated with providing empathic care. The results provided insight into how mental health practitioners develop vicarious resilience to combat the secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma they are exposed to from their client’s stories.