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The Importance of Spirituality inHealing Returning Warriors/Veterans“Caring for Our Returning Combat Veterans”Chaplain Michael L. McCoy, M.Div.CCC, CMT,(SES,EQL)National Director Chaplain ServiceDepartment of Veterans AffairsNational Chaplain Center
A Prayer forVeterans & Families
Objectives:Provide an understanding ofreturning Service members spiritualdespair, and recognition of spiritualquestions.Gain knowledge of key issues thatcan affect the spiritual health of areturning warrior/Veteran and theirfamily.Examine the spiritual reactions totrauma.
Defining Abbreviations OEF/OIF Operation EnduringFreedom/ Operation Iraqi Freedom(Conflicts in Afghanistan & Iraq)WIA Wounded In ActionIED Improvised Explosive DeviseWTU Warrior Transition UnitTBI Traumatic Brain InjuryPTSD Posttraumatic StressDisorderGWOT Global War on Terror
Basic Overview Military produces highly trained men andwomen.These individuals had HUGE responsibilitieswhile deployed and return to no jobs orrelatively trivial responsibilities incomparison.Service members are our family members,neighbors, religious congregationmembers, friends, co-workers, patients.Thousands upon thousands have served inthe military.All who have served come home changed.For a few individuals these changes can be
Challenges in Returning HomeA returning soldier is not the person he or shewas before leaving home for war.The return home is disorienting and canrepresent an absence of social community.This feeling is upsetting for friends and familywho awaited the soldier’s return.The enormity of the experience shatters theindividual’s basic sense of safety.Even the most well-adjusted will re-experiencea total lack of safety when triggered.
Spiritual Reactions to Trauma1.2.3.4.Confusion about GodAltered sense of meaningin/of lifeGrief and loss issuesQuestions of Theodicy
5. Feelings of ineffectiveness,shame, despair, hopelessness6. Feeling permanently damaged7.Loss of previously sustainedbeliefs8. Feelings of guilt9.Confusion about core ethicalbeliefs.
What is Spirituality?Spirituality can be defined as the essence of our humanity.Frankl
SpiritualitySpirituality is a capacity and tendency that is innate andunique to all persons.Spiritual tends to move individuals toward knowledge,love, meaning, peace, hope, transcendence,connectedness, compassion, wellness,and wholeness.Spirituality includes one ’ s capacity for creativity, growth,and the development of a value system.Spirituality encompasses a variety of phenomenaincluding experiences, beliefs, and practices. Whilespirituality is usually expressed through culture, itbothprecedes and transcends culture.Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling
Spiritis the animating life force. Spirituality is the drawingout and infusion of that spirit in one ’ s life.
Spirituality and MeaningSpirituality leads one tosearch for and discovermeaning in life, a meaningthat goes beyond a merelymaterial experience. May
Spirituality and MeaningHe who has awhy to livefor can bearalmost anyhow.Nietzsche
Spirituality and MeaningThe deeply personal search for meaning can bring a person to innerpeace even in the presence of adverse circumstances.
Spirituality and ReligionSpirituality is not the samething as religion. Whilereligion may be one wayin which persons expressor experience theirspirituality, it is not thesame as spirituality itself.Religion can be thought of asthe organization of beliefwhich is common to aculture or subculture, “the codified,institutionalized, andritualized expressions ofpeoples ’ communalconnections to theUltimateKelly
Spirituality and ReligionSpirituality lightsthe wayReligion interpretsthe steps
Spirituality and ReligionReligionilluminesSpiritualitywarms
Spirituality and ReligionSpiritualityis the danceReligion isthe steps
Spirituality and ReligionReligionsets thetableSpiritualityenjoys thefeast
Spirituality and Suffering It is our responsibility to listen to people as theystruggle with their life experiences.We need to be willing to listen to their anxieties, theirfears,their unresolved conflicts, their hopes and theirdespair.If people are stuck in despair, they will suffer deeply.It is through spirituality that people become unstuckfrom despair.Viktor Frankl wrote that man is not destroyed bysuffering; he is destroyed by suffering withoutmeaning.Spirituality helps give meaning to people ’ s suffering.It helps people find hope in the midst of despair.We as caregivers need to engage with our patients onthe spiritual level.Christina M. Puchalski
Spirituality and SufferingSuffering andtrouble belong tolife as much asfate and death.None of these canbe subtractedfrom life withoutdestroying itsmeaning. . . . .
Spirituality and SufferingTosubtracttrouble,death,fate, andsufferingfrom lifewouldmeanstrippinglife of itsform andshape. . . .
“Red Flag” Spiritual IssuesSpiritual struggle-Punitive spiritual appraisals (God punishing), Anger at God-Associations with worse PTSD/Depression(Witvilet, 2003)Loss of Faith-Predictor of increased use of mental health services (Fontana& Rosenheck, 2004)Guilt/Shame & Un-forgiveness-Guilt mediated by negative appraisals at time of trauma(Kubany, 2003)-Un-forgiveness associate with worse PTSD/ Depression(Witvilet, 2003)Grief & Loss(Wortman & Park 2008)-Complicated Grief-Trauma increases risk
Spirituality:Inspiring Hopein Healing
We All Need HelpSometime in Life!
Veteran’s Use of Clergy Veterans feel more comfortable approaching theirpastor than they do a mental health professional.Research shows that 4 of 10 individuals withmental health challenges seek counseling fromclergy.Individuals seek council from ministers more thanall other mental health providers combined.Often seeing a member of the clergy is lessthreatening and has less stigma attached. Isviewed as engaging a known communityresource.Negative reasons. . . Magical thinking, avoidingtruth of diagnosis, etc.
Pastoral Care Approaches Safe HavenListeningGroundingAccepting
Coordination and Collaboration withCommunity Clergy Chaplain Service Veteran’s Community OutreachInitiative (VCOI) Approximately 800,000 veterans have leftmilitary since January 2002 and are nowreadjusting to civilian life. Community Clergy will be the first contact formany veterans and their spouses or familymembers when the veteran experiencesdistress related to combat experiences. Local Chaplain Services sponsor clergyeducational day events all around thecountry to help clergy to understand the needsof returning warriors and how to make referralto the VA when needed. (Education Packets)
Moral Injury
Moral Injury Occurs When actions inbattle contradictmoral beliefsWhen individualsviolate core moralbeliefsWhen your braintells you to do whatyour heart tells youis wrong
When one feelsbetrayedbecause othersare violatingcore valuesDeath offriends and ofinnocentsInterrogating“correctly” bybuilding trustthenmanipulating
Moral Codes in ConflictWhat we were taught . . .“Thou shalt not kill.”What we experienced in combat . . .“I killed a human being.”
Moral Codes in ConflictWhat we were taught . . .“Love one another.”What we experienced in combat . . .“I no longer feel love.”
Moral Codes in ConflictWhat we were taught . . .“God is Love.”What we experienced in combat .“I have faced evil andbeen lessened by it.”
CommonSymptoms ofMoral InjuryGuiltShameGrief
Guilt & ShameHow we feel aboutourselves affects: Our relationships Decision-making What we do How we act
NATIONAL CHAPLAIN CENTERHAMPTON, VIRGINIA
alpsychological tstress/default.htm3.www.ncptsd.va.gov
Healing Returning Warriors/Veterans “Caring for Our Returning Combat Veterans” Chaplain Michael L. McCoy, M.Div.CCC, CMT,(SES,EQL) National Director Chaplain Service Department of Veterans Affairs National Chaplain Center. A Prayer
