Recruiting

Forgiveness Intervention

Sponsor:

Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System

Code:

NCT07579143

Conditions

Moral Injury

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

facilitate forgiveness and community connection to address symptoms of moral injury

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the intervention can be delivered by VA chaplains and if it is acceptable for veterans who have symptoms of moral injury (guilt, shame, isolation) and are receiving VA mental health treatment. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Can the study team enroll veterans for this intervention and complete data collection? Will veterans complete the intervention?

There is no comparison group.

Participants will will complete a baseline and 6-month interview and participate in up to 12 intervention sessions with a VA chaplain. The intervention will focus on facilitating forgiveness and community connection.

Conditions

Moral Injury

Study ID

NCT07579143

Start date

Apr 14, 2025

Status verified date

Apr, 2026

Completion date

Jun, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • age 18 to 80 years
  • plan to follow-up with a VA mental health clinician for PTSD or SUD treatment within the next three months (therefore allowing for collaboration)
  • positive screen using the 6-item Moral Injury Distress Scale (MIDS) screener. A positive MIDS screen will be defined as being bothered at least moderately by exposure to at least one potentially morally injurious event (witnessing, omission, commission).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, or severe neurocognitive disorder (e.g., dementia, severe TBI). Veterans with borderline personality disorder will be eligible for participation in this study following DBT completion.
  • Planning to start or current participation in a moral injury treatment group or evidence-based psychotherapy (e.g., Prolonged Exposure or Cognitive Processing Therapy).

Study Design

Enrollment

20 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Intervention focused on facilitating forgiveness and community connection

Intervention is delivered by VA chaplains to facilitate forgiveness and community connection in collaboration with mental health clinicians

Interventions

facilitate forgiveness and community connection to address symptoms of moral injury

VA chaplain delivered intervention to facilitate forgiveness and community connection in collaboration with mental health clinicians

Primary outcome measure

  • Number referred, enrolled, baseline and 6-month [ Time Frame: 6 months ]
  • intervention retention [ Time Frame: 6 months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jeff M Pyne, MD

501-442-6019jeffrey.pyne@va.gov

Locations

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System

Recruiting

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15240

Contacts

Maribeth Wesesky

412-295-7017maribeth.wesesky@va.gov

Jin Cheng, MD

jin.cheng@va.gov

More Information

Sponsor

Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System

Last update posted

May 11, 2026

Last verified

Apr, 2026

Keywords

  • feasibility
  • acceptability
  • single arm trial

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System on 2026-05-11.