The Moral Injury Shift: When Caring Becomes Pain and How Bibliotherapy Helps Clinicians, Helpers, and Leaders Come Back to Life
“I’m Not Burned Out… I’m Brokenhearted.”
The Reader didn’t sound dramatic. They sounded done. “I don’t think I’m burned out. Burnout sounds like I’m tired. This feels different. This feels like something inside me is… cracking.”
Dr. Dubin leaned in. “That’s because you’re not describing burnout. You’re describing moral injury.”
Dr. Sidor: “Moral injury happens when people are repeatedly forced to participate in, witness, or enable what violates their values — especially in systems that leave them powerless to change it” (Litz et al., 2009).
Burnout Is Exhaustion. Moral Injury Is Betrayal.
Reader: “So what’s the difference?”
Dr. Sidor: “Burnout is fatigue from chronic stress. Moral injury is the wound of having to live inside a system that keeps asking you to betray what you believe is right.”
Bibliotherapy Restores Meaning
Dr. Dubin: “Bibliotherapy doesn’t fix the system. But it stops the system from destroying you.”
Reflection Prompts
Where have you felt forced to compromise your values in your work?
What part of you has become numb — and what was it protecting?
What would it look like to protect your humanity on purpose this week?
Selected References
Herman, Judith L. Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Basic Books, 1992.
Litz, Brett T., et al. “Moral Injury and Moral Repair in War Veterans: A Preliminary Model and Intervention Strategy.” Clinical Psychology Review, vol. 29, no. 8, 2009, pp. 695–706.
Call to Action
Beyond Burnout: The Inside-Out Revolution in Work, Healing, and Meaning (SWEET Institute Publishing)
Coming soon at SWEET Institute Publishing.