June 13, 2025
8:30am – 4:00pm Pacific Time
11:30am – 7:00pm Eastern Time
Presented virtually via Zoom Video Communications
Presented by
Lauren M. Borges, PhD
and
Jacob K. Farnsworth, PhD
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Increasing evidence suggests exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIE’s) impacts individuals from a variety of communities, like warzone Veterans, healthcare workers, and survivors of racial trauma (Borges et al., 2021; Currier et al., 2019; Fulton et al., 2023). PMIEs often prompt moral pain including painful moral emotions (e.g., guilt, shame, contempt, anger, disgust), cognitions (e.g., self or other blaming thoughts), and urges (e.g., to hide, self-medicate, suicidal behavior). Moral injury results when attempts to avoid or control moral pain significantly interfere with an individual’s personal, communal, and spiritual functioning. Given the prevalence of PMIE exposure, competence in working with moral injury is essential to facilitating client advocacy and building communities of recovery for impacted groups.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Moral Injury (ACT-MI) is a transdiagnostic intervention that has been rigorously developed over the past decade to treat psychosocial functional impairment among individuals who experience morally injurious events. ACT-MI is an innovative mixed-modality 15-session intervention where the social functions of moral emotions are targeted through group psychotherapy whereas the specific behaviors causing moral injury to persist for each individual are explored via one-on-one case conceptualization sessions (ACT-MI; Borges et al., 2022; Farnsworth et al., 2017). Results from a randomized controlled pilot trial (N = 74 participants) will be presented, suggesting that ACT-MI impacts psychosocial functioning and is reported to be an acceptable intervention among warzone deployed Veterans. Examples of Veteran feedback include, “now I can say I did this [of the MIE], I lived through it, and now it’s time to get on with what I care about. I haven’t had that feeling…I don’t believe ever” and “I can live life again. I can go outside. I can spend time with my kids. I can be a better mom. I thank God every day that I got to be a part of this.”
Workshop participants will be introduced to case conceptualizing in ACT-MI. Participants will explore the workability of strategies used to avoid, control, or fix moral pain through ACT-MI exercises including chain analysis. Participants will practice observing moral pain, applying strategies used in ACT-MI to notice and hold moral pain without becoming consumed by it. They will learn to work with clients in approaching moral pain as part but not all of their experience and identity. Metaphor and experiential exercises will be used to guide participants in building awareness of a sense of self that holds moral pain and has a choice about how to interact with it. Participants will learn skills to observe morally painful and pleasant memories and events as moments in time. They will learn that as the holders of these experiences, these memories do not need to define their behavior moving forward. Participants will learn how to empower their clients (and themselves) to choose to live meaningful lives even in the presence of these memories and moral pain. They will explore how to live their values in the present moment and will learn skills to teach their clients to do the same.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- Describe how to conceptualize moral injury using principles from ACT-MI.
- Discuss data supporting ACT-MI.
- Use the ACT-MI conceptual framework, apply procedures from ACT-MI to cultivate flexibility in responding to moral pain.
- Support clients in building present moment awareness and the ability to hold moral pain without becoming consumed by it.
- Define the relationship between moral pain and values as two sides of the same coin.
- Explain how to guide clients in building patterns of behavior informed by their values.
Instructor | Lauren M. Borges, PhD is a clinical research psychologist at the Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) for suicide prevention. She holds an academic appointment of Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus. She is a consultant for VA’s Suicide Risk Management Consultation Program. She is federally funded to investigate different applications of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for moral injury and for suicidal behavior among Veterans and health care providers.
Instructor | Jake Farnsworth, PhD is the Psychology Discipline Lead and Psychology Internship Training Director for VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System. He received his doctorate degree from the University of North Texas, completing his internship and attending residency at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California. Clinically, Dr. Farnsworth specializes in the intersection of trauma-related disorders, substance use, and military-related moral injury. He is the co-author of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Moral Injury (ACT-MI) and numerous articles and book chapters on the subject and related topics.
PRICING:
|
Individual Registration Fee $249.00 |
Group Registration Fee for 3 or more $225.00/person |
Students are eligible for 15% off individual registration fee* |
*email training@pdbti.org for student discount code
CONTINUING EDUCATION HOURS
Participants who complete the training will earn 6 CE hours.
Portland DBT Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6326.
Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Portland DBT Institute is solely is responsible for all aspects of the program.
Private Training Request
Portland DBT Institute training is available to schedule as a private training for your group. PDBTI’s training team travels locally, nationally, and internationally, to provide evidence based, adherent DBT training. Please fill out our Training Request Form and a training coordinator will contact you to see how we can work together to exceed your organization’s training goals.
CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS
A $60.00 handling fee will be deducted upon cancellation. Refund requests by fax or email must be received two weeks before the start date. In addition, the fees are non-transferrable.
PDBTI reserves the right to cancel any program due to under-enrollment, or any course due to work stoppages, instructor illness or inclement weather. If a course is cancelled, PDBTI is responsible for refunding only the course fee.
