Social workers sometimes learn about, witness, perpetrate, or fail to prevent acts that violate their deeply held beliefs. The harm that they experience is referred to as moral distress or injury. Moral distress and injury may trigger a wave of symptoms and emotions that adversely affect the practitioner: posttraumatic stress disorder; feelings of overwhelming guilt and remorse; and a sense of demoralization in the form of disheartenment, dejection, hopelessness, loss of values, and despondency. Dr. Frederic Reamer will discuss the concepts of moral distress, injury, and demoralization; the symptoms that can manifest; prevention, self-care, and resilience; legal and ethical obligations, including what it means to be a whistleblower; and how to develop moral courage to advocate for organizational and policy changes to prevent harm.
*This webinar does not qualify for NBCC clock hours in ethics for Licensed Professional Counselors.
At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:
Identify common symptoms and manifestations of moral distress and injury in social work.
Design state-of-the-art strategies to address moral distress and injury.
Develop protocols to promote prevention, self-care, and resilience.
Implement strategies to advocate for organizational and policy changes to prevent harm.