When You No Longer Know Who You Are — What Moral Injury Does to Your Identity

The Advisor with Stacey Chillemi · Mar 27, 2026 · 49m

Something happened that violated what you believed about yourself or the world. Maybe it was a decision you made. Something done to you. A role you played in something you are not proud of. Whatever it was it did not just hurt — it fractured something at the core of how you understood yourself. That is moral injury. And it does not heal the way ordinary grief does because it is not just about loss — it is about meaning, self-trust, and the story you have been telling yourself about who you are. Dr. Carter Check is a U.S. Army veteran, clinical chaplain, and healthcare ethicist who has sat…