Mental Health Clinician / Chaplain Collaboration

NCT07579143 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 1750298PPO 22-211
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

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

Keywords

feasibility; acceptability; single arm trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Number referred, enrolled, baseline and 6-month

  referral, enrollment, and baseline and 6-month data collection

  6 months

• intervention retention

  number of sessions completed

  6 months

Secondary Outcomes (10)

• moral injury distress

  baseline and 6 months

• Religious and spiritual struggles

  baseline and 6 months

• Forgiving others

  baseline and 6-months

• Self forgiveness

  baseline and 6-months

• PTSD symptom severity

  baseline and 6-months

Study Arms (1)

Intervention focused on facilitating forgiveness and community connection

EXPERIMENTAL

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

Behavioral: facilitate forgiveness and community connection to address symptoms of moral injury

Interventions

facilitate forgiveness and community connection to address symptoms of moral injury BEHAVIORAL

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

Intervention focused on facilitating forgiveness and community connection

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• 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).

You may not qualify if:

• 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).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System: lead
• VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System

Little Rock, Arkansas, 72114, United States

COMPLETED

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15240, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Mental Disorders

Central Study Contacts

Jeff M Pyne, MD

CONTACT

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

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Physician/Research Scientist

Model Details: single arm study

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 10, 2025
• First Posted: May 11, 2026
• Study Start: April 14, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Last Updated: May 11, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: one year after data collection is complete until protocol is closed
• Access Criteria: De-identified data and limited data set data will be shared in consultation with the local research privacy officer and follow strict privacy protocols and approvals, e.g., upon written request and a signed data use agreement from a non-VA investigator. These requests could be to confirm conclusions made in publications, to duplicate statistical analyses or perform additional analysis.

Locations

US (2)